IF you want your home to smell expensive without breaking the bank, then you’re in luck.
We’ve been busy rounding up the best candle dupes you can buy, and there are some amazing scents on offer for a huge discount compared to branded items.
In one case, our top pick is over £100 cheaper than the designer version – and it smelt good too.
From Aldi to Argos and Dunelm to B&M, lots of stores are offering cheaper copies of fancy winter scents.
Reporter Lynsey Hope has picked her favourites. Here’s what she thought, as well as how much you could save…
This luxury dupe, the Oud Memoire Scented Candle, retails at H&M for just £14.99.
The Kardashians are huge fans of the Baobab candles but we don’t all have their budget.
The scent definitely isn’t as strong as the Baobab candle, it’s very light, but it did get stronger the more times I lit it. If you buying a candle for aesthetic reasons however, this is an absolute bargain.
It looks quality and if I hadn’t handed over the £14.99 myself I’d have thought it was worth far more than that.
It’s over £100 cheaper than the Baobab one. Love it and it now takes pride of place on my sideboard.
RATING: 5/5
John Lewis is selling the dupe, a Spiced Clementine and Pomegranate Scented Candle for just £8.50.
I loved the Neom inspired design of this John Lewis candle, which costs just £8.50.
The jar is pretty and it has a pleasant but not overpowering scent. It’s a shame this doesn’t come in striped glass too, as this would improve the aesthetics.
RATING: 3/5
Argos is selling a Home Christmas Spice Candle with Botanical Infusions for just £18.75, saving you £76.25.
This is a real statement piece and at a fraction of the price of some companies.
Yes, we all love The White Company, but who wants to spend £95 on a candle?
This is very similar in scent, the decoration is very pretty and it is very large – great for a centre piece.
It’s good quality, burns slowly and is lovely to look at. Excellent value.
RATING: 4/5
The No 3 Myrrh and Tonka Scented Candle at B&M will save you a whopping £66.01, retailing for just £3.99.
While the Jo Malone candle comes in black glass, this is still an attractive looking candle and the scent is spot on. It smells exactly like the Jo Malone scent, but is more than £66 cheaper.
It’s bigger too, so will last longer. I loved the smell and imagine these will sell out very quickly, so bag one if you spot one in a store.
RATING: 4/5
Shoppers can pick up Aldi’s Hotel Collection Lime, Basil and Mandarin Scented Candle for just £3.15 at Aldi.
Housed in a simple white container with a glossy silver lid, this candle definitely looks more upmarket than its price would indicate.
The design is extremely similar to the Jo Malone candle with the same scent, which retails for around £56.
Both candles have a rich, citrus scent which makes your home smell lovely – but not only is Aldi’s cheaper, it’s bigger too, weighing 335g compared to 200g, and so will last longer.
This is one of my top picks this Christmas.
RATING: 5/5
Lidl is selling a dupe of a popular Rituals candle but for a fraction of the price, retailing at £3.99.
I absolutely loved the black design of this, as it definitely looked more expensive than it was. I still can’t quite believe it cost less than £4.
The scent wasn’t terribly strong compared to the Rituals fragrance, which is warm with patchouli and rich spices, but it was pleasant and buying this version will save you over £37 compared to the original.
RATING: 3/5
![Yankee Candle Large Jar Scented Candle, Evergreen Mist, Alpine Christmas Collection, Up to 150 Hours Burn Time [Energy Class A+++].Visit the Yankee Candle Store.4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 7,772 ratings.400+ bought in past month.£28.99 with 3 percent savings-3% £28.99 £46.53 per kg(£46.53 / kg).RRP: £29.99RRP: £29.99](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/71FB4nVmVQL_AC_jpeg-JS957202438.jpg?strip=all&w=486)
This £6 Winter Tree Scented Candle is a dupe for the Yankee Candle Evergreen Mist and will save you £23.99 at Dunelm.
While Dunelm’s candle is a little on the small side, the scent was lovely with a real wintery feel.
It smelled very similar to the Yankee version and the green colour was almost identical, too.
But, despite being only £6, the small size doesn’t make this as good a bargain as I was hoping for, so doesn’t get a high rating.
RATING: 2/10
This is one of my favourite dupes – it’s a real bargain at just £6 and it’s perfect for Christmas time.
It’s a lovely decoration with a real winter-y vibe. The scent is lovely and it looks way more expensive than it is, too.
Overall, this one is a bargain – I will be stocking up for winters still to come!
RATING: 5/5
Meanwhile, it’s not just candles that you can find fantastic dupes of.
We’ve tested £5 perfume dupes to see how they match up to luxury fragrance brands like Burberry and Dior.
It comes as bargain hunters have been quick to share an iconic perfume dupe that could save shoppers nearly £70.
