California Coastal Spotlight: Ventura
Your guide to the top things to do in the city of Ventura, a gorgeous coastal city offering outdoor adventure and a laid-back lifestyle.
Once you get a whiff, you’ll know it’s love at frost sight with the best Christmas candles from the Golden State.
Prepared to swap out all your favorite fall flavors and pumpkin spice products? Ready or not, winter is coming, and what gets you in the spirit better than the oh-so-comforting smell of icy wonderland! There are so many great scents that tap into the magic of the season; think balsam, pine, warm embers, baked gingerbread cookies, and even hints of fresh mint. Once you get a whiff, you’ll know it’s love at frost sight with the best Christmas candles from the Golden State.
To help you get in the festive spirit—matching couple’s PJs, fuzzy socks, and ugly (but somehow always cozy) sweaters—we’ve rounded up the best Christmas scents from California. Perfect for gifting and keeping, these candles will also double as holiday trimmings for your windows or mantel decor.
Cream Candle Co.’s Apple Harvest is a true and ripe apple fragrance combined with bright fruit notes, perfected with just a touch of spice. With its year-round appeal—it isn’t reserved just for the holidays—this candle is going to remind you of the joys of apple picking. It’s a scent you didn’t know you needed, but won’t be able to live without. Infused with natural essential oils like cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, orange, and cedarwood, this delight will be the perfect pairing to your holiday playlist since both put you right in the merry mood.
Sandalwood and cedar notes collide in Voluspa’s Baltic Amber, also known as the best smelling Christmas candle out there right now. And the best thing about it (besides the unforgettable scent, of course) is that once the wax is gone, you can use the etched glass jar on your vanity to corral bits and baubles all year long.
Wintery nights, lingering bonfires, wool jackets in endless rotation—P.F. Candle co really knows how to make your Christmas dreams come true. And with their Piñon Soy candle, you’ll be able to enjoy hints of cedar and vanilla dancing through the air as you deck your tree. Their 7.2-ouncers (the standard for this item) are hand poured into apothecary-inspired amber jars and fit in with almost any decor; dressers, countertops, nightstands, you name it.
Slow Burn, a rich and beautifully complex wood scent is the best-selling collab between artist and ally Kacey Musgraves and Boy Smells. Glowing in the dark, incense, black pepper, and guaiac wood take center stage with whiffs of embers in the distance. A little dank, a little crisp; accords of smoked papyrus and amber add an earthy expensiveness. The ‘scentiment’ of Slow Burn is about pausing along your festivities and finding a moment to relax and enjoy all the things you have in your life.
What smells like blue spruce and patchouli and feels like walking through an enchanted forest during the first snow? Apothenne L.A.’s Emerald Forest. This wonderful blend has extra hints of rose, fir, and sandalwood and pairs well with the Mariah Carey Christmas album, cozy sweaters, and kissing under the mistletoe.
Redefining the meaning of ‘eco-chic, Stone Candles are always made from grade-certified coconut oil. Their hand-crafted candles provide the cleanest burn available and are among the first sustainable wax alternatives to hit the market. Get their Daniel Stone Fir Balsam and fill your home with the best Christmas scents you can possibly imagine.
The resinous combination of sacred Japanese cypress and jasmine petals is uniquely wrapped in this Hinoki Fantôme candle by Boy Smells. This scent is best described as complex, balanced, and meditative—it’s warm and meditative with an element of earthy spice and soft woodland moss. A best-seller and an absolute Christmas treat, this scent is a necessity to invigorate the senses.
Barratt Riley and Co’s signature body of work is a collection of handcrafted botanical aromas made of premium ingredients sourced ethically from around the globe. Their aromatic formulations for the home and body appeal to the senses in a way you’ve never imagined—the profound powers of the scent can evoke memories, dreams, and emotions while transforming physical space. This is one of their best Christmas-scented candles, with hints of cypress, thyme, and fire needle.
Dash almond extract, light cream, gala apple sun-ripened raspberries, clover honey, and vanilla extract—Stone Candles products are made from reclaimed wine and water bottles and sourced from local recycling centers. Your eco-friendly dream is coming true this Christmas and we recommend going with the Eggnog scent named Mistletoe 17 that comes in a reclaimed wine bottle. This scent provides an amazing, clean-burning festive feel and allows the fragrances to dance around your house without any distortion.
Fresh and floral, the Voluspa Gilt Pomander and Hinoki Candle carries a hint of the holidays no matter the vibe. It’s one of the best-smelling Christmas candles you can find from the brand; it’s festive and cozy enough to get you into the spirit, but easily adapts to post-holiday use as well. Voluspa’s candles also come in seven sizes from travel tin to large five-wick jars as well as reed diffusers. This candle comes in a classic embossed glass jar design with a discerning Japanese inspiration. Beautiful hues glimmer as the flame illuminates the delicacy of it all. You’ll love using the jar for jewelry, flowers, or decor long after it has burned its 100 hours.
Searching for the best pine-scented candles in California? Look no further than Hazel Candle Co’s California Pine. A unique blend crafted to smell exactly like a walk in a pine-filled forest on a beautiful winter morning, this candle is an absolute must-have. Made with pine needle, balsam, fir, amber, and moss, the California Pine contains no additives or harmful chemicals; it’s hand-poured in the Golden State with 100-percent natural soy wax.
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Your guide to the top things to do in the city of Ventura, a gorgeous coastal city offering outdoor adventure and a laid-back lifestyle.
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