Pumpkin Candles

Pumpkin candles split into two camps, and the difference is worth knowing before you light one. On the gourmand side, pumpkin meets brown sugar, chai, and cream until it reads like something baking; on the dry side, the squash gets pulled back and clove, nutmeg, and cardamom carry the room. The best of them never tip into dessert. They stay warm rather than sweet, which is what lets a good pumpkin candle burn every night from September to Thanksgiving without wearing out its welcome.

Our pumpkin shelf leans luxury: Nest's Pumpkin Chai is the one that empties the shelf every October, layering pumpkin with cardamom and ginger so it lands spiced instead of sugary. P.F. Candle Co.'s Spiced Pumpkin takes the West Coast route with brown sugar and nutmeg in clean-burning soy at a gentler price, and Voluspa's Spiced Pumpkin Latte brews kabocha pumpkin with ginger and coconut for the coffee-shop version of the scent. For the full spread of warm-spice scents beyond pumpkin, the spice candles shelf runs saffron, clove, and incense year-round, and the wider fall candle collection covers apple, orchard, and harvest. Prefer your pumpkin with the chai turned all the way up? The full Nest Pumpkin Chai range carries it across every format, from votive to four-wick.

The Best Pumpkin Candle

If you buy one, make it Nest's Pumpkin Chai: 2,785 sold and counting at our West Hollywood shop, and the pick our floor reaches for first when someone asks for “the pumpkin one.” For soy and a softer price, P.F. Candle Co.'s Spiced Pumpkin is the value play at $24. And for the pumpkin-spice-latte crowd, Voluspa's Spiced Pumpkin Latte is the closest a candle gets to the cup.