Found in B&M for just £3.99, the fan “favourite” eau de toilette “smells exactly the same” as the original.
White Company Lime & Bay, £20, click here / Boots Lime & Clove, £8, click here
Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay Home, £48, click here / B&M No.2 Blackberry & Bay, £3.99, click here
Diptyque’s Baies, £56, click here / Maison Louis Marie Antidris Cassis, £41, click here
Diptyque’s Jasmin Scented, £56, click here / Zara White Jasmine, £15.99, click here
Le Labo Santal 26, £68, click here / White Vetiver Classic, £33, click here
RYAN Hall will team up with Sinfield in a Leeds shirt again – definitely Jack, not ‘son of Kevin.’
The iconic winger, who has won six Super League titles at the club, has returned to Headingley after stints in Australia with Sydney Roosters and at Hull KR and found some things have not changed.
His spot in the changing room at the Rhinos’ Kirkstall training ground is the same as his first stint, his locker is the same, the surname of one of his team-mates is the same.
However, as he gets ready for his comeback after six years away in today’s trial match with Wakefield, he is ready to let the 20-year-old be his own man.
Hall, who joined Leeds’ academy when Sinfield was just two-years-old, said: “I’ve known Jack since he was a toddler but he’s earned the right to be where he is now.
“He’s there on merit. You can’t just turn up just because he has the name Sinfield and it’s good to be around him.
“Obviously, he’s very proud of his dad but I’m sure he wants to create his own story for himself. Let him be Jack, not son of Kevin.
“I’ve seen people almost judge him on what his dad’s done. That’s not very fair. Let Jack be Jack.”
Hall’s return is going back to the future. In his first stint at Leeds, they won the lot.
Since then, the Rhinos have dropped outside Super League’s top six, but boss Brad Arthur is rebuilding.
And few would be happier if they get back to the top table than self-confessed fan Hall, whose ‘farewell’ speech in 2018 rings true.
“As a fan, the last couple of years have been frustrating – we haven’t won anything,” he added. “When I was last at Leeds, we were always in and around the trophies.
“So to be eighth last season with all the resources, for them not to achieve was frustrating.
“At my last home game, I did a speech to the crowd saying, ‘One day it would be great to pull on a Leeds shirt again.’ I never said never – now it looks set to come true.
“It won’t be emotional, though, to play for Leeds again. I’ve got a job to do.
“The first day was interesting as it wasn’t like I was going into enemy territory – while I was away, I went to Kirkstall a few times.
“It was a bit odd going through the doors again but that was the first day only. Since then, I’m back in my old spot in the changing room, I’ve got my usual locker.
“I was just coming as a new player and I’d get put where I get put. It’s like, ‘You’re new. This space is available.’
“But I asked Ash Handley, ‘What’s the score?’ He said, ‘You can sit wherever you want.’
Wakefield go to Headingley as a Super League club once again following promotion – a much improved Super League club.
No longer are Trinity happy to bump around the bottom, Darryl Powell has his sights on the top six.
But so does Arthur and Hall can already tell things are set up to get there.
Hall told SunSport: “The feel around the place is different. We now do the majority of our field sessions at Headingley, which we never used to do.
“But the gym’s the same – 20kgs is still 20kgs – and we’re still aiming for the top and have the same championship mindset. I’m glad that’s still there.
“I’ve been part of some good teams, so I know what’s required and we’re training that way. We’re not just training blindly either, we’ve got some direction and purpose.
“Even this game is there for a reason. Brad’s keen to see where we’re at – it’s pretty easy to look good when you train among yourselves. It’s when you come up against someone else who’s training hard when you find out.
“Everyone seems to say the same thing – be glad we’re training hard, we know we can produce that on the field.”
FOUR Prem clubs are battling for the signature of France star Randal Kolo Muani.
Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City have been exploring a deal for the speedy Paris Saint-Germain frontman.
And Arsenal have joined the race, with winger Bukayo Saka facing more than two months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou desperately needs options given his side’s injury crisis.
And Kolo Muani’s electric pace and ability to play anywhere along the frontline appeals.
City boss Pep Guardiola wants to freshen things up given their dreadful form and a loan deal would suit both parties.
PSG are keen on an obligation-to-buy clause with Frenchman Kolo Muani not part of boss Luis Enrique’s plans.
Liverpool are weighing up their options with Mo Salah out of contract in the summer and allowed to talk to foreign clubs in the January window.
Boss Arne Slot is a big fan of Kolo Muani, who has performed better for country than club of late.
The 26-year-old was chased by Europe’s biggest clubs after scoring 26 goals and providing 17 assists for Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022-23.
