Brits are rushing to buy this £1.99 Aldi candle that smells just like The White Company

99 candle that, according to shoppers, smells strikingly similar to a luxury favourite from The White Company. The price is tiny. The buzz is huge. Is it a true dupe or just a lovely illusion you want to believe before payday?

I first noticed it on a drizzly Tuesday, outside an Aldi where the automatic doors kept breathing warm air onto the queue. People weren’t just shopping. They were hunting. Inside, a soft, clean fragrance hung over the middle aisle like a secret passed from trolleys to baskets. A woman in a camel coat lifted a small glass jar, closed her eyes, and smiled to herself. “That’s The White Company, I swear,” she whispered to her friend, already reaching for two more.

On the end cap, a neat tower of candles with understated labels. On the screen of my phone, a flood of TikToks from Manchester to Maidstone showing the same thing: a £1.99 Aldi candle that smells like a spendy signature. We’ve all had that moment where your home smells like a hotel for a fraction of the bill. This felt like one of those moments in a jar. Then the whisper started.

The £1.99 scent causing a quiet frenzy

Walk into certain Aldi stores this week and you’ll clock the pattern. A hush near the middle aisle, a cluster of shoppers sniffing lids, that quick nod of recognition when a scent hits a memory. The £1.99 candle isn’t loud on the shelf. White label. Simple font. No fluff. Yet the fragrance — fresh, airy, slightly beachy with a soft musk — has people saying it’s a dead ringer for a beloved blend from **The White Company**. No affiliation, no official claim. Just noses making the link.

One commuter told me she popped in “for milk and bread” and left with six candles wrapped in paper towels like precious eggs. On TikTok, a clip showing the tiny jar next to a £20-plus luxe lookalike pulled 240,000 views in two days, comments full of “Run, don’t walk.” Facebook community groups posted timestamps of restocks: 9:12 in Leeds, 8:46 in Poole, 10:03 in Stirling. There’s something about snagging a small luxury for a coin-and-chatter price that lights up the brain.

So why this one? Scent is memory, and British noses know their upscale signatures. Say “Seychelles” and half the room can smell suncream and clean linen. That’s the silhouette people are catching here: coconut husk, amber warmth, a breezy citrus lift. The Aldi jar leans into that easy-breezy profile without shouting. In a cost-of-living squeeze, the psychology is simple. A home that smells posh feels calmer. A treat at **£1.99** doesn’t trip the guilt wire. It’s not just a candle. It’s a mood hack you can hold in your palm.

How to find it — and burn it like a pro

First, timing. Stock tends to land midweek, with pockets of new boxes wheeled out through the morning. Head for the middle aisle and look for small, minimal-glass jars with fresh, coastal-leaning names. The label is unfussy, not flashy. Pick up the single wick; it’s the tiny one people are raving about. Take the lid off and let the air hit it for a few seconds before sniffing — that’s the truest read. If you spot a three-wick sibling at a higher price, great, but the viral buzz is tied to the baby jar.

Burning matters. To avoid tunnelling, let the first burn reach a full melt pool edge-to-edge — usually 1.5 to 2 hours on a small jar. Trim the wick to around 5 mm before each light to keep the flame clean and the scent balanced. Keep it away from draughts, which can make it burn hot and mute the fragrance. Let’s be honest: nobody baby-sits a candle for two hours every night. Do it on the first burn and you’re golden. After that, keep sessions to 2–3 hours to extend the life.

People make the same mistakes: lighting it for ten minutes and wondering why it smells faint, parking it by an open window, or moving it room to room while it’s lit. Best practice is boring and works. Lift the mood, not the burn rate. If you’re curious about the “dupe” debate, try what perfumers do: smell cold, then warm, then step out of the room and back in after five minutes. That re-entry tells the truth.

“I’ve got the real Seychelles at home and this one in the hallway. Walk past quickly and I can’t tell which is which,” said Kira, 34, laughing as she grabbed two more. “Up close, the pricey one’s richer. But this does the job.”

• Trim the wick to 5 mm before lighting.
• First burn: let it pool to the edge (1.5–2 hours).
• Place it chest-height in a stable, draught-free spot.
• Extinguish with a snuffer to keep soot low.
• Rotate between two candles to avoid nose fatigue.

The bigger story a tiny candle tells

This rush isn’t just about scent twins. It’s about small wins in a long week. A flat that smells like a boutique guest room changes the temperature of your evening. A £20 look for pocket change makes people feel savvy, connected, in on something. There’s also community in the chase: WhatsApp pings, “Got it!” pics, little victories shared across cities. **Seychelles** or not, the Aldi jar is tapping into that soft power of home — tidy, warm, quietly well-kept — without asking you to skimp on dinner. And if the store near you is out today, someone is probably posting a restock tip at this very moment.

FAQ :

• Does the £1.99 Aldi candle really smell like The White Company?Shoppers say it’s strikingly similar to certain beachy-clean blends, though it’s not identical and not affiliated.
• Which scent is it compared to?Fans mention a “Seychelles-style” vibe — coconut, warm amber, airy citrus — rather than an exact match.
• When is the best time to find it in stock?Midweek mornings see the freshest drops. Ask staff about delivery days in your local store.

li>How can I make a small candle smell stronger?Create a full melt pool on the first burn, use smaller rooms, and keep it away from draughts.

• Is this an official dupe?No. It’s a budget-friendly candle with a familiar profile. Any similarity is anecdotal and subjective.