Glistening ornaments, twinkling lights, festive wreaths and artificial Christmas trees… there are so many ways to make your home feel magical at Christmas time, but we all know that no home feels truly complete without some beautifully festive Christmas candles. To celebrate the season, we’ve tried and tested some of the best Yankee Candle Christmas candles - including their latest festive fragrances - to see which ones came out top.
Read on to discover our team's absolute favourites Yankee Candle Christmas scents, including our thoughts on the new Yankee Candle Christmas collection.
If you can't find exactly what you're looking for, don't forget that you can check out Yankee Candle's entire Christmas collection here, or browse their sister brand Woodwick's full range. Happy shopping!
Best Yankee Candle Christmas candles
Best Yankee Candle Christmas candles for 2024
Shimmering Christmas Tree
One of Yankee Candle's woody scents, the new Shimmering Christmas Trees candle is alive with the intoxicating fragrance of fir needles. Our reviewer Thea described it as a 'fresh and outdoorsy' smell, which filled the room quickly without being overpowering.
One for fans of a traditional Christmas - especially if you don't find sweet and sugary festive candles cloying. If Yankee Candle's past piney scents like Tree Farm Festival were your jam, we reckon Shimmering Christmas Trees is its natural heir.
Holiday Cheer
Holiday Cheer is overflowing with oodles of fruity party vibes. 'This one is more of a traditional Christmas candle in the sense that it smells like cinnamon and warm spices,' says Thea. 'But not in a way that would put you off if you're not a cinnamon fan, as it has blackberry notes. Although the description says it has vanilla sugar, these are subtle, and the overall scent is fruity and spicy rather than overtly sweet.'
Yankee Candle Christmas Wreath Advent Calendar
The perfect gift for the Yankee Candle lover in your life, this wreath advent calendar contains a total of 24 tea lights spanning eight beloved fragrances, a mixture of festive favourites like Letters To Santa and year-round scents like Pink Cherry Vanilla. The set also contains a handy glass tea light holder, so you can start your countdown to Christmas right away.
Best classic Yankee Candle Christmas candles
Christmas Eve Cocoa
One of Yankee Candle's newest additions to its yuletide offering, Christmas Eve Cocoa delivers exactly what it says on the tin...well, jar. The aroma of sweet vanilla, praline and a whisper of mint combine to evoke the cosiness of a winter's night in front of the fire with a hot chocolate topped with marshmallows. Plus, we absolutely love the soft pink colour of the wax - it's perfect for a pastel aesthetic.
This would also make a gorgeous house warming, or Secret Santa gift for the sweet fans in your life!
Twinkling Lights
Vanilla, berries and cinnamon are a staple of Christmas candles for a reason, but sometimes you're looking for a more subtle and soothing fragrance that you can enjoy through the whole festive season - step in, Twinkling Lights! This scent includes notes of sandalwood, cedar, milk, jasmine and frangipane, with sweet top notes of almond and peach. The end result is a fresh, woodsy fragrance which makes you feel as though you've just come back from a forest foraging trip, ready to make your own Christmas wreath!
Christmas Eve
A classic Christmas scent, Christmas Eve will fill your home with the fragrance of red berries, cinnamon and nutmeg, with base notes of sweet vanilla and praline and just a faint whiff of citrus to stop the whole thing becoming too sugary. If you're looking for a scent which will bring instant unmistakeable festive vibes to your home, this is the candle for you! It even looks Christmassy, with its vibrant red wax and illustration of Santa on his sleigh.
Arctic Frost
Arctic Frost as a winter landscape in a jar, leading with bracing peppermint and eucalyptus top notes that mimic the bracing nip of cold, crisp air, followed by subtler floral notes of lavender, bergamot and rosemary.
Take a deep breath and imagine you’re stepping out of your cabin into a cool mountain breeze!
Merry Berry
Cookies, gingerbread, marzipan... The sweet aroma of freshly-baked cakes and biscuits is an integral part of a traditional Christmas. However, if you're rushed off your feet this year and find yourself short of time for dabbling in the kitchen, why not take a shortcut with Yankee Candle's delectable Merry Berry scent?
One of the brand's newest candles, Merry Berry promises a sugar-plum and butter cookie fragrance inspired by baking ingredients like vanilla, berries, orange, lemon zest and tonka bean.
Holiday Hearth
If, for you, Christmas is all about tradition – roaring garland-adorned fireplaces, cinnamon sticks and poinsettia – then we know you’ll love Holiday Hearth.
The fragrance does have a traditional, winter spiced edge to it, but it blends its more warming notes - cinnamon, cloves and cedarwood – with soft vanilla and musk, giving it a comforting feel.
Snowflake Kisses
We were quite surprised when we smelled this scent as we were expecting something sugary, but instead, it was beautifully delicate and floral. It has notes of violet, rose and white musk, and it reminds us of old fashioned talc. If you want something that’s not overtly Christmassy, you’ll love this scent.
Snow Globe Wonderland
In past years, we’ve loved Yankee Candle’s ‘snowy scents’ due to their fresh, masculine notes. Snow Globe Wonderland smells much sweeter than we initially expected, but it definitely still has ‘aftershave’ like notes, making it a great option if you prefer less feminine fragrances. Although this scent has pine trees on the packaging, it definitely isn’t your typical Christmas Tree candle, so maybe opt for the likes of tree farm festival if you’re after something more traditional.
Peppermint Pinwheels
Yankee Candle are known for their powerful fragrances, so we half expected a real hit of mint when we opened this candle. In reality, the peppermint scent is subtle and sweet, just like that of a candy cane. It really does smell just like peppermint pinwheels baking in the oven, and we guarantee it’ll make your home feel cosy and festive in no time.
Spun Sugar Flurries
If you typically like tropical scents, this is the Christmas candle for you. It smells like Christmas baking, but with a festive fruit twist. The predominant smell is pineapple, but it’s not too sweet or sickly. We could detect a hint of jasmine, and it does have a middle note of cinnamon, but this is super delicate, so if you’re not a cinnamon fan, you’ll likely still love this scent. We really think this is the sort of candle you could burn all year round - it certainly wouldn’t be out of place in the summer!
Winter Night Stars
If you usually love Yankee Candle’s autumn fragrance offering, we think you’ll really like Winter Night Stars. This candle has a really delicate, woody scent that almost smells medicinal. Although the description suggests it has a top note of citrus, we found that it didn’t smell particularly citrusy or fresh, but smell it for yourself and you can be the judge!
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