These Are The Best Candles, According to Reviews by an Adorable, Two-Year-Old Candle Connoisseur

TikTok has a new influencer. She’s decisive, to the point with her product reviews, and has great style to boot. She’s also two years old.

Sunday Kramer went viral last November when her mom, Bri, posted a video of the toddler at a boutique candle shop in their Dallas neighborhood. In the video, her dad, King, offers Sunday different scents. She buries her nose in each and contemplates for a few moments before definitively shaking her head yes or no.

Bri posted the video to her personal account (@brikramer) before bed. When she woke up it had more than 800,000 views. Within 24 hours, it was up to 3 million. “The most honest product review ever made. No lie, just a pure real fact,” commented one viewer. “From now on I only buy approved candles from this adorable child,” wrote another.

Today, that video has garnered more than 6.5 million views and led to an ongoing video series, as well as appearances on Good Morning America and The Kelly Clarkson Show. Sunday caught the attention of brands such as Home Goods and Yankee Candle. And although she doesn’t quite know what a collaboration is yet, Sunday teamed up with Society by Jackson Vaughn, the boutique where the first video was filmed, in January to create a bundle of two of her favorite candles.

Bri, a stay-at-home mom, and King, a pastor, say they never imagined the video would get that kind of response but are glad people are finding joy in their little family tradition. “Before Sunday was even born, my husband and I had been going on dates to that candle shop for years,” Bri says. “We would pick one out and that would be our splurge of the month.”

From a young age, Bri says, Sunday loved picking out seasonings from the pantry. In the same way some kids carry around a blanket or stuffed animal, Sunday often has a bag of Merit Coffee Co. beans tucked under her arm. Taking the two-year-old along to help pick out a candle seemed like a natural progression.

“We thought it would be cute to see what she thought because she always had opinions on the seasonings,” Bri says. 

As Sunday’s vocabulary has grown, so have her reviews. “She went from ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to ‘No, not that,’ ‘yucky,’ and ‘more that,’ ” Bri says. “The highest praise is ‘Oh, nice,’ and it usually comes with an eyebrow raise.” 

The toddler takes her job seriously and isn’t swayed by fancy packaging or brand names (12 million people watched recently as fellow Texan Tom Ford’s $135 Oud Wood candle was rejected). “She’s a purist,” Bri says, laughing. “Some people have asked if we go back and try the same candle if she’ll have the same reaction. I’ve done it a couple of times and she does, which is so surprising, but she is really consistent.” Sunday has a surprisingly mature palate for a toddler (lamb is one of her favorite foods), and the same can be said for her taste in candles: she often favors more complex varieties with multiple notes.

“She likes food smells a lot—basically anything warm. She doesn’t like clean smells ever. But she can throw me for a loop when it comes to floral or fruity,” Bri says. “I can usually guess if she’s going to like it or not, and sometimes I’ve been wrong.” 

Since filming the first video, the Kramers have done other candle reviews in Anthropologie, Bath & Body Works, and Neiman Marcus. Dallas’s NorthPark Mall is a favorite destination because Sunday also loves to stop by the indoor pond to see the turtles and ducks. The mall is where Sunday was first recognized as a local celebrity.

“We were in Zara and a woman asked if I knew that baby on TikTok that smells candles because she thought Sunday looked like her,” Bri says. When she clarified that Sunday was, in fact, the baby in the videos, others got excited. “Nearly everyone in the store knew her.’”

Judging by the comments on TikTok, Sunday has the kind of sway that most influencers dream about. “Literally the only influencer I listen to in 2023,” said one follower. Another chimed in: “I legit bought a candle because of her recommendations and IT’S MY FAVORITE YET.” Someone has created a public Google Doc summarizing all of Sunday’s judgments for easy reference. Others have said they felt “validated” when Sunday agreed with their choices. One quipped, “I trust this baby with my life.”

TikTokers have also weighed in on what they think the future holds for Sunday, predicting she’ll be an editor at Vogue or a perfumer. Sunday’s parents haven’t thought that far ahead. They don’t have a strategy for how to grow her following.

“It started with me just posting cute things Sunday does every single day and that’s still what it is,” Bri says. “If there’s ever a time when she doesn’t want to do it anymore, then we’ll stop.”

For now, Sunday seems to be enjoying herself. She was “tickled” when she saw herself on TV and had fun picking out candles for Sunday’s Best with Society by Jackson Vaughn.

According to the store’s owners, Jeremi Headrick and Pam Jackson, the partnership has been a hit, with shipments going out all over the United States and customers tagging the store in their unboxing videos.

“We have partnered with other local groups and influencers but none have been as exciting as this,” they wrote, via email. “We receive comments on our social media as well as customers coming in to sniff Sunday’s favorites—she has quite the fan base!”

The Kramers are currently in talks with the store owners to create Sunday’s own candle and plan to put the profits into a college fund. For now, though, fans can stock up on these Sunday-approved favorites:

Mahogany Teakwood by Bath & Body Works ($16)

For months, TikTok followers asked for Sunday’s thoughts on this beloved scent. Her reaction didn’t disappoint. “This was her first ‘Oh, nice,’ ” Bri says. Sunday is also a fan of Bath & Body Works’ Champagne Toast, said to smell like berries and tangerine.

Caffe Corretto by Joya x Lucali ($48)

A collaboration between Joya and a beloved Brooklyn chef, this candle’s dominant note is espresso but there’s also star anise, cinnamon, vanilla, and whipped caramel. “It’s so good,” Bri says. “It’s intense and layered and everyone who smells it is like ‘Whoa, really?’ ” Sunday was no exception. After burying her nose in the candle, it was an emphatic “More that, more that!”

Sunday’s Best by Society by Jackson Vaughn ($68)

These soy candles are part of the boutique’s proprietary line. No. 1 is earthy with notes of basil and eggplant, while No. 9 has Moroccan neroli, patchouli, bergamot, and cypress. 

Into the Forest by Tata Harper ($82)

Another one that received a whispered “Oh, nice” stamp of approval, this candle smells like pine trees with a hint of black pepper and clove.

Baccarat Rouge 540 by Maison Francis Kurkdjian ($110)

Bri says she was nervous to get Sunday’s take on this luxury candle—with notes of jasmine, saffron, cedar, and amber—because she and her husband love it. “It’s warm and spicy,” Bri says. Thankfully, Sunday approved.