20 Candles That Will Instantly Improve Your Home (and Mood) This Winter

Candles are basically magic. People try to undercut them as a shitty play-it-safe gift but this is simply flattening the experience of what it means to give and to receive a candle. Don't get us wrong—a cheap candle from the bodega that you give your aunt or your office Secret Santa can be a play-it-safe gift. But that assumes that you picked it up thoughtlessly or regifted it or some other form of nonstrategic gift buying. This is not the way it has to be.

A good candle (a good candle) is truly a game-changer for your home, and by extension, your life. Spark up a fancy candle and feel instantly transported back in time, to a memory you’d long forgotten of a place that gives you peace and joy. Or incorporate a special scent into your self-care routine, lighting a meditative candle as you unwind from the day. Any way you want to do it, with the flick of a lighter or spark of a match, candles make a room feel instantly better.

Fun candles are a whole movement unto themselves after spending so much time at home, too. Not only are candles smelling good, an essential, but they are also looking cool, too. There are candles coming in fun shapes and sizes, and ones that are housed inside creative jars that you can clean out and use as home decor when the wax runs out. Here, 20 of the coolest candles you can buy right now.