I've been curious about Skandinavisk candles because I've seen them a lot online and wondered if they are as good as they look. I'm a terribly picky candle person because I have these weird allergies and some candles leave me with Kanye West style migraines that make me want to head for the ER. I'm not even kidding. You can't put me around a Yankee Candle store because I'll have a massive headache all day long. And you can forget any candles that are "affordable". They usually make my throat close up and my head pound within minutes after lighting them.

So yeah, if I'm going to talk about scented candles you can believe I'm only going to brag if they are quality, good for sensitive people like me and they look great. This is why Skandinavisk candles are among the small but special group of my favorites currently on the market. I tried KØBENHAVN, HYGGE and KOTO and love all three despite how very different their scent. There they are above in my home. I've already gifted my husband with Koto, he liked that scent best. The other two are for me.

• KØBENHAVN is very fresh, it's a minimalist apartment in the city, a glass of white wine. My husband says it reminds him of the flower stands as he walked by Bryant Park in New York. It's refined. It's very metropolitan.
• KOTO is heady, evening perfume, Kyoto 京都市, in the evening during cherry blossom season. A Buddhist temple, incense burning in a Shinto shrine at dusk. A holy place, a place of peace, harmony, security.
• HYGGE is very cozy, smells a bit like Lapsang souchong (Chinese black tea) so it is a bit smokey, combined with wildflowers growing by the sea. A magical place where forest meets sea. Salty air. A vacation you never want to leave. Wrapped in a cozy sweater sitting on sandy banks facing deep blue waters.

In summary, I'm really impressed with these candles and plan to buy some for friends and to continue using them in my own home. In fact, now that Autumn is on it's way, I can't wait to change up my decor a bit to cozy it up for the cold days ahead and that always includes a few new candles - so I'm definitely going to use these for the months ago.

Please note: All products in this post are decor8 tested and approved.

(images: first, holly becker - all others, skandinavisk)