Almost anyone who loves candles has at some point considered Yankee Candle vs Bath and Body Works. They’re both widely known companies that sell great smelling candles, but you may have wondered, what’s the difference between the two?
While there are a lot of similarities between these two companies, there are also a number of differences as well. I’ve compared Yankee Candle and Bath & Body Works to help you make an informed decision about which company you might like to shop with.
Read on to understand how these two companies compare so that you can make the best choice the next time you decide to buy home fragrances.
Who Are Yankee Candle Co and Bath & Body Works?
If you’ve recently learned about Yankee Candle and Bath & Body Works and clicked onto this article to learn more about them, here’s a short introduction to each company.
Yankee Candle Company: General Overview
In 1969, sixteen-year-old company founder, Michael Kittredge, melted down crayons to make a Christmas present for his mother. From there budded a small candle business that has grown to have an international presence. Its current headquarters is in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, and currently they operate 309 stores in the United States and Canada.
Yankee also sells its candles inside authorized retailers, like Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Kohl’s, Walmart, Meijer, Macy’s and more, which tremendously expands their reach to customers. This is a major difference between Yankee Candle vs Bath & Body Works.
Yankee Candle’s scent categories are: floral, fruity, citrus, fresh and clean, sweet and spicy, and woody. Their ten most popular fragrances are:
- Fresh Cut Roses
- Midsummer’s Night
- Balsam & Cedar
- Pink Sands
- Lilac Blossoms
- Buttercream
- Midnight Jasmine
- Sparkling Cinnamon
- White Gardenia
- Salted Caramel
Similar to Bath & Body Works, Yankee’s sister brand, WoodWick, has a sleeker, more sophisticated look. But what’s different is that WoodWick has its own set of fragrances as well.
Bath & Body Works: General Overview
Les Wexner founded Bath & Body works in New Albany, Ohio in 1990 as a specialty retailer. Now it’s an international brand headquartered in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, with over 1,900 stores worldwide.
Bath & Body Works offers products in all six of the industry’s fragrance families: citrus, floral, fresh, fruity, sweet (also called gourmand), and woodsy. Their top ten fragrances are:
- A Thousand Wishes
- Champagne Toast
- Eucalyptus Spearmint
- Gingham
- In the Stars
- Into the Night
- Japanese Cherry Blossom
- Lavender Vanilla
- Mahogany Teakwood
- Waikiki Beach Coconut
Bath & Body Works Collections are geared more towards seasonal fragrances, trendy colors, and memorable scents, while all of their more sophisticated fragrances in subdued colors and minimally decorative jars are offered under their sister brand name, White Barn Candle Collection.
Yankee Candle vs Bath & Body Works: Candles and More?
Bath & Body Works is known for more than its candles. They sell body care items like shower gels, body lotions, hand creams, lip moisturizer, body sprays, and more. There’s also a wide selection of hand soaps and sanitizers, as well as room and car fresheners. Their candles are limited to single wick and three-wick.
Aside from one body care item, hand sanitizer, Yankee Candle Company primarily sells products that freshen spaces and vehicles. And they do so in several ways. Not only do they offer a vast number of scent options (over 600), you can choose from seven different candle sizes!
Beyond candles, Yankee also offers fragrance diffusers, scent plugs, reed diffusers, scent lights, room sprays, three types of wax warmers, and fragranced gel tins. Lastly, they also offer candle accessories like candle holders and trays.
Yankee Candle vs Bath & Body Works: Candle Comparison
While there are some similarities in the way candles are made, here we’ll explore the main elements of a candle manufactured by each company. The major difference between the two is the number of candle size options offered by Yankee Candle Company.
Yankee Candle
Most Yankee candles are made by master chandlers (candlemakers) in a factory located in central Massachusetts. In 2018, they also opened a production facility in the Czech Republic to facilitate product distribution in and around Europe.
Yankee Candles are made with premium-grade paraffin or soy wax and premium scent ingredients. Each Yankee candle is fragranced with a top, middle, and bottom note. The top fragrance is what we smell as soon as we lift the lid off the candle. Middle notes carry the top note further and are the main body of the fragrance while base notes give the final grounding experience.
The kind of wick used varies by fragrance and color combination but all are made from 100% natural fibers. Since each candle burns differently, some have 100% cotton wicks, others are cotton with a paper core sealed with a layer of wax.
Whenever a lid is included with your candle, hold onto it and use it once your candle has cooled down because it helps keep the fragrance strong and protects the candle from direct sunlight and debris.
Yankee manufactures several different types of candles and some have multiple size options within each type.
