Jennifer Lopez swears by a warm and woody candle that sells for over $500 – the calming fragrance is a favorite among celebrities and designers

Jennifer Lopez's design-led favorite candle has a staggering price tag, but given it's cult-favorite status, the masculine scent could be worth it

Jennifer Lopez
(Image credit: Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

In 2015, The New York Times referred to Le Labo's Santal 33 fragrance as 'that perfume you smell everywhere.' It was an immediate cult classic among stylish millennials, embraced by the likes of Alexa Cheung, Justin Bieber, and Emma Roberts. Though the bubble has burst slightly on Santal 33 as a personal fragrance, the popularity of Santal 26 (Le Labo's home version of the scent) is still going strong.

Jennifer Lopez was an early adopter of the Le Labo home scent. She talks about her best candle with Marie Claire, explaining: 'There’s something about having it in a room that makes everything feel extra warm and cozy.' The Kit reports that she ordered several hundred Santal 26 candles per month when the fragrance was first released. It's easy to imagine the scent as a signature in Lopez's home: a mix of sandalwood, cardamom, iris, amber, cedar, and leather.

Although the candle technically emerged before the perfume, its continued popularity is evidence of the longevity of interior design trends over their fashion counterparts. We've spotted the large version of the candle, which comes in a huge concrete vessel, in the homes of Blake Lively and Taylor Swift. Though it's not inexpensive, the container allows JLo's preferred fragrance to function as both a scent and a decor object.

If you want to scent your home like JLo but are interested in a lower price point, the smaller versions of the Santal 33 candle are a great option. Alternatively, clever perfumers, like the team at Salt & Stone have created similar scents with slightly different formulas.


If warm, woody fragrances are for you, then you just might want to scent your home like Jennifer Lopez with Santal 26.


Sophie Edwards
News Editor

Sophie is a London-based News Editor at Homes & Gardens, where she works on the Celebrity Style team. She is fascinated by the intersection of design and popular culture and is particularly excited when researching trends or interior history. Sophie is an avid pop culture fan. As an H&G editor, she has interviewed the likes of Martha Stewart, Hilary Duff, and the casts of Queer Eye and Selling Sunset. Before joining Future Publishing, Sophie worked as the Head of Content and Communications at Fig Linens and Home, a boutique luxury linens and furniture brand. She has also written features on exciting developments in the design world for Westport Magazine. Sophie has an MSc from the Oxford University Department of Anthropology and a BA in Creative Writing and Sociology from Sarah Lawrence College.