Why 2020 was the year of the celebrity candle and how they'll make your home lit
When Gwyneth Paltrow tried to sell us a candle with the scent of her vagina, and later her orgasm, at first we laughed. We turned up our noses and then, ofc... it completely sold out.
It must have been then that Hollywood sniffed out a business opportunity.
If you can put your name to fragrance, hoodies, hats, lipsticks, calendars and phone covers, goddamn, you can stick it on a scented candle.
By now, celebrity perfumes - a huge merchandising opportunity of the Noughties (Britney Spears Curious was iconic) - are now officially passé. Stars like Paris Hilton, Justin Bieber and Jennifer Lopez have made an absolute fortune on releasing fragrances in their name for the last two decades but the market has become kind of saturated.
This year though, the 'celebrity candle' became a rising homeware trend, with the likes of Drake, Kylie Jenner and Anthony Hopkins (yes, really) jumping at the chance to release votives in their names.
Taylor Swift is the latest. No stranger to the perfume market - remember Wonderstruck? - the musician released Eyes Full Of Stars, a soy candle with a forest fragrance to coincide with the release of her surprise ninth album, Evermore. Despite being priced at £40 for pre-order on her official website, it's already being marketed on eBay for almost double the price, 13 weeks in advance. We can sniff a trend coming on.
Perhaps the most unlikely releases were from pop gents Harry Styles and Drake. On Harry's merch store, the Adore You prayer candle is available to purchase for just under £16 - you lucky things - whereas Drake has gone the whole hog and launched a legit fragrance company, the Better World Fragrance House (BWFH).
For it, he's captured his own signature scent with, Carby Musk, which will be available as a fragrance and a candle in 2021. Apparently, it smells like amber, cashmere, suede, velvet and, oh yeah, money. Already BWFH has a following of 29k on Instagram and they're yet to post a single update about what is in the works.
Ever a nose for a great business opportunity, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner have also added candles to their already-successful beauty lines. A total no-brainer.
Nevertheless, that doesn't explain why Hollywood actor Anthony Hopkins has moved into the fragrance space in 2020. Branded 'AH,' his candle range features a Sandalwood fragrance, Amber Noir and Gardenia Tuberose, which even come as diffuser sets that we can totally see inside our homes.
So when it comes to a celeb-scented candle trend, why now?
Well, it just so happened that we spent more time than ever in our homes in 2020. It's been the year that we tried our best with home decor, even gardening, to make our houses seem more habitable for just about any occasion, whether it was working, socialising (digitally, of course) or disconnecting.
Disconnecting was one of the trickier parts (see also, working from home) therefore 'self-care' came up time and time again. Run a bath, read a book, light a candle. Now it all makes scents...
So, in the name of wellness, here we round up the celebrities candles that are sure to make your home lit.
