This $11 Target Candle Smells Just Like The One Burning In Every Anthropologie

"Island Moonlight" and "Volcano" are basically one in the same.

We hope you love the products we recommend! Just so you know, BuzzFeed may collect a share of sales from the links on this page.

I was recently hanging out at my friend Julia’s house and noticed how great the candle she had burning in her kitchen smelled. “Oh, yeah,” she said, when I told her I liked it. “It’s a Target knockoff of the candle that’s burning in every Anthropologie.”

Rachel Miller / BuzzFeed

Anthropologie? You mean the store where I go to feel equal parts happy and also bad? (Happy because [pretty much] everything is so lovely, but bad because I’ll never be rich enough to live the life of The Anthropologie Woman.) The place where I buy one bowl at a time because I’m fancy but not, like, matching set of Anthro bowls fancy??? THAT Anthropologie?????

YES — THAT ANTHROPOLOGIE!!!!

click.linksynergy.com

And as soon as Julia said it, I placed the scent. I was no longer in her kitchen — I was planning incredible imaginary dinner parties for friends I do not have, trying to justify purchasing ivory velvet pants that cost $188, and imagining what it would be like to be the level of rich where you could not only buy this rug, but also put it in your toddler's bedroom.

Hot on the trail of a cheaper version of a fancy-ass candle, I started doing some research later that night. Then I made some calls*, slipped some people a little cash, lit a few fires, and I can now confirm: Target’s $11 Bella by Illume Island Moonlight candle is a dead ringer for Anthropologie's $30 Capri Blue Volcano candle.

Rachel Miller / BuzzFeed

*lol I was born in 1985 — I made zero calls.

Island Moonlight, according to its label, smells of “ruby cassis, Valencia orange, and sandalwood.” Meanwhile, Volcano is “tropical fruits, sugared oranges, lemons and limes, redolent with lightly exotic mountain greens.” While they don’t smell identical in the jars (though they are very, very, very close), and neither smells much like a volcano, I burned both at my apartment over several different days and can tell you that they are effectively identical when lit.

Both produce a grown-up fruity fragrance that is totally appropriate year-round.

goto.target.com, click.linksynergy.com

The Anthropologie one is a little stronger (actually a bit too strong for my taste), but the Target one is by no means weak.

Rachel Miller / BuzzFeed

The Target one is manufactured by Illume — and Illume also sells some of their candles at Anthropologie. (Fun fact: A lot of candles are manufactured by Illume, including other lines sold at Target, as well as candles at Charming Charlie and West Elm. Julia and I have been checking labels ever since this conversation and have been spotting them everywhere.)

(PS: The faux pumpkins are also from Target — find the felt one here.)

The Island Moonlight candles are available in two different styles and price points: the 10.2-ounce tin with a lid and label (which can be peeled off) that costs $10.99, and a pretty 10-ounce three-wick bowl that costs $15.99. (Also, both currently ship for free!!!)

goto.target.com

FYI, I’ve gone to several different Target stores and had friends check other Targets for me, and while we’ve had a fair amount of luck, we’ve determined that the availability of the Bella by Illume line is a little hit or miss in Target stores.

Get Island Moonlight from Target.com for $10.99 or $15.99.

CORRECTION

Nov. 07, 2017, at 16:36 PM

Illume does not manufacture the Volcano candle. An earlier version of this post misstated they did. We done fucked up. 😳

Do your holiday shopping with BuzzFeed. Check out all of our gift guides here!

Alison Krausman / BuzzFeed