Lit candle next to a computer open to Keystone Candle website

Have you ever wondered “How do I know if I’ll actually like this?” when shopping online?

You are not alone. It is one of the most common concerns when online shopping especially for items that rely on senses like taste, touch, or smell. Without having the item in front of you, there can be a lot of unknowns.

In the case of candle shopping, it can seem challenging to pick a scent from a list when you have never tried it before. However, we want to assure you that it may be easier than you think, and that we are available to answer any of your questions to help you find something that you will love. Let’s get into how you can narrow your choices to pick the fragrance that fits your space.

You Know You Best

There are some scents that you can eliminate from your search pretty quickly and some that will stand out to you as something that you will enjoy. You can start by looking at the fragrances that you already enjoy or choose at the grocery store. For example, you can think back on the scents that resonate with you from your favorite…

  • Foods and Desserts
  • Herbs and Spices
  • Soap and Detergents
  • Shampoos and Conditioners
  • Perfumes
  • Lotions
  • Flowers
  • Locations

This foundation of scents you have liked previously will help you determine the scent family that you enjoy the most. 

What are Scent Families?

Fragrances can often be grouped into a category called a scent family. These categories are simply a way to organize scents by similarities. Examples of traditional scent families are:

  • Floral
  • Fruity and Citrus
  • Bakery and Gourmand
  • Spiced
  • Earthy and Woody
  • Fresh and Clean

There is often overlap between each of these genres but they generally help to group scents together. These terms are useful to link scents, and they give you an idea of other fragrances that you may enjoy within that category. Additionally, you can use our advanced search option to search all of the candles within a specific scent family.

Based on the fragrance notes that you noticed from your daily life, you can denote a common theme to find the scent family that you most often choose. While this strategy can indicate fragrances that you will enjoy, don’t be afraid to branch out and try scents outside of your normal choices. Our senses change as time passes, and something you formerly did not love could be something that you find pleasing later and vice versa. At Keystone Candle, the fourth generation has experienced this recently.

After you decide the scent family you are looking for, you can start to look at scent names and fragrance descriptions.

How to Use Scent Names and Descriptions


Now, some fragrances are named based on the vibe of the candle rather than by a description of the scent, but you can generally still use the names to your advantage. Because scent families are such a major part of how we group fragrances together, many candle manufacturers, including Keystone Candle, tend to name candles something that fits the genre of the fragrance oils. Therefore, you can look at the scent names to get an idea of the scent family that it matches.

Then, to take it a step further you can look at the fragrance description of the candle. On our website, this information is visible once you click on the product.

Screenshot of Keystone Candle website fragrance descriptionsScreenshot of Keystone Candle website fragrance descriptions

The description contains scent notes and adjectives to explain the way that a scent will smell when lit. Additionally, this is where you can find more information about what scent family the candle belongs to. However, if you are on the fence about a fragrance, you can call or email us, and we would be happy to help you pick the right scent for you.

If you are still a little unsure, we have provided a list of some of our bestsellers that you can look through to see what other people are choosing.

Top 15 Bestsellers

  1. Pumpkin Pecan Waffle
    These pumpkin waffles are rich in spices, with a blend of cinnamon, clove, ginger, and fresh nutmeg, topped with candied pecans and pure maple syrup.
  2. Blueberry Cobbler
    Rich succulent blueberries and a sweet, buttery, bubbling-in-the-pan dessert describes one of our year round popular fragrances.
  3. Baked Apple Crisp
    Just like the pie from grandma's kitchen. Juicy apple slices smothered with sugar and cinnamon surrounded by rich creamy butter and topped with grandma's special crisp recipe of brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, and nutmeg and baked to perfection as only she can do.
  4. Balsam Fir
    Like a walk along a forest path filled with dense, luscious evergreens where the scent of resinous pine needles fills the air.
  5. Maple Sticky Buns
    A bakery rich, fresh baked bun aroma, with a nutty bouquet of fresh walnuts, smothered in a buttery caramel sauce, spiced with cinnamon, a touch of clove, and covered in a sweet savory maple syrup.
  6. Spiced Pumpkin
    Creamy and rich, with notes of molasses, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and clove, this is the quintessential fall fragrance of cloves and pumpkin.
  7. Bourbon Butterscotch
    Smooth blend of vanilla, oak, and caramel with a twist of mouth watering butter and brown sugar syrup.
  8. Banana Nut Bread
    This delicious combination of walnuts, ripe banana, and vanilla; infused with cinnamon, clove, caramel and brown sugar is sure to spark your appetite. Great for fall and holiday get-togethers.
  9. Cranberry Chutney
    A mouth watering scent of fresh cranberries, raisins and sweet honey. This will surely be a favorite for fall and winter.
  10. Apple Cinnamon
    Experience the smell of juicy, sun ripened macintosh apples blended together with fresh ground cinnamon when you burn this delicious candle in your home.
  11. Apples and Brown Sugar
    The crisp scent of a fresh Macintosh apple baked into sweet and gooey sticky buns smothered in maple syrup is the coziest way to warm up your mornings. With hints of cinnamon spice and toasted walnuts, this fresh apple scent is blended to perfection.
  12. Fruit Loop
    When you light this scented candle it will take you back to your childhood days when you watched cartoons on Saturday morning in your pajamas while eating your favorite fruity cereal with a blend of orange, berry, lemon, and sweet vanilla.
  13. Sugar Cookie
    It's more than warm vanilla sugar, more than fresh baked aroma from cookies in the oven, and more than the sugary icing on top of the cookie. It’s warm and sweet, the perfect treat stolen from the cookie jar.
  14. Sage and Citrus
    Wonderful aroma of top notes of mandarin, tangerine, ruby red grapefruit, and lemon rinds, with base notes of fresh sage leaves. An earthy herbal fragrance with tangy citrus notes at the top.
  15. Glazed and Confused
    A velvety pumpkin meets the warmth of small-batch bourbon, layered over the sugary aroma of a freshly glazed donut combining sweet and spice in a rich and comforting scent perfect for cozy mornings.

These were the 15 most purchased fragrances in our line of scented jar candles in 2025. They are well loved and the perfect scents to start with if you aren’t sure what to try first.

If you want to test a fragrance before fully committing to it, we make 7 ounce jar candles that are the perfect affordable size for trying a new scent. However, since it is a smaller size, it will affect the scent throw. You can read more about how the size of the candle impacts scent throw here.

Conclusion

You can pick a scent that you will love even without smelling it before because you know yourself best. There are other scented products that you purchase that you can use as a foundation for determining what scent families you are normally drawn toward. Our products are named and described in a way to make it easier for you to decide if you will like it, and we are always happy to help you pick a scent over the phone or email. You got this!