7 Best Candles That Smell Like Bath & Body Works Sun-Washed Citrus, Ranked by How Close They Get
Bath & Body Works has pulled Sun-Washed Citrus off the shelf again, so which candle actually smells like it? Of the seven candles below, two are poured from 100% beeswax, and one of those two carries mandarin and agave right in its notes.
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That candle is our top pick, Adi. Sun-Washed Citrus is built on lemon and mandarin with agave nectar softening the sharp edge, and Adi puts those same notes on top of a deeper bench of citrus. It comes from MBur's line of hand-poured beeswax candles made in New York City, so the scent you liked arrives in a candle made from one wax and a wooden wick.
The ranking weighs two things: how close the notes sit to Sun-Washed Citrus, and what the candle is made of. The two MBur picks lead because they are the only 100% beeswax candles on the list. The rest of the list covers readers who start from a different place, such as Volcano fans or shoppers who know only the Bath & Body Works name.
What makes a candle smell like Sun-Washed Citrus, and the note most copies miss
Sun-Washed Citrus opens on lemon, often described as Sorrento lemon or sugared lemon. Mandarin sits right beside it and adds juice. Underneath, agave nectar gives the whole thing a warm, sweet floor.
That agave note is the part people forget. Without it, a lemon candle reads as sharp and thin, and some shoppers even mistake it for a cleaning product. With it, the sour edge rounds off into something closer to a cold drink on a hot porch.
Here is why that happens. Sweet notes slow down how fast your nose registers the sour ones, so the lemon lands softer and lasts longer in the room. A candle that copies only the lemon will smell bright for a few minutes and then flat. A candle that carries the sweetness will hold its shape through the whole burn.
So the first test for any candle on this list is simple. Does it have the citrus top and the sweet base, or just the citrus? The second test is what the candle is made of, which decides how that scent behaves once the wick is lit.
The seven, side by side
Use this table to find your starting point fast. The details for each pick follow right after it.
| Rank | Candle | Scent direction | House style |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MBur Adi | Lemon and mandarin over peach and agave | 100% beeswax, wooden wick, hand poured in New York City |
| 2 | MBur Out of Office | Pineapple and coconut with cool spearmint | 100% beeswax, wooden wick, hand poured in New York City |
| 3 | Bath & Body Works Sweet Orange & Agave | Orange and agave, the sister scent fans name first | Mass-market three-wick candle |
| 4 | Capri Blue Volcano | Sugared citrus with tropical fruit | Boutique candle known through Anthropologie |
| 5 | Bath & Body Works Midnight Blue Citrus | Sweet and tart citrus punch | Mass-market three-wick candle |
| 6 | Fleurimonds Naturals citrus lines | Fruit-forward citrus with a bakery lean | Clean-positioned independent brand |
| 7 | Handmade Sun-Washed Citrus type candles on Etsy | One maker's take on the original | Small-batch soy pours |
The table shows scent direction. The picks below show why the top two earn their spots.
1. MBur Adi: the closest note-for-note match, in the cleanest build on the list
Picture the kitchen on a warm Saturday morning. The window over the sink is open, half a lemon sits on the cutting board, and the light comes in low across the counter. That is the room Sun-Washed Citrus was made for, and it is the room our Adi citrus beeswax candle fills best.
Wax: 100% beeswax | Wick: wooden (two on the 12 oz) | Fragrance: phthalate-free | Burn time: 40 hours (5 oz), 80+ hours (12 oz) | Dyes: none
Notes: Lemon, Orange, Grapefruit, Mandarin, Tangerine, Lime, Peach, Agave
Standout feature: Agave is written into the notes, which is the sweetness that gives Sun-Washed Citrus its shape. Mandarin brightens the opening, sweet and juicy, the way perfumers use it in fine fragrance. Tangerine ripens darker with more sugar, and grapefruit adds a soft bitter edge that tastes closer to cool than to sour.
Peach sits low in the blend next to the agave. Together they do the job the agave nectar does in the original, keeping the lemon round instead of sharp. Lime adds a little snap on top so the candle still smells fresh an hour in.
Who it is best for: anyone who misses the sugared lemon of Sun-Washed Citrus and wants it in a kitchen, living room, or any room with good morning light.
Size and price: Get the 12 oz size ($65) for a kitchen or living room. Those are the rooms you light most nights, and the two wooden wicks spread the melt pool across the full jar so the scent reaches the far side of the room.
"Everything from this company is amazing so this candle matching that energy is no surprise. Will definitely be buying again."
