WHEN IT GETS even just the slightest bit cold outside, we like to dig up every non-toxic luxury candle we’ve been hiding in our closet during warmer months and light every single one until our home feels like either a Scandinavian hygge trope or something out of a Nancy Myers’ movie. However, creating a premium ambiance also has a premium, given that buying a nice candle these days can cost upwards of $50 (and that’s just for a single wick!). Not to mention, many candles—even the beautifully packaged ones—use petroleum-based wax (which is a fossil fuel), releasing carcinogenic VOCs (Volatile organic compounds) into your air. Over time, these synthetic, albeit enjoyable, scents can seriously harm your health and pollute your air at home (which is where we’re spending most of our time these days).

Since we don’t see the candle trend burning out anytime soon, we’re looking ahead to sustainable, clean, and refillable (!) options that are maintaining their high-end allure without having a negative high impact on the environment, our health, or wallet. Never grapple with the guilt of throwing away a perfectly good candle vase ever again.

Here are the refillable pioneers that keep lighting up our lives (and spaces)…

Illume | Illume has been at the top of our list for quite some time with their show-stopping, glass candles that look as good as they smell. All of their candles are non-toxic, using vegan, plant-based wax that last for about 40 hours (which could make candle burning basically like a full-time job). The same is true for their seamlessly easy-to-replace, reasonably priced refills that come in sustainable, compostable paper cups, so you can feel like you’ve found the point where “being a good person who recycles” and “being a person with really nice taste” meets.

Trudon | There’s the age-old phrase, “Don’t put the cart before the horse.” But when it comes to Trudon’s Alabaster Collection, it’s fair to say that in purchasing one candle from the world’s oldest candlemaker, you’re adding a sense (or scents) of regality to your life…which definitely doesn’t have as many gold crests in it as it should. While their candles lean on the pricier, special-occasion-purchase side, consider Trudon’s refills a more accessible investment that will leave anyone who has entered your space wondering if you come from royalty.

CarrIère FrèRes | When it comes to candle-making, we trust the French (who have been at this for a long time). Carrière Frères brings a level of beauty and charm with their focus on botany, traditional expertise, and seasonally-inspired essences. Their refill packaging is 100% compostable and recyclable, prioritizing sustainability across all of their product touch points. We also love knowing we can trust that their highly aromatic candles are made with 100% vegetable-based European, organic, rapeseed wax with a cotton wick. The nose knows.

Good Chemistry candles | Good Chemistry is bringing clean, cruelty-free, PFAS-free formulas to the masses without breaking the bank. They manage to balance environmental responsibility (all of their refills are biodegradable), flirty and fun fragrance, and affordability, making them a no-brainer when it comes to reusing their candles over and over.

BLUEME 3-WICK CANDLE + refill | It’s rare that you venture to add a three-wick candle to your at-home ambiance without spending an arm and a leg (one limb per wick!). But Blueme is the chic ceramic candle companion using a functional yet scientific approach to fragrance. Stored in a—let’s call it—candle chalice, Blueme’s collection aims to promote emotional and physiological wellbeing, inspired by the wisdom of nature and Zen philosophy. We’re preparedto “om” around this candle until further notice.