In comparison to Bath & Body Works (BBW), DW Home Candles are definitely worth a try.
DW Home makes single, 2-wick, 3-wick, and wooden wick candles, which is a wider range than Bath & Body Works. There are more jar and lid options. And DW Home candles come in over 500 fragrances; BBW only offers a tenth of that.
If you enjoy trying new fragrances and using a wider variety of vessels, you might consider DW Home Candles to be the better option. Keep reading to learn more about them.
DW Home vs Bath & Body Works 3-Wick Candle Comparison
Since Bath & Body Works 3-wick candles are their bestsellers, I will compare one of them with a rare 3-wick candle from DW Home.
DW Home: Bamboo & Jasmine 3-Wick Candle
Part of their Luminous Collection, this wide glass jar is set inside a wooden base. Also labeled with a brushed metal plaque and topped off with a wooden lid, this is a luxurious vessel that would make a nice accent piece in the home.
Bamboo and jasmine is a delicate fragrance combination that smells like freshly cut bamboo stems and velvety sweet jasmine blossoms. You’ll also experience hints of sweet and spicy narcissus and hyacinth blooms along with crisp lily of the valley flowers.
Expect 32 hours of burn time for this 17 oz candle. It’s 3.8 inches (9.7 cm) high and 5 inches (12.7 cm) in diameter. DW Home candles are hand-poured using a wax blend that combines coconut, palm, and refined paraffin waxes. The fragrance oils they use are a combination of natural essential oils and synthetic fragrances.
DW Home might be phasing out their 3-wick candle options. There aren’t as many available making them much harder to find than their single, double wick, and wooden wick alternatives. Another possibility is that they might be changing their fragrance and wax formulas and might release more triple wick candles going forward. Time will tell.
Pros
- Light and fresh fragrance
- Luxurious container
- Strong fragrance throw
Cons
- Not as many available
Bath & Body Works: Rose Water & Ivy 3-Wick Candle
- FRAGRANCE: Soft Rose Petals, Rain-Kissed Ivy, Spring Musk
- Topped with a decorative lid, this floral favorite refreshes any space just like a fresh-cut rose bouquet!
- Burns approximately 25 - 45 hours (14.5 Ounce) & measures 4" wide x 3 1/2" tall.
Just like fresh rain water, BBW’s Rose Water & Ivy is a lovely combination of floral and fresh. Delicate rose petals and rich green English ivy mingle with hints of musk and lemon blossoms.
Expect up to 45-hours burn time for this 14.5 oz (411 g) candle that’s scented with a combination of essential and fragrance oils. This glass jar wrapped in a beautiful floral print is close to 5 inches (12.7 cm) in diameter and a little over 4 inches (10.16 cm) tall. BBW uses a wax blend that incorporates soy, palm, and refined paraffin waxes.
Pros
- Long burn time
- Even burning candle
- Strong fragrance throw
- Light, complex floral fragrance
Cons
- Fragrances can phase out quickly
DW Home vs Bath & Body Works: Face to Face
Neither company disappoints customers when it comes to fragrance. And even though BBW has fewer fragrances to offer, it doesn’t seem to bother their most loyal customers.
DW Home vs Bath & Body Works: Scent Options & Availability
BBW scents are more trendy and season-focused, so they release new fragrances each season, often with a huge sale. But this also means that customers will gravitate towards specific fragrances and dislike others.
So when purchasing from Bath & Body Works, customers experience fragrance cycling and discontinuation of less popular scents (even if it’s their personal favorite).
There are also some BBW candle fragrances that have been customer favorites for years, five of which are, Champagne Toast, A Thousand Wishes, Gingham, Japanese Cherry Blossom, and Into the Night.
Customers also have the option to fill out BBW’s “Bring Back a Discontinued Fragrance” form.
Even with all the new scent releases, according to their website, Bath & Body Works has about 50 scents available at a time. Most of their available scents are fresh or fruity. The fragrance category with the fewest candle options is woodsy.
DW Home’s top three fragrance categories are Floral and Herbal, Fruit & Citrus, and Wood & Masculine. Their scents are less trendy and appear to be more timeless.
For instance, five of the bestselling candle scents by DW Home are:
- Warm Tobacco Pipe
- Sandalwood Myrrh
- Lavender Chamomile
- Fresh Cut Gardenia
- Vanilla Bean
These are classic woody, floral, and sweet scents. In comparison, the most sold scents on Bath & Body Works (not including White Barn options) are:
- Strawberry Pound Cake
- Eucalyptus Spearmint
- Gingham (which is a fruity/floral fragrance)
- Sun-Drenched Linen
These fruity and fresh scents reach a different audience than the more grounded and floral scents from DW Home.
Takeaway: You will find more fruity and fresh scents from BBW and more floral, fruity, or woody scents from DW Home. If you have a distinguished olfactory palette, you might prefer DW Home candles.
DW Home vs Bath & Body Works: Candle Containers
Both companies use glass containers. While BBW aims to be more trendy, DW Home is more elegant and sophisticated. The manner in which their vessels are designed is a perfect example of this.
Bath & Body Works containers are shaped like short pillar candles but the glass is either frosted, fully wrapped in a graphic design covering, or partially wrapped with a graphic design.
Some BBW graphics are colorful designs that include descriptive visual elements. For instance, their Strawberry Pound Cake sticker label has big, bright red strawberries in a tossed pattern design behind a bright red square that holds all the text that describes the candle.
Some containers, like Beach Weather, have a holographic wrap with floral line art drawn on top. Another one of their newer scents, Deep Blue Sea, has a wooden rattan background pattern with a square geometric shape holding the text.