Verified buyer, Adi
2. MBur Out of Office: for the reader who fell for the Volcano side of the scent
Sun-Washed Citrus is often called a close cousin of Capri Blue Volcano, which leans more tropical. If the tropical side is what pulled you in, this is your candle. Our Out of Office pineapple and coconut beeswax candle keeps the juicy, sunny feeling and trades the lemon for fruit you would find on a beach bar menu.
Wax: 100% beeswax | Wick: wooden (two on the 12 oz) | Fragrance: phthalate-free | Burn time: 40 hours (5 oz), 80+ hours (12 oz) | Dyes: none
Notes: Spearmint, Pineapple, Bamboo, Coconut
Standout feature: The first hit is cold pineapple, sweet and tart, greener and sharper than the canned kind. A cool line of spearmint runs over it, like a fresh leaf crushed between your fingers. Bamboo brings a green, watery smell, and coconut gives the soft sweet base that plays the same role agave plays in the original.
Who it is best for: Volcano fans, and anyone who wants their citrus candle to feel like a weekend away.
Size and price: The 5 oz size ($32) suits a bathroom or a small bedroom you use a few nights a week. Its single wooden wick melts a full pool across the smaller jar, so a small room fills without the scent crowding you.
"They smell up a WHOLE room during the burn & even a while after blowing them out. I won't buy other candles anymore, they're just that good"
Verified buyer
Those two picks share one build. The next five come from shoppers' favorite places to look, and each one sits below Adi for a clear reason.
3. Bath & Body Works Sweet Orange & Agave
This is the sister scent Bath & Body Works fans name first when Sun-Washed Citrus goes into the vault. Community trackers treat it as nearly the same fragrance under a new label, with orange taking the lead over lemon.
Who reaches for it: the shopper who wants to stay inside the Bath & Body Works name.
Why it sits below Adi: it rotates on and off the shelf the same way Sun-Washed Citrus does, so the hunt starts over every season. It is also a soy blend candle, so you get the scent without the single-ingredient beeswax build.
4. Capri Blue Volcano
Volcano is the scent Sun-Washed Citrus gets compared to most. It blends sugared citrus with tropical fruit and is known for its glass jar and its place on Anthropologie shelves.
Who reaches for it: the shopper who first found this scent family through Volcano and wants to go back to it.
Why it sits below Adi: Volcano leans tropical, so the lemon and agave of Sun-Washed Citrus come through less directly. If tropical is the pull, Out of Office covers that side in 100% beeswax.
5. Bath & Body Works Midnight Blue Citrus
Midnight Blue Citrus is another in-house Bath & Body Works option with a sweet and tart citrus punch. Fans often list it next to Sun-Washed Citrus when they trade notes on what to buy during a vault period.
Who reaches for it: the shopper who likes the punchy side of the original more than the sugary side.
Why it sits below Adi: the agave sweetness that defines Sun-Washed Citrus plays a smaller role here. Adi keeps both halves of the scent, the bright top and the sweet floor, in one jar.
6. Fleurimonds Naturals citrus lines
Fleurimonds Naturals positions itself as a clean-burning brand, and its citrus candles lean fruit-forward with a bakery feel. Scents like Apple Lemon Crumble show the house style, which draws on popular retail fragrances.
Who reaches for it: the shopper who wants a clean-label candle and likes a dessert twist on citrus.
Why it sits below Adi: the bakery lean moves the scent away from the cold, sunny feel of Sun-Washed Citrus. Adi stays in that sunny lane and is poured from 100% beeswax.
7. Handmade Sun-Washed Citrus type candles on Etsy
Small Etsy shops pour soy candles labeled as Sun-Washed Citrus type, built to copy the retired Bath & Body Works fragrance. Some get very close and some miss, because each maker builds the scent their own way.
Who reaches for it: the shopper who wants the exact name on the label.
Why it sits below Adi: the result changes from shop to shop, so you are guessing each time you order. Adi gives you the same notes and the same beeswax build every time you reorder it.
Why beeswax keeps a sunny citrus scent bright from first light to last
The ranking puts materials beside scent for a reason. What a candle is made of decides how the fragrance moves through the room and how long it lasts.
Beeswax has the highest melting point of any common candle wax. It melts slower, so the same jar burns longer, which is how the 12 oz size reaches 80+ hours. A slow, steady melt also releases fragrance at an even pace, so the citrus top does not burn off early and leave you with only the base.