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He joined PSG for £80million in September last year. But he has scored just four times in 14 appearances for the club this season and made just two Ligue 1 starts.
He was not in PSG’s squad for recent games with Monaco and Lyon.
Enrique said: “I could speak about it, but I won’t.
“My decisions say it all, even if all of my decisions can be changed.”
Kolo Muani netted in the penalty shootout as France were beaten by Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final.
He was also denied by keeper Emi Martinez’s ‘save of the century’.
France boss Didier Deschamps continues to pick Kolo Muani despite his lack of game time.
Aston Villa also had dialogue with PSG, who were interested in a swap with striker Jhon Duran.
But Villa are not interested in parting with the Colombian ace, 21.
CATHERINE O’Connor’s daughter used to write her Christmas wish list months in advance.
Ellie Watts would beg for the latest trainers or a new perfume, and it used to drive her mum crazy.
“Every year she’d give me a list of presents that she’d like in the autumn,” Catherine, 47, says.
“I’d always say jokingly: ‘You can’t possibly have all of this’ – then I’d do my very best to buy it all for her.”
But in 2023, mum-of-two Catherine found herself with one less daughter to buy gifts for.
Ellie, who had been suffering from dizzy spells, died in October aged 19.
She had a brain tumour and developed hydrocephalus – a build up of fluid on the brain – and suffered a cardiac arrest.
“Because she put together her list so early, when she died she had already thought about everything she’d like,” Catherine, from Dartford, Kent, says.
“On the list was a Prada perfume, some trainers, and some Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Cream.
“But instead of opening these presents, she passed away and we faced our first Christmas without her.”
Ellie was Christmas-obsessed, so her family did everything they could to make it as magical as possible, despite the gaping hole in their lives.
“She absolutely loved it,” Catherine says.
“She always had an extra Christmas tree in her bedroom, decorated with pretty baubles, and she adored listening to Christmas music and watching Christmas films.
“In 2022, she and her sister Lucy bought matching Christmas jumpers and posed for pictures around the tree. They looked so beautiful.
“Ellie loved our old favourite family Christmas traditions so much that last year we thought we’d stick to them all, even though it was hard to get through them when she was missing from the table.
“While I was decorating the Christmas tree, in my mind’s eye I could see Ellie watching me from her favourite place on the couch, and it made me feel sad and empty, even as I was being reminded of so many happy memories from years past.
“For years now, my girls and I have made sausage rolls to eat on Christmas Eve.
“Lucy still wanted to make them last year and we enjoyed doing that, although of course it wasn’t the same without Ellie.”
To add to the heartache, December 25 is also Catherine’s birthday.
“It just makes being without her even harder,” she adds.
The first time Ellie started showing any symptoms, she was 17 and we were at a fitting for her blush pink bridesmaid’s dress
Catherine O'Connor
But for 2024, the family wants to focus on starting some new traditions.
“This year Lucy and Chris’ daughter Ruby are planning to wear matching Christmas jumpers,” Catherine says.
“I know we will miss Ellie all over again but we will also count ourselves lucky to still have the rest of our lovely family in our lives.”
Ellie showed the first signs of a brain tumour that was to claim her life at a dress fitting to be her mum’s bridesmaid.
In August 2021, the schoolgirl was getting ready to accompany her mother down the aisle when she started feeling dizzy and sweaty.
She passed away just two years later from hydrocephalus caused by the tumour.
Now Catherine is working with the charity Brain Tumour Research to raise funds and boost awareness.
“Ellie was a wonderful person – full of fun, always smiling,” she says.
“She was a beautiful girl, inside and out, and she was always very kind and loved helping people.
“She was bright but could also be scatty, and often made us laugh with the daft things she did.”
In the same year she became ill, Ellie was briefly featured on the Channel 4 TV show Teen First Dates.
She didn’t find love and never went out with her date again, but they remained friends.
By the time Ellie died, she was in her second year of university and aiming to be a police officer.
She’d also applied to volunteer with the probation service.
Catherine says: “The first time Ellie started showing any symptoms of being poorly, she was 17.
“We were at a fitting for her blush pink bridesmaid’s dress before my wedding to my then-fiancé, Chris.
“She started feeling lightheaded and I noticed a bead of sweat on her upper lip.
“She was a bit unsteady on her feet, and almost swaying, but I thought it was just because she’d been standing up for too long.”
Catherine married Chris, 58, in September 2021.
The pair met him on her very own front doorstep, through Ellie, who was friends with Chris’ teenage daughter at school.
But by October that year, Ellie was still experiencing symptoms, and her mum took her to a doctor to get checked out.
More than 12,000 Brits are diagnosed with a primary brain tumour every year — of which around half are cancerous — with 5,300 losing their lives.
