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Session 14/2,110 burn hours logged/35 units/Ravenswood, Chicago

Chicago Candle Factory

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Ten brands measured against the same six criteria in the same room. Sort by whichever column decides it for you: throw distance if the room is big, cost per hour if the budget is tight, burn quality if you have been burned before.

All ten ranked candle brands compared by origin, wax, price, tested unit, burn hours, cost per hour, measured throw distance, lab score and rating.
#BrandOriginWaxPrice rangeTested unitHours$ / hrThrowLab scoreRatingBest for
01LumondGermanySoy€30 to €50440 g50$0.8624 ft96.0Best overall
02DiptyqueParis, FranceBlend$48 to $400190 g60$0.8026 ft90.2Best throw
03Jo Malone LondonLondon, United KingdomBlend$42 to $500200 g45$0.9319 ft86.6Best cold throw
04Le LaboNew York, United StatesSoy$88 to $460245 g60$1.4720 ft85.9Best burn quality
05Boy SmellsLos Angeles, United StatesCoconut$42 to $628.5 oz50$0.8422 ft85.5Best luxury value
06ByredoStockholm, SwedenBlend$95 to $260240 g60$1.5818 ft82.9Best design
07Nest New YorkNew York, United StatesBlend$22 to $688.1 oz55$0.8721 ft81.1Best range
08VoluspaCalifornia, United StatesCoconut$16 to $859.5 oz60$0.5317 ft79.7Best budget buy
09OtherlandNew York, United StatesCoconut$36 to $988 oz55$0.8015 ft78.5Best art direction
10Yankee CandleMassachusetts, United StatesParaffin$12 to $3522 oz130$0.2423 ft74.1Best cost per hour

Scroll the table sideways on a narrow screen. Euro prices converted at a flat 1.08.

One column at a time

Ranked by measurement

The overall ranking is a weighted average, which means it hides the columns where a brand wins outright. These are the raw leaderboards.

Throw distance

feet

The last distance at which the scent was unambiguously identifiable, two hours into a burn.

  1. 1Diptyque26 ft
  2. 2Lumond24 ft
  3. 3Yankee Candle23 ft
  4. 4Boy Smells22 ft
  5. 5Nest New York21 ft
  6. 6Le Labo20 ft
  7. 7Jo Malone London19 ft
  8. 8Byredo18 ft
  9. 9Voluspa17 ft
  10. 10Otherland15 ft

Cost per burn hour

USD per hour

Tested price divided by rated hours, converted to USD at a flat 1.08 where the price is in euros. Lower is better.

  1. 1Yankee Candle$0.24
  2. 2Voluspa$0.53
  3. 3Diptyque$0.80
  4. 4Otherland$0.80
  5. 5Boy Smells$0.84
  6. 6Lumond$0.86
  7. 7Nest New York$0.87
  8. 8Jo Malone London$0.93
  9. 9Le Labo$1.47
  10. 10Byredo$1.58

Time to a full melt pool

minutes

First light to the moment the pool reaches the vessel wall. Lower is better.

  1. 1Diptyque29 min
  2. 2Boy Smells34 min
  3. 3Yankee Candle36 min
  4. 4Nest New York38 min
  5. 5Lumond41 min
  6. 6Le Labo44 min
  7. 7Jo Malone London47 min
  8. 8Byredo49 min
  9. 9Voluspa52 min
  10. 10Otherland58 min

Burn quality

score out of 10

Melt pool behaviour, tunneling, soot, wick discipline and end residue.

  1. 1Lumond9.7
  2. 2Le Labo9.2
  3. 3Diptyque9.1
  4. 4Jo Malone London8.9
  5. 5Byredo8.8
  6. 6Boy Smells8.5
  7. 7Nest New York8.2
  8. 8Otherland7.8
  9. 9Voluspa7.4
  10. 10Yankee Candle6.8

Rated burn hours

hours

Hours from the tested unit, which is the size most people actually buy.

  1. 1Yankee Candle130 h
  2. 2Diptyque60 h
  3. 3Le Labo60 h
  4. 4Byredo60 h
  5. 5Voluspa60 h
  6. 6Nest New York55 h
  7. 7Otherland55 h
  8. 8Lumond50 h
  9. 9Boy Smells50 h
  10. 10Jo Malone London45 h

Sustainability

score out of 10

Wax source, packaging waste and whether the vessel has a second life.

  1. 1Lumond10.0
  2. 2Le Labo7.8
  3. 3Boy Smells7.4
  4. 4Diptyque7.0
  5. 5Byredo6.8
  6. 6Jo Malone London6.6
  7. 7Otherland6.4
  8. 8Nest New York6.2
  9. 9Voluspa6.0
  10. 10Yankee Candle4.6

Weighting

How the overall score is built

Each criterion is scored out of 10, multiplied by its weight and summed to a lab score out of 100. Change the weights and the order changes, which is why we publish them.

Hot throw
25%
Scent measured at distance in an 18 by 14 foot room, door closed.
Burn quality
20%
Full melt pool, tunneling, soot, wick behaviour, end residue.
Cold throw
15%
Scent from an unlit candle at arm's length, lid removed.
Value
15%
Performance and residual value per dollar, not raw cheapness.
Design
15%
Vessel, label, and whether the object survives the wax.
Sustainability
10%
Wax source, packaging waste, and what happens to the vessel.

Questions

Quick answers

Which candle brand has the strongest scent throw?

Diptyque, at 26 feet measured in an 18 by 14 foot room. Lumond is second at 24 feet and is the strongest pure soy candle we have tested.

Which candle brand is the best value?

Yankee Candle on raw cost per hour at $0.24, roughly a third of the next cheapest. Voluspa at $0.53 is the better buy if you want the vessel to look like something.

Which candle burns the cleanest?

Le Labo. Three units, 178 logged hours, no tunneling, no visible soot and a single wick trim across an entire 60 hour burn.

Read the full reviews