The wooden wick matters too. It burns with a wide, low flame that melts the wax evenly across the jar, and it gives off a soft crackle while it burns. On the 12 oz size, the two wooden wicks reach the edges together, which helps the scent travel across a larger room.
There is one more detail that fits this scent well. Beeswax gives off a light spectrum closest to natural sunlight, so a sun-washed citrus candle burns with a warm glow that matches its name. Pure beeswax also carries a faint natural warmth under the fragrance, which sits right beside the agave and peach in Adi.
The fragrance itself is phthalate-free. Phthalates are chemicals some fragrance makers use to make a scent last longer, and many candles use toxic fragrances that contain them. MBur skips them, and skips chemical dye too, so the candle is the natural color of the wax.
Which size fits your room
Once you know the scent, the only choice left is size. Match it to the room and how often you light it.
- Kitchen, living room, or open-plan space: the 12 oz size with two wooden wicks and 80+ hours. These rooms are big and get lit most nights.
- Bathroom, entryway, or small bedroom: the 5 oz size with one wooden wick and 40 hours. A smaller room fills fast, and a candle you light a few times a week lasts a good while.
- You want the lemon and agave of the original: Adi.
- You want the tropical side that Volcano fans love: Out of Office.
Most readers searching for Sun-Washed Citrus end up with Adi in the kitchen, because that is where a bright citrus scent feels most at home.
But what if you are still on the fence?
"Sun-Washed Citrus filled my whole house. Will a beeswax candle do that?"
Yes, when you give it a full first burn. Let the wax melt all the way to the edge of the jar the first time you light it, which usually takes a few hours. That sets the melt pool for every burn after, and a full pool releases more fragrance than a narrow one.
For a large room, the 12 oz size with two wooden wicks gets there faster. One verified buyer, writing about a different scent from the same line, put it simply:
"I love this candle. I burn it everyday and my whole place smells AMAZING."
Verified buyer
"Should I just wait for Bath & Body Works to bring it back?"
The scent rotates in and out, and it comes back under new packaging and seasonal themes. Each time it leaves, the search begins again. Adi gives you the notes you were missing, so the real question becomes which room you want it in first.
"Will beeswax make it smell like honey instead of lemon?"
The citrus leads. The faint warmth of beeswax sits underneath, close to where the agave sits in the original. Most people notice the lemon and mandarin first and the warmth only later in the burn.
Questions people ask about Sun-Washed Citrus candles
What does Sun-Washed Citrus actually smell like?
It smells like sugared lemon and juicy mandarin over sweet agave nectar. The sweet base keeps it from reading like a cleaner. Adi, our beeswax citrus candle, carries mandarin and agave in its own notes.
Is Sweet Orange & Agave the same as Sun-Washed Citrus?
Fans treat it as a sister scent with orange in front of the lemon. It also rotates off the shelf, so many shoppers move to a citrus candle they can reorder, such as the Adi beeswax candle.
Does Sun-Washed Citrus smell like Capri Blue Volcano?
They are close cousins, and Volcano leans more tropical. If the tropical side is your favorite part, Out of Office with pineapple and coconut is the beeswax candle for it.
How long does a beeswax citrus candle burn?
Every candle in our beeswax candle collection burns 40 hours in the 5 oz size and 80+ hours in the 12 oz size. Beeswax melts slower than other waxes, which is where those extra hours come from.
Which size should I get for my kitchen?
Go with the 12 oz size. A kitchen is a room you light often, and the two wooden wicks spread the scent across the counter and into the next room. Adi in the 12 oz size is the one most Sun-Washed Citrus fans land on.
Our pick: Adi, in the 12 oz size, for the kitchen
The best candle that smells like Bath & Body Works Sun-Washed Citrus is one that carries both halves of the scent, the bright lemon and mandarin on top and the agave sweetness underneath. Adi does that, and it does it in 100% beeswax with wooden wicks and phthalate-free fragrance. Every other candle on this list either leans away from the original or sits on a shelf that keeps changing.
Put the 12 oz Adi in your kitchen. It is the room where a sunny citrus scent feels right, with morning light on the counter and a window open. Its notes of Lemon, Orange, Grapefruit, Mandarin, Tangerine, Lime, Peach, Agave give you the sugared citrus you were missing, and its two wooden wicks carry it through 80+ hours of burns.
Customers have left 57 reviews across the MBur line, and the Adi buyer quoted above summed it up: "Will definitely be buying again." Order it now, because the scent you are missing is off the Bath & Body Works shelf right now and this one is ready for your kitchen today.
Bring the 12 oz Adi beeswax candle home to your kitchen
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