Why Are Nest Candles So Expensive? There’s A Few Reasons.

Why are Nest candles so expensive? It’s a question I’ve been asked by many friends and readers alike.

“They’re luxury candles, they’re higher quality”. Is what I usually tell people because it’s an easy answer.

But today I was sitting there thinking about it and I asked myself… what is it really that makes Nest candles more expensive? What goes into luxury candles? What makes them higher quality? I decided to do some more research and here is what I found…

Nest candles and other luxury candle brands are more pricey for a combination of reasons. The short answer as to why these candles are more expensive has to do with the luxury brand recognition, more expensive ingredients, more complex and honed fragrances, sometimes more hand-made touches, and fancier packaging.

We’ll go into each of these reasons more in depth for a better explanation below.

How expensive are Nest candles?

When it comes to Nest candles, they are actually priced on the lower end when compared to other luxury candles.

Just for a quick comparison, here is the price breakdown between a few common luxury candles and their price per ounce. These are all in similar sizes because cost per ounce will go down with most as you go with larger candles. There’s a tip if you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck!

It’s pretty surprising to see how much variation there is in price when it comes to candles.

With brands like Voluspa and Nest, it’s kind of like the bridge between luxury and mainstream consumer brands.

When you get to the higher end candles such as Fornasetti however, I would compare purchasing with that of buying a piece of art. You’re paying for the artist name, the design, the smell, the entire experience. It’s art in a different form.

Still, you may be saying to yourself, “$42 for a candle is super expensive!”.

I’m not going to argue with you there. It is pricey. But so are $1000 handbags. Or $500 shoes.

There are luxury products in just about every area in our lives. It’s perfectly okay if you don’t find these items to be worth the costs. But if you do, you are most likely looking for something with some kind of uniqueness to it. That wow factor.

So what is that wow factor when it comes to Nest and their candles?

The elegance of Nest candles and their packaging

Lets start with the obvious.

Nest products look excellent across the board. The packaging, with it’s racing striped boxes, surrounded by stitch patterns, look subtle but elegant. The candles themselves all come in the same jars (depending on the size) each distinguished by their own unique patterns or etched glass.

I don’t know how else to put it but it just looks luxurious. In my head I picture these candles fitting in perfectly with homes done by interior decorators.

But is a fancy design all there is to it? I know lots of people wouldn’t buy an expensive candle just because it looks nice.

Well… no. This fancier packaging most definitely give nest candles a higher cost for them to produce, but it’s not everything that factors into the price.

So what else do these candles have going for them?

Laura Slatkin owns Nest candles. Yes, that Slatkin.

Time for a quick history lesson. Bare with me.

Many candle fans out there have probably heard of Slatkin & Co and their candles. If you haven’t heard that name before, Slatkin & Co was a brand that created some very popular candles years ago. The candles gained a near cult following with people praising them for their scents and fragrance throw which were among the best in the industry.

Harry Slatkin and wife Laura, the owners of the company, sold the fragrance company to L Brands inc. Harry went on to work under that retailers brand, Bath and Body Works. It is said that he played a big part in improving their candles – which were nowhere near as good as they are today – with the help of his candle recipes and further experimentation which the brand allowed him to do. Clearly those recipes must have had something to them because Bath and Body Works candles grew year over year and are absolutely huge today.

What does this have to do with Nest candles though?

When Slatkin & Co was sold, Laura Slatkin decided to branch off and start her own brand of luxury candles which of course is Nest fragrances. You can be sure that they infuse their magic into both brands of candles, and with a proven track record like that, it’s safe to say that many people trust the name.

Now how about the candles themselves…

What are Nest candles made of? How does it affect the price?

Nest doesn’t share the full list of ingredients that go into making their candles. They like to keep their recipe secret and out of the hands of copycats. Which is fair enough I suppose. They have refined this method of making candles for around 20 years now and it has gotten them where they are today.

With that said, we do know some things about their candles. They use a food grade paraffin wax as a base for their candles. They will mix in other ingredients as needed to optimize the burn and up the fragrance throw. What these ingredients are? We’re not exactly sure. According to the frequently asked questions on their website, these are ” commonly known FDA-approved ingredients “.

Personally, I think that the biggest cost to make Nest candles comes from the fragrance oils that they use to scent their candles.

While many candle companies these days make it a point to only use natural ingredients in their candles, Nest is open about their use of synthetic fragrance oils. They come from a perfumery background and believe that the synthetic oils can produce stronger, more complex, longer lasting scents that yield consistent results.

These luxury candle perfumers are trying to capture a special moment with their fragrances. They often go above and beyond your typical ‘sugar cookie’ or ‘very berry’ candle scents. They balance notes that you might not expect and often create scents you may have never experienced before.

In an interview with Business Insider, Fabianne Mauny , CEO of Diptyque – another luxury candle maker – said on the subject:

“If you look at the market for someone, you cannot say that Diptyque is an expensive brand. On the contrary, we are on the right level for a product of such high quality,”

They say that with the high cost of their fragrance oils and how much more difficult it is to make scent hold in wax compared to perfumes, that their candles aren’t even priced that high considering the cost and effort to produce them.

This must be a major factor in what is driving the cost of luxury candles like Nest up.

So are Nest Candles Worth It? Will you notice a huge difference from what you are buying now?

Nest candles are great. We’ve tried a bunch of them and have recommended them on our blog before. Personally, I think they are worth it. I don’t have the money to constantly be buying and burning them, however. But I do appreciate them.

I know that a lot of what makes luxury candles nice to have is the same with other luxury items, it feels like a status thing. It can be nice to have nice things sometimes. And the luxury brand recognition does play a big part in it all.

To be honest, you may not notice a huge difference in some luxury candles. I know that a lot of people that are having trouble deciding if they should buy these candles get them super hyped up in their heads and then are let down when they finally purchase them.

Some things that I recommend if you are a first time buyer…

• Buy at least the triple wick size of candle from Nest. I know that this post is about how pricey these candles are, but the bigger candles are just better. You might think that getting the mini candles is a good idea if you are trying to save money but they really don’t throw fragrance the way the bigger candles do. If you buy an expensive candle, you want to at least smell it. Triple wicks usually just burn better as well.
• Visit a store that carries Nest candles. Smell them all. Be sure that you actually like the scent before ordering these expensive candles online.
• Decide how important home fragrance is to you. If you are having trouble justifying the price tag, maybe you don’t need it.
• Read reviews online before purchasing one. Hopefully we can help you out there! We often share some lists of our current favorite candles in posts like this. We also do some individual luxury candle reviews from time to time that you can find here.
• If you do buy a nest candle, or any candle for that matter, follow the instructions and burn it properly to get the longest burn time out of it. Keep the wick trimmed and make sure the first burn forms a full melt pool so it doesn’t tunnel.

I hope this post helped in unraveling why these candles are so expensive and if they are for you or not. I’ll leave you with a video by Youtuber Drew Yauch below. He does a great job of going over the newer fragrances that have come out from nest candles.

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