The disease is the most deadly cancer in children and adults aged under 40, according to the Brain Tumour Charity.
Brain tumours reduce life expectancies by an average of 27 years, with just 12 per cent of adults surviving five years after diagnosis.
There are two main types, with non-cancerous benign tumours growing more slowly and being less likely to return after treatment.
Cancerous malignant brain tumours can either start in the brain or spread there from elsewhere in the body and are more likely to return.
Brain tumours can cause headaches, seizures, nausea, vomiting and memory problems, according to the NHS.
They can also lead to changes in personality weakness or paralysis on one side of the problem and problems with speech or vision.
The nine most common symptoms are:
If you are suffering any of these symptoms, particularly a headache that feels different from the ones you normally get, you should visit your GP.
Source: NHS
She had some blood tests, which came back normal, but in January 2022 they made another appointment to discuss what to do next.
“We were told she was probably deficient in vitamin D,” Catherine says.
Ellie was advised to take antihistamines to help with her dizziness, and to drink more water, which seemed to work for a while.
However, in April 2022, the schoolgirl, by then studying for A levels, began experiencing bouts of nausea and vomiting.
By the time she turned 18 in May, Ellie was nearing her exams and had a part-time job at John Lewis, Bluewater, but had to take a few days off because she was still feeling unwell.
“Ellie told me she’d had a couple of headaches, although I suspect she’d probably had more,” says Catherine.
“I also saw she sometimes had that same little bead of sweat on her top lip again.”
The teenager managed to get an appointment with her GP practice nurse – who did lots of tests and sent Ellie for an MRI scan, which eventually took place in August 2022.
The results revealed an abnormality, although at first nobody was certain what it was.
But soon afterwards she was diagnosed with a grade 1 astrocytoma at the back of her brain and found to be suffering from hydrocephalus, a build-up of fluid caused by the tumour.
Catherine says: “When we were given the diagnosis, I burst into tears.
“But my darling Ellie stayed very calm – she was much more concerned about comforting me than worrying about herself.
“That was so typical of her.”
Within an hour of getting the bad news, Ellie was on her way to Kings College Hospital in London.
There, she was given steroids to reduce the fluid, and then three days later came an operation to remove as much of the tumour as possible.
However, because it was pressing against her brain stem, doctors were unable to remove all of it, and had to leave a small area of low-grade tumour behind.
Six days after surgery, Ellie was home again.
Soon afterwards, she opened her A level results and was delighted to find she’d achieved the grades necessary for her chosen course in criminology and criminal justice at Greenwich University.
With her health now seemingly stable, but living at home for extra support, Ellie started uni in October 2022.
For the next year she remained well, studying hard and achieving 85 per cent in her end-of-year exams.
“We were all so proud of her,” recalls Catherine.
But during her second year, Ellie started complaining about headaches again.
Catherine was immediately concerned, insisting that her daughter went to A&E the following day.
But by then she was walking unsteadily, and her mum noticed that little bead of sweat on her upper lip once more.
A scan revealed the bad news that Ellie’s hydrocephalus had returned.
She was rushed straight to Kings College Hospital for more surgery to put a shunt into her brain, but she suffered a cardiac arrest during the operation.
She never woke up again.
Catherine says: “Two days after surgery, we were told there was no realistic prospect of any recovery.
“We had to take the heartbreaking decision to turn off our daughter’s life support machine.”
When she asked if Ellie’s organs might be suitable for transplant, Catherine was amazed to discover that her daughter was already registered as a donor, updating her registration just 10 days before she passed away on October 8, 2023.
Ellie was always a positive person, and I know I need to try and carry that forward, as best I can
Catherine O'Connor
“It seems such a coincidence, I wonder whether she had a premonition she wasn’t long for this world,” says Catherine.
“Her death is a massive loss but she will live on, not just in those people to whom she donated organs, but in all those of us who knew and loved her.”
Both kidneys, her liver, and parts of Ellie’s heart went to five people.
Since her daughter’s death, Catherine, a watch manager at the London Ambulance Service’s emergency operations centre, has been working with Brain Tumour Research to fundraise and spread awareness of the symptoms, which include headaches, vision changes and dizziness.
More than 12,000 people are diagnosed with a primary brain tumour each year in the UK, including 500 children and young people.
About one third are astrocytomas – a growth of cells that starts in the brain or spinal cord.
In Ellie’s memory, Catherine ran the Norfolk Marathon in April 2024.
She has so far raised almost £3,000 for the charity. You can donate here.
“I’ve never run more than 10km before but I felt that training for a marathon would give me something to focus on, because I missed Ellie so terribly,” the mum adds.
“She was always a positive person, and I know I need to try and carry that forward, as best I can.”
