These so-called Jo Malone dupe candles from Aldi caused a bit of a frenzy, selling out in minutes, when they were first released as a weekly special in March. Thanks to all the candle madness, the company have now decided to keep them as a permanent part of their range.
They were still causing a mini-kerfuffle when I visited my local Aldi on Saturday. I had to race a few determined-looking women to get to them.
The reason for the frenzy is that the scents and design of Aldi candles, as you can see above, are very obviously inspired by the Jo Malone range. But Jo Malone candles cost £44, whereas the Aldi offering is a mere £3.99.
There are three candles in the Aldi range:
- No 1 – Lime, Basil and Mandarin – same name as the Jo Malone equivalent
- No 2 – Blackberry Bay – a cunning twist on the Jo Malone one called Blackberry & Bay
- No 3 – Pomegranate Noir – once again, same name as the JM version. Clearly copyright is not an issue when naming candles.
Each Aldi candle has two wicks and burns for up to 48 hours. Although they’re smaller (200g versus Aldi’s 300g), the Jo Malone candles have an almost identical burn time of 45 hours, so that tells you straight away that the ingredients are different. But of course, they would be at that price.
Both candles have a clear glass container, understated label and metal lid. What you lose out on in the dupe version is the presentation. Jo Malone candles come box-wrapped and beautifully presented, tied with themed ribbon. If you buy them in store they probably give you a kitten to stroke as well.
Aldi’s candle offering amounts to this sad sight, next to the bleach and washing up liquid.
Bleak, innit? But then what do you expect for £3.99?
Actually, for the money the Aldi candles are not bad at all. I bought all three for a total spend of £11.97. Had I bought their Jo Malone brethren, I would have spent £132. So on the surface it’s a saving of £120.
Except it’s not, because what kind of crazy ass spends £132 on candles? Not me, that’s for sure. If anything, I’m £12 down because I didn’t actually need three new candles. I just got caught up in all the ‘Jo Malone candle dupe’ hysteria, on account of being nosy as fuck.
Scent-wise, I guess the polite way to describe the Aldi scents is subtle. In other words, they hardly smell of anything. But some people prefer a good looking candle without a strong scent so they might be for you.
Normally if I burn a scented candle in my basement office, the aroma wafts up through the house. I’ve got all three of these Aldi candles lit on my desk right now to get the same effect. Out of the three, No 2 Blackberry Bay is giving off the strongest scent.
So are these actually Jo Malone candle dupes? In many ways, no. Are they a decent enough candle in themselves? Yes, I think so. They’re a nice treat for yourself or a gift for somebody who’s not too snooty about candles.
Product details
The Jo Malone candle dupes (as we must call them for SEO purposes) are only available from Aldi stores and are not available online.