Don’t Waste Your Time on Any Other Holiday Candle

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The first thing I do the day after Thanksgiving is pull out a candle and light it. Not just any candle, mind you, no. It is the Nest holiday candle, and it comes in a fuzzy, velvet-like red and gold box. Called simply “Holiday,” it’s become a tradition for me and my family. This year, I even caught my 12-year-old son sniffing it (unlit, thankfully) when he walked by it. Nest has other holiday candles like “Birchwood Pine” and “Sugar Cookie” that are also lovely, but none can, uh, hold a candle to “Holiday.”

It’s not a challenging, complex, snobby fragrance. It smells like a combination of pine, spices, and citrus, all perfectly blended. And it doesn’t have that sickly sweet fake smell that some holiday candles have. It also has a subtle scent when it’s unlit that you definitely notice when you walk into the room, but you must really light it to bask in its full glory. Every cheesy Christmas carol, even that rum-pum-pum-pum one, will suddenly make you teary-eyed.

It comes in a multitude of sizes for all your needs. There is the small two-ounce version ($16) that makes a lovely hostess gift; the standard eight-ounce size ($40) that I can make last three weeks even if I burn it for a few hours every evening after work; the three-wick 21-ounce version ($64) suitable for McMansions or people who want to be engulfed in the scent; and the wine bucket-sized 77-ounce behemoth ($250).

Now go and get in the Holiday spirit.

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