Some customers may think these designs are simply pretty, but BBW is connecting what customers are seeing in their stores with what has become increasingly visible across shop categories. Holograms are a strong trend in the graphic design world. While natural fibers and materials like the Deep Blue Sea pattern are popular in the interior design world.
BBW is very strategic about its candle container designs; they speak directly to their customers, even if it’s in a roundabout way.
Some DW Home candle jars are made using tinted glass, color gradations, or colored frosted glass, but their color choices are still subtler than Bath & Body Works. The majority of their glass jars are clear, black, or amber. Most of the text on their jars is either white, black, or dark brown. It’s clear that DW Home candle containers are minimal, modern, and even the more playful ones are still sophisticated.
DW Home container lids vary widely. BBW jar lids are mostly metal. DW Home candle lids are made using various metal finishes, wood, or rubber, and are screw-on, fitted, or made with handles on top.
Their “Carnival” Collection boasts patterned lids. Like this Churro single wick candle. They even have a “Cup of Joe” Collection with containers shaped like coffee cups with lids.
While DW Home offers a wide variety of candle containers and lids, they’re all still as minimal and modern as they can be.
But shades of brown, nature-inspired materials like wood, vintage accents (like amber glass), are also trends, they just appeal to a different group of people.
Takeaway: If you prefer colors that pop and keeping up with more widespread trends, then you will like BBW candles. If your design style is more chill and tactile, you’ll likely prefer DW Home candles.
DW Home vs Bath & Body Works: Sourcing & Materials
Bath & Body Works is based in the United States but has a global presence. DW Home is a global company with a United States presence.
Most of the ingredients and materials that Bath & Body Works uses is sourced from the United States. Their candles are poured in various factory locations throughout the USA. Some of their accessories like cases and baskets are sourced from China. But they state that imported goods comprise less than one percent of their materials.
On the same page they mention working with global vendors. It’s possible that their fragrance ingredients, or at least a portion of them, might also be imported.
On the other hand, DW Home sources materials and manufactures products in multiple Asian countries. They refer to themselves as a “global manufacturer”. Their design and marketing work is done in the United States. It seems that they source their wax and fragrance formulas from the USA as well.
Takeaway: DW Home and BBW make high-quality candles that their customers love. If buying products primarily made in the US is extremely important to you, then you will want to choose Bath & Body Works’ candles. If you don’t mind supporting a globally sourced and operated candle company, DW Homes is a great option.
DW Home vs Bath & Body Works: Wick Options
According to BBW, they have the “World’s Best 3-Wick candles.” If sales are an indication of this, then it’s probably true. DW Home produces more 2-Wick and single wick candles.
In both cases, they use lead-free, 100% cotton wicks. This means that there aren’t any toxic materials used, like a metal core in the wicks. You can safely burn these candles in your home without fear of exposure to harmful fumes.
DW Home vs Bath & Body Works: Where to Purchase
You can find Bath & Body Works retail stores nationwide. Usually, they’re located inside malls or plazas across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Global retail locations are in:
- Europe (Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Turkey)
- Nine Middle Eastern and African countries
- Ten Latin American countries
- Seven Asian countries
- And in Australia.
Branded retail locations make BBW candles easily accessible. You can sniff new fragrances in person, find clearance items, and even schedule curbside pickup for orders placed online if you don’t want to wait for them to ship.
Since the pandemic, the company has been making more of their products available online. They’re even creating more and more “online exclusive” fragrances.
DW Home hosts its own strong online presence. Additionally, you can find DW Home candles at nationwide discount retailers like Marshall’s, Home Goods, TJ Maxx, and Bed, Bath & Beyond. Additional online presence includes Wayfair, Amazon, and Ebay.
Unlike Bath & Body Works, DW Home makes their candles available for wholesale purchases. This is why you can also buy them in craft stores, specialty shops, and grocery stores.
Takeaway: Each company uses a different model to make their candles accessible to customers. Of course online purchases are convenient and both companies have candles available on multiple online platforms. You would have to check local stores (BBW) or shops (DW Home) for availability in your area if you prefer to shop in person.
DW Home Candles Standout Feature: Wooden Wicks
One feature that DW Candles has that Bath & Body Works doesn’t is the option to purchase candles made with wooden wicks.
One benefit of burning wooden wick candles is that you hear crackling noises as if you’ve lit up logs in a fireplace. They burn more evenly and wooden wicks are also considered a more sustainable material in comparison to cotton wicks.
They’re also said to give off a stronger fragrance throw because the wicks are wider and burn hotter in less time to start releasing the scent of your candle.
But at the same time, wooden wick candles burn slower overall, so they last longer. An 8 oz. (227 g) candle can burn for up to 33 hours! This is substantial because cotton wick candles that are twice as large have the same burn time or less.
This 11.5 oz (326 g) DW Home wooden wick candle can burn for up to 40 hours.
Conclusion
Since both companies produce irresistible candles, it can be difficult to choose between the two. Bath & Body Works definitely dominates the 3-Wick corner of the candle market but DW Home is a strong contender in its own right.
Choose DW Home if:
- You want to complement minimal, sophisticated decor
- You prefer more complex, mature scent combinations
- You enjoy burning wooden wick candles
Choose Bath & Body Works if:
- You gravitate towards trendy seasonal decor
- You prefer fresh and fruity fragrances
- You prefer to purchase products primarily made in the USA
Since I prefer woodsy and floral candle fragrances, DW Home is a no brainer for me. But you should choose candles that speak to you in terms of their design, fragrance, and manufacturing preferences.