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When fire engine red, gloriously knobby heirloom tomatoes begin to appear on stands at farmers markets in the summer months, that’s when it starts to feel like anything is possible.
Go ahead. Pick one up to get a whiff of its zingy, vegetal aroma. Maybe give it a light squeeze (but not too hard!). The sun is shining, overcast-induced depression is long forgotten, and earth’s vibrant bounty is simply begging to be transformed into some kind of mouthwatering, no-fuss meal.
Tomato season, like many good things, is fleeting. Luckily, there are more than a few tomato-scented candles on the market to fill your home with their life-affirming aroma. In recent years tomato has become the It girl scent of the moment for fragrance companies. Luxury fashion house Loewe’s tomato candle inspired a flurry of press coverage, and Flamingo Estate’s version was so popular it inspired the company to release tomato room sprays, cleaning products, and hand soaps. Tomato scents are more than a moment—they’re a movement.
But which tomato candles are worth the price and which will leave you burned (sorry)? That’s the question we sought to answer in our extensive sniff test. We gathered nine of the most popular tomato-scented candles on the market, and put them through a rigorous testing process to determine which were the absolute best.
Unlike our typical taste tests, we knew that we’d have to keep all the products separate from each other as we tested to make sure our testers would get an unadulterated sniff of each candle’s smell. To accomplish that, we tested the candles in a ventilated space, keeping the group in a separate room and bringing in each candle individually to give testers an opportunity to sniff and write their notes.
As we began to make plans for testing, we knew there were a few iconic brands we had to include; Flamingo Estate, well known for its popular tomato-scented candle, was a no-brainer, as was Loewe’s version.
We curated the rest of the list of our contenders by taking stock of what other outlets and buying guides had covered previously. This gave us a good picture of which brands had been covered, and which had slipped under the radar. Finally, we scrolled through Reddit threads on r/luxurycandles and other candle-centric communities to see which brands candle lovers were raving about. We culled our list to ensure the candles we tested were in stock and widely available for purchase.
In their quest to find the ideal tomato-scented candle, our editors put their olfactory senses to the test. They evaluated each candle based on smell—first a big sniff of the candle itself, then, they used a makeshift cloche over each candle to get a whiff of the scentscape in a less direct, more diffused concentration. That second sniff allowed them to detect the more delicate overtones and undertones that might be present in each candle.
Editors were looking for a tomato candle that had an aroma that was neither too robust nor too demure. They wanted a tomato candle that smelled “fresh,”and “clean” as well as “savory” and “salty.” A great candle, they said, would have an uncanny exactitude in its recreation of the tomato scent. It should be surprising how tomato-y this candle smells, they agreed. Any waxy, dull, or perceptibly artificial notes would disqualify a contender.
While some other brands offered the option of a single wick or double wick version of their tomato-scented candle, Apotheke’s Tomato Tarragon candle is available in a double wick only—though at $54 it’s still cheaper than some smaller candles we tested. According to Apotheke, all products are handcrafted, and its two-wick tomato-scented candles have a burn time of up to 35 hours.
Why it won us over: After a few sniffs each, our testers declared that Apotheke’s Tomato Tarragon candle had an easy, breezy tomato fragrance they loved. Senior service editor Kelsey Youngman described her sniff as “clean and light,” while commerce writer Wilder Davies mentioned a pleasant “light peppery note.” Our panel of testers agreed that Apotheke’s approachable, subtle tomato scent was perhaps less aggressive than some others they smelled that day—that was a good thing. Although Apotheke’s candle didn’t offer an overwhelming punch of tomato, it did smell very uncannily like tomato. “This is the closest to a tomato we’ve gotten so far,” said associate test kitchen manager Inés Anguiano, looking up after a deep inhale of the candle’s aroma.
On its website, Diptyque compares this candle to “opening a window onto a fresh, colorful vegetable garden.” What a charming idea—especially for those of us who don’t even have vegetable gardens. But in addition to a supposedly transportive, garden-spawning scent experience, La Droguerie is billed as an “odor removing” candle. That means it eliminates unpleasant odors, particularly odors from cooking. What can’t this thing do?
Why it won us over: While some candles we tested were straight up tomato-scented or some variation thereof—tomato vine, tomato leaf—Diptyque’s La Droguerie billed itself as tomato and basil; a classic case of two scents coming together to maximize their joint slay. Wilder clocked a sunny note of basil immediately, while Kelsey noted the candle’s robust tomato leaf bouquet. Inés smelled eucalyptus and aloe in addition to an herbaceous basil and peppery tomato. All in all, the team agreed, Diptyque’s contender was tomato-centric with the bonus of basil.
Kobo’s Wild Tomato Vine candle is a part of the brand's Plant the Box line—can you guess what that means? When you’re finished with it, you can plant the box and the seeds within the packaging will eventually sprout into a baby tomato plant. Once your tomatoes start sprouting, you’re off to the races—might as well start a full garden, right?
Why it won us over: Kobo’s tomato candle received nearly unanimous positive reviews from each and every tester—a rarity in our taste tests. On first sniff, Wilder declared that it smelled like an heirloom tomato, the kind of uncanny specificity of smell we were looking for. Kelsey went so far as to describe it as “like cutting a tomato off the vine and sticking your nose in it.” Our panel noted that there was a faint sweetness, but as commerce writer Alaina Chou put it, “there’s some pepperiness in there.” Overall, Kobo checked every single box on our tomato candle wishlist.
In alphabetical order, these are other tomato-scented candles we smelled for our taste test.
Element Jardín Azteca: Our panel wanted a tomato candle that balanced sweet tomato and peppery vegetal notes, but Element’s contender overindexed on a green peppery scent.
Flamingo Estate Roma Heirloom Tomato: Although it had a pleasant floral undertone when lit, Flamingo Estate’s candle simply smelled too strong.
Loewe Tomato Leaves Candle: First sniffs revealed a truly lovely grassy, vegetal scent. In the end, our panel agreed that other contenders had a more balanced bouquet.
Malin + Goetz Tomato Candle: The tomato scent here was dialed back, according to our panel of sniffers.
Na Nin Garden Tomato Candle: Instead of a peppery-sweet tomato scent, our testers reported aromas like cinnamon and other non-vegetal scents.
Replica From the Garden Scented Candle: Although the candle’s own fragrance description describes it as “earth and tomato leaves,” testers said it smelled distinctly floral and sugary.