Peony fragrances are everywhere in spring, and five makers have a candle that gets the flower right in five different ways, so choosing can take a little thought.
Table of Contents
Peony is a wonderful and feminine flower that is dearly loved. The flower features delicate petals in grand abundance.
Why peony fragrances are so loved
A peony is a lush, many petaled flower, and it smells soft and slightly sweet. A good peony candle should capture that cushiony quality. The Wikipedia article on the peony covers the plant itself if you are curious about its history.
Every maker takes a different road to the same flower. Some go watery, some go powdery, some go rose like. That is why I like to compare them.
Peony fragrances also change with the burn. A watery floral can start crisp and settle into something creamier, so give any candle an hour before you decide.
The peony fragrances in this roundup came from our 2011 shelf, and new ones appear every spring, so check the makers for the latest.
Peony fragrances suit spring best, but they are welcome all year.
Nest and Red Flower
Nest Peony Blanche blends peony with jasmine, magnolia and lily, plus a watery touch. It is a soft floral that is still strong in the room, and the pink wax and packaging make it a pretty gift.
Red Flower went looking for the most distinctive fragrance from each region and chose peony from Japan. The Japanese Peony is powdery and natural, and the big candle comes topped with petals that you remove before burning. The large size lasts about 50 hours, and the little one an impressive 15.
Burn time is worth comparing too. A candle that lasts 50 hours is a different purchase from one that lasts 15, and the little Red Flower is for sampling a scent, not for keeping a room perfumed all week.
Petals on top of a candle are pretty but they are not meant to burn. Remove them, as the maker says, and set them aside as decoration.
The range of peony fragrances in 2011 was wider than ever.
K. Hall, Lafco and Trapp
K. Hall Designs focuses on natural single note scents. Their peony smells like soft, velvety petals, a bit like rose, and it also comes as a diffuser and refill.
Lafco’s Duchess Peony from the Powder Room range arrives in a beautiful pink hand blown glass vessel that lasts about 100 hours. Hand blown glass makes the jar a keepsake long after the wax is gone.
Trapp Pure Peony arrived earlier in 2011 and is a very watery floral built on the vintage idea of the flower. It comes in 5 and 7 ounce candles and as a votive.
Burn times and sizes are from the original listing in 2011, so check each maker’s page for current details. The notes also come from the makers’ own descriptions.
Whichever of the peony fragrances you pick, check the maker’s page for current sizes.
How to pick among peony fragrances
Start by deciding how powdery you want to go. Red Flower is the most powdery, Trapp and Nest are the watery ones, and the K. Hall one is the most rose like.
Lafco is as much a vessel as a scent.
If you want to read more, our post on K. Hall Designs Peony Fragrance looks at one of these in depth, and our Nest Spring Fest giveaway shows what we did with the Nest one. I would love to hear which of these peony fragrances is your favorite.
It is nice to have so many choices. Peony fragrances suit spring weddings, Mother’s Day tables and any bedroom that could use a soft floral.
If you are giving one as a gift, ask yourself whether the person likes powdery or watery florals, and let that decide.
Peony fragrances reward patience, so give each one a full evening.
Header photo: George Chernilevsky, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
