LOEWE Made a $290 Candle That Smells Like Banoffee Pie

LOEWE Perfumes has added “Banoffee” to its Home Scents collection, a candle inspired by the very British combination of banana, toffee and whipped cream. And yes, it is exactly as indulgent as it sounds.

There is just one tiny detail.

It costs $290.

Meet the Candle That Smells Like Banoffee Pie

Banoffee is built around the flavors of the classic British dessert, which was created in the early 1970s at The Hungry Monk restaurant in East Sussex.

LOEWE's version takes that banana-and-toffee combination and turns it into a gourmand home fragrance, with a banana amber accord, toffee and caramelized banana.

When the candle is unlit, the scent leans toward soft, ripe banana. Once you light it, the fragrance becomes warmer and deeper, bringing out the impression of flambéed banana and caramelized sugar.

Basically, your living room gets dessert without you having to turn on the oven.

It Gets Better When You Light It

What I like about the concept is that LOEWE isn't just trying to make a candle smell like a bowl of fruit.

The fragrance is designed to evolve with the heat, moving from creamy, ripe banana into something darker and more caramelized once the wick is burning.

That makes the whole thing feel closer to cooking than traditional home fragrance.

You aren't just spraying “banana” into the room and hoping for the best. You're essentially creating banana flambé on your coffee table.

Without the possibility of setting your kitchen on fire, which feels like a win.

Of Course, the Vessel Is Gorgeous

Because this is LOEWE, you are not getting a basic glass jar with a beige label.

Banoffee comes in the brand's signature terracotta vessel, this time glazed in glossy caramel tones with a warm ombré effect. The LOEWE Anagram is stamped into the base, giving the candle the same decorative-object quality that has made the brand's Home Scents collection so recognizable.

The vessel itself references a terracotta mug from the late fifth century BC, so technically you are getting a little ancient-world design history with your banana candle.

That's quite a résumé for something sitting next to your TV remote.

It's 280 Grams of Very Expensive Dessert

The new Banoffee candle is the collection's Midi size, containing 280 grams of natural wax with a cotton wick.

LOEWE estimates around 50 hours of burn time, and the candle is made in Spain. The brand describes the Home Scents collection as an exploration of natural smells, with each candle produced as an artisanal object, meaning no two are exactly alike.

So yes, it is technically a candle.

It is also very clearly trying to be an object you keep around after the wax has disappeared.

LOEWE Has Been Making Strange Scents Feel Chic for Years

Banoffee actually makes perfect sense within LOEWE's wider approach to home fragrance.

The brand has never been particularly interested in making home scents feel anonymous. Its collection includes everything from Tomato Leaves and Oregano to Honeysuckle, Ivy, Cypress Balls and even Scent of Marihuana.

Banoffee simply takes that botanical curiosity somewhere considerably sweeter.

And there is something very fun about seeing a luxury fashion house treat an everyday smell as seriously as it treats leather, perfume or tailoring.

Would I Pay $290 to Smell Like Pie?

Look, $290 is a lot of money to spend on making your home smell like something you could theoretically bake.

But that isn't really what LOEWE is selling.

It is selling the entire fantasy: the caramel-colored terracotta vessel, the banana-flambé scent, the artisanal production, the strange little connection to British dessert history and the pleasure of having something on your coffee table that looks like it belongs in a very chic person's home.

I'm not saying I need it.

I'm saying I suddenly understand why someone might.

Banoffee is available now through LOEWE Perfumes for $290.