Yankee Candle Company Candle Size Options
Signature Candles (2-wick)
Large Tumbler Candles – 60 to 100 hours
Large Jar Candles – 60 to 90 hours
Medium 3-Wick Tumbler Candles – 15 to 25 hours
Medium Jar Candles – 35 to 50 hours (13 oz)
Small Tumbler Candles – 20 to 30 hours
Signature Candle (3-wick)
Tumbler Candles – 15 to 25 hours
Original Jar Candles
Original Large Jar Candles – 110 to 150 hours
Original Medium Jar Candles – 65 to 75 hours
Original Small Jar Candles – 20 to 30 hours
Tumbler Candles
Large 2-Wick Tumbler Candles – 75 to 110 hours
3-Wick Tumbler Candles – 30 to 50 hours (18 oz)
Small Tumbler Candles – 35 to 55 hours (7 oz)
Perfect Pillar Candles
Medium Perfect Pillar™ Candle – 80 to 110 hours
Votive Candles
Samplers® Votive Candles – Up to 15 hours
Scented Tea Lights
Scented Tea Light Candles – 4 to 6 hours each
Minis
Yankee Candle® Minis – 7 to 10 hours
Elevation Collection
Large 2-Wick Square Candles – 65 to 80 hours
Medium 3-Wick Square Candles – 28 to 38 hours
Small 1-Wick Square Candles – 18 to 28 hours
Bath & Body Works Candles
Less than one percent of Bath & Body Works’ products are made overseas. While they globally source raw materials, the large majority of their offerings, inclusive of candles, are made in the United States.
Bath & Body Works candles are made with a soy-based wax blend for even melting and a burn time of up to 45 hours for their 3-wick candles (14.5 oz / 411 g). Single wick candles (7 oz / 198 g) burn between 25 and 40 hours. All candle wicks are lead-free.
Their highly concentrated fragrances are made with natural essential oils and there are fifty scents to choose from.Each candle comes with a decorative lid to help retain fragrance intensity for when the candle is not in use.
While each of their candle sizes are known to offer a great throw throughout the space, single-wick candles are best used in smaller spaces like powder rooms for best distribution of fragrance.
Yankee Candle vs Bath & Body Works: Top Scent Candle Comparison
Although their candle sizes don’t match exactly, I compared two sizes that are just an ounce and a half different in each company’s most popular candle scent.
| Yankee Candle: Fresh Cut Roses | BBW: A Thousand Wishes Candle | |
| Size | 13 oz / 369 g | 14.5 oz / 411 g |
| Burn Time | 35-50 hours | 45 hours |
| Wax Type | Premium soy wax blend | Blend of soybean, paraffin, palm oil, and microcrystalline waxes |
| Wick Type | Two cotton wicks | Three wicks |
Yankee Candle: Fresh Cut Roses Candle
- An intoxicating bouquet of fragrant heirloom roses
- Long-lasting 110 to 150 hour burn time
- Quality paraffin grade candle wax delivers a clear, consistent burn
- 22 ounce scented candle measures 6.6 inches H x 4 inches D
- Natural fiber candle wick delivers the best burn for each fragrance
This signature fragrance has three scent layers. The top note is actually fruity and citrusy. It initially smells like fresh apple peels and a citrus fruit still on the tree. In the middle, you can smell a fresh rose garden accompanied by other flowers, like geraniums. Lastly, a soft, powdery undertone rounds out this candle scent. It smells like stepping into an English garden.
Pros
- Burns evenly due to it having 2-wicks
- Nice fragrance, not overwhelming
- Perfect scent for daily burning
- True rose scent
Cons
- Scents not as strong as they used to be
- A little small for the price
Bath & Body Works: A Thousand Wishes Candle
- WARM YOUR HEART A THOUSAND TIMES over with a festive blend of sparkling champagne, crystal peonies and almond creme. Wish 1... Have this candle. Wish...
- AN EXCLUSIVE BLEND of Vegetable Wax And Lead-Free Wicks, Resulting In An Improved, More Even Burning Candle and An Amazing Fragrance Experience
- THIS 3 WICK CANDLE BURNS Approximately 25 - 45 Hours And Measures 4" Wide x 3 1/2" Tall
- HIGHLY FRAGRANCED Candles Made Using The Highest Concentration Of The Richest Fragrance Oils
- BATH & BODY WORKS Creates The World's Best Candle GUARANTEED!
Their natural scent layers are an intermingling of freshly cut peonies, freshly popped bubbling champagne, and sweet almond oil.
Pros
- Strong fragrance
- Quickly fills the room
- Three wicks helps it melt evenly
- Bright, sweet, floral fragrance
Cons
- Fragrance is too delicate for some
- Scent is too strong for others
- Scent doesn’t last long
Although the Yankee candle is a little smaller, its longest approximate burn time is a longer than the BBW candle.
Yankee Candle vs Bath & Body Works: How to Choose
Trying to make a choice between Yankee Candle vs Bath & Body Works can be kind of hard, but I think that there are enough distinguishing features between the two to make it an easier process for you.
Use Yankee Candle if:
- You want a large variety of memorable scents to choose from
- You’re looking for a slow burn
- You want many candle size options
Use Bath & Body Works if:
- You want a strong scent
- You are looking for great throw
- You don’t mind changing out candles often
Bath & Body Works candles have a strong scent, but they also burn out fast. Some customers don’t mind this because they love the scent intensity, but this also means that you may have to buy more candles.
Yankee Candle Company not only offers hundreds of scents, their candles are known to burn slow, so they last a long time. But one downfall is that some of their fragrances are not as strong as Bath & Body Works.
So it’s up to you! You have a lot of information here to help decide which company would be the best option for you. If you’ve never used either of them, try both! That’s the best way to get a feel for which one you would prefer.
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