Things We Love: Candles and Incense

• Posted on 21 November 2023

At GoodWood, we love aromatic Goodies. Not only do they work as decorative and mood-boosting staples for your home or office, they also make for great gifts. We use them ourselves daily at the shop and enjoy opportunities to add to our collection of candles and incense in the hopes they’ll spark your interest, too.  

Cue the Candles

Candles are a mainstay of many cultures, homes and workspaces for a reason. There’s arguably no easier way to help lift your mood than through the simple act of lighting a candle. The combination of soft light, scent, and ritual has a way of helping us calm the mind, let go of stress and slow down. In addition to these mental health benefits, candles are also a fun and versatile way to decorate a space or celebrate a special occasion and are as unique as the people who use them. 

Have a stressful day at work? Scented candles from Barcelona-based Cerabella Candles are wick-edly relaxing. Want to dig into an alluring new paperback? Stunning tapers from Pink Stories and The Floral Society will bring your concentration game to its wax-imum capacity. All jokes aside, candles are visually appealing, come with a slew of mood-enhancing capabilities, and are available in an endless variety of colors, styles, shapes, and scents.

Light Up Your Living Spaces 

Candles make great accents for just about any space - not only are they aesthetically pleasing, they’re also functional:

Tabletops: Candle centerpieces are a must for dining tables, side tables, and coffee tables alike. We enjoy mixing different shapes and styles with other decorative elements like flowers, photos, or curios to create a layered effect.

Kitchen: Your kitchen can house an array of aromas, both good and bad, and a well-placed candle can complement your home baking or help dispel any cooking mishaps.

Bedside: Your bedroom is meant to be a haven for relaxation and sleep, and candles can be a great addition to your bedtime ritual or to set the mood for you and your partner.

Bathroom: Adding a few candles around your bathroom can help elevate your bath time routine, giving you a more spa-like experience from the comfort of your home. 

Mantle or Fireplace: We love to elevate the elegance of a mantle with stately pillars or tapered candles styled with vintage brass candlesticks; however, an eclectic assortment of large candles can also work well as a replacement for a fire in your fireplace. Not only do they look great, but they're also less messy and less work than laying a fire.  

Home Office or Reading Nook: Candles aren’t just great for stress relief; they can also improve your focus and fight brain fog, so adding a candle to your desk or a side table in your reading nook can be a great way to help optimize your environment.    right scent can help spark your mental acuity and focus. 

Light The Incense 

Incense comes in a variety of forms, styles, and longevity. From quick-burning sticks and cone incense to long-burning coils, incense packs a lot of punch in a tiny package. In addition to improving memory and sleep quality, incense has been proven to burn a hole in stress and anxiety and purify its surroundings. And when paired with a decorative plate, cup, or holder, it can also add character and interest to your living spaces.

Incense Insight

Depending on your purpose and room size, burning the right form of incense is crucial to maximizing its benefits.

Stick Incense: Wildly popular and perfected by the likes of Nippon Kodo, stick incense is found in seemingly endless aromas. We like the versatility that incense sticks provide, as they can be cut as needed to adjust burning time, and their uniform thickness allows scents to be released gradually and evenly. 

Cone Incense: Cone incense, like those available from Commonwealth Provisions, has a fragrance that progressively grows in strength as the burning portion scales the length of the cone. They work well for providing fragrance quickly and are a great option if you have a compact shelf space. 

Coil Incense: Best burned in large areas with high foot traffic, coil incense has a long burning time that makes it effective for large or outdoor spaces. 

Interested in incorporating candles or incense into your home, but not sure where to start? Stop by the store, and we’d be happy to help you craft your own collection of scents and styles to match your space.