Candles create the warm and cozy mood we crave during chilly winters, making the season our favorite time of the year to light them—and as avid candle lovers, that’s saying something.

Of course, the festive cheer of the end of the year, as well as the fresh beginnings of the new year, deserve to be celebrated with the perfect scents. For the winter, we love seasonal vibes and cool, clean fragrances evocative of the holiday, and we’ve been burning candles from dusk until dawn to test them all and bring you our very favorite wintery options of the year.

Everology White Dunes Candle: $62

Everology’s White Dunes Candle brings to mind heaps of freshly fallen snow, blending the crispness of white Turkish rose, frankincense, white amber and more for a woodsy, mystical scent. There’s a slightly spooky aura to this winter wonderland, and we couldn’t love it more.

Everology White Dunes Candle

(via Everology)

Aerengis No. 102 Silver Skyline: $78

Aerengis’s No. 102 Silver Skyline candle was inspired by the holiday season in New York City, so it’s practically built for nostalgia. With notes of balsam, pine and cedarwood, it’s reminiscent of a fresh-cut tree, and notes of citrus, aromatics and leather bring in the feelings of time with loved ones at home.

Aerengis No. 102 Silver Skyline

(via Aerengis)

Also read about: Home Gifts to Get for Your Loved Ones This Holiday Season

Emme Essentials Roasted Chestnuts: $14+

Even if your family has never roasted chestnuts over an open fire for Christmas, this Emme Essentials Roasted Chestnuts candle will remind you of winter thanks to a warm, sweet scent combining chestnuts and burning maple and cedar wood to smell like the roaring fireplace. It also has a wood wick that crackles as it burns for the full experience.

Emme Essentials Roasted Chestnuts

(via Emme Essentials )

AromaPoetry By the Fire Candle: $36

We just adore the combination of bright, citrusy orange with holiday spices for the wintertime, and AromaPoetry brings them together beautifully in their By the Fire Candle. Whether you drink Swedish glögg for Christmas or not, the nutmeg, clove and cinnamon in the candle are sure to brighten your day.

AromaPoetry By the Fire Candle

(via AromaPoetry)

Opal Road Wonder Candle: $48

If you’re looking for a Christmas tree in candle form, Opal Road’s Wonder Candle is just the thing. It combines evergreen, spruce and cedar fragrances to smell like the family tree, with accents of eucalyptus, mint and moss for a more complexly layered holiday scent. Plus, the metallic green jar looks amazing on any mantle.

Opal Road Wonder Candle

(via Opal Road)

homesick Let’s Toast Candle: $36

It’s not quite fair that Christmas gets all the fun when it comes to holiday scents, which is why this Let’s Toast Candle from homesick is one of our favorites this year. It’s fruity and fun, with citrus and fruity notes with a champagne-like base, to toast to the new year and get things off on the right foot.

homesick Lets Toast Candle

(via Patet)

Hotel Collection Classic Mountain Retreat Candle: $49.95

Hotel Collection’s unique fragrances are all about evoking fantastic getaways, and their Mountain Retreat Candle is like a ski lodge vacation in a jar. With notes of santal and citron, it brings about the feeling of breathing in the freshest, coldest air, while lavender water and tea tree remind us of getting back inside the cabin and enjoying refuge from the cold.

Hotel Collection Classic Mountain Retreat Candle

(via Hotel Collection)

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Anecdote Candles Midnight Moonlight Candle: $34

For a candle that smells like pure holiday celebration, try out Anecdote Candles’ Midnight Moonlight Candle. It blends plum, grape and violet to represent the tastiest holiday libations over woodsy sandalwood and sweet vanilla to feel like a joyous party and the belief that anything is possible—and the cheery gold jar fits the occasion perfectly.

Anecdote Candles Midnight Moonlight Candle

(via Anecdote Candles)

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La Chatelaine Vetiver Cedar Candle: $44

For a more grown-up and sophisticated approach to holiday scents, check out La Chatelaine’s Vetiver Cedar Candle. Dry, earthy vetiver combines with balsam fir, cedar and patchouli to smell like an expensive, woodsy perfume sure to warm you up.

LaChatelaine Vetiver Cedar Candle

(via La Chatelaine)

Lake and Skye Mini Candle Trio: $54

This Mini Candle Trio from Lake and Skye includes not just one, but three scents that each capture a different element of the holidays. While the 11 11 candle matches the freshness of the wintery wild air, Wild Grass & Sage smells like a Christmas tree farm and Santal Gray brings it all home with a warm, cozy fragrance blending sandalwood, musk and cardamom.

Lake and Skye Mini Candle Trio

(via Lake and Skye)

Sea Witch Botanicals Krampus Candle: $35

Who said the holidays had to be about good cheer? This Sea Witch Botanicals candle celebrates the Krampus, a creature from European folklore who frightens bad children during the holidays, with a darker, more aromatic scent than any of the other candles on this list. The notes of frankincense, orange, patchouli and more are intense, and the fact they may not be for everyone only makes us love it more.

Sea Witch Botanicals Krampus Candle

(via Sea Witch Botanicals)

Yield Design Hinoki: $28

Yield Design’s Hinoki candle is inspired by the Hinoki cypress, a tree often used in Japanese bonsai that also has an unmatched wintery scent. It’s earthy, with bright cypress notes and a smokey base to evoke a bonfire in the woods, which always makes us think of the holiday season.

Yield Design Hinoki

(via Yield Design)

Also read about: The Ultimate Gift Guide for Fashion and Style Lovers

Mise en Scènt Old Hollywood Candle: $36

Mise en Scènt’s Old Hollywood Candle is another great option for evoking that old-timey holiday nostalgia and transporting yourself to the past. It combines leather, smoke and musk to remind us of loved ones, while also being timeless and helping us celebrate the now.

Yield Design Hinoki

(via Mise en Scènt)

LAFCO Balsam Black Pepper Candle: $95

LAFCO’s Balsam Black Pepper Candle has a scent that will mentally place you in the center of a snowy, sprawling evergreen forest in an instant. It combines festive fir balsam with bold black pepper, eucalyptus and lavender for cool, complex notes to freshen up any space.

lafco balsam black pepper candle

(via LAFCO)

Henry Rose Queens & Monsters Candle: $65

Enjoy the fresh, open scent of the great outdoors, even when you’re trapped inside, with this Queens & Monsters Candle from Henry Rose. With woodsy yet floral petitgrain, warm sandalwood and sweet freesia, it’ll reinvigorate the senses all winter long.

Henry Rose Queens & Monsters

(via Henry Rose)

Lush Snow Fairy Candle: $18

You read that right—Lush finally has candles this year, and they don’t disappoint. We’re in love with their Snow Fairy Candle, allowing you to bring their iconic bubblegummy holiday scent into any room, and it smells precisely how you’d imagine it. Also, the candle may look small, but trust us when we say it burns so much longer than you’d think.

Snow Fairy lush candle

(via Lush)

Bath & Body Works The Perfect Christmas 3-Wick Candle: $26.50

It truly wouldn’t be a candle roundup without a pick from Bath & Body Works, and they didn’t make it easy to pick just one with their seemingly endless options. However, our favorite of the year has to be The Perfect Christmas, designed to smell like putting snickerdoodles out for Santa with a fusion of pine notes, cinnamon sugar and toasty marshmallow.

Bath & Body Works The Perfect Christmas 3-Wick Candle

(via Bath & Body Works)

Doing some last-minute shopping on a budget? Click HERE for our favorite great stocking stuffers for $10 and under.

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