The Friday Phwoar: Olfactory Delights (or 9 Great Candles)
Scented candles are one of my greatest pleasures in life. They make me really happy. I keep reading things which suggest that giving a scented candle is a dull gift. Who writes these ridiculous things? It’s the perfect gift for me, although I am also quite picky with my preferred scents. I have high waxy standards and one sniff needs to make me go “hhhnnnnngg” (the mark of success). It was quite interesting, putting together my top nine. I’d never analysed exactly what ingredients I love, but I can now confidently state if a candle contains rose, lavender, herbs and woody notes, then it’s a safe bet for me.
A couple of these are from the big lads of the scented candle world, but most are from small indie businesses who are doing great things. Where I have marked the candle with a ** in the title, it means I’ve been sent the candle as a press product in the last 12 months, via Instagram. Believe me when I say they are appearing here because I love them, this blog post is not part of any partnership. There must be a world of wonderful candles out there I haven’t yet had the pleasure of sniffing, I’d love to know your favourites in the comments.
Diptyque candles are reliably wonderful. My favourite is "Baies" but "Feu de Bois" is wonderful for completely different reasons. It smells, predictably (well, predictably if you speak a bit of French), like a real wood fire. I love it on a dark evening.
I love the whole ethos of LO Studio, who describe their candles as being based on "a scrapbook of fragrance memories... a feeling, a time, the sense of a scent that paints a picture". Palais reminds me of my teenage years in the best possible way. Rose, Agarwood, Santal, Praline and Oud.
My love affair with all things Polkra continues with this "Ondine" candle. It smells of "spices and antique leather furniture" and the pot it comes in will make an excellent vase/pen pot/general pretty thing afterwards. The Calypso Rose is also lovely.
I don't have enough superlatives for this intensely floral candle. It's perfect, and has the best "throw" of any candle I've ever had. Made from soy wax and Neroli, Rose Geranium and Basil essential oils.
Years ago, I won a competition on Instagram and the prize was a HUGE box of insanely good candles from Wick Candle Boutique. This one is ridiculously good, I still have a tiny amount of it left and can't bear for it to end. I should probably just buy another. Thyme, lavender, cedarwood, sandalwood. And do check out Wick's whole range, they have the best nose for a good candle.
This was a recommendation from my friend Emma (@thecrapflat on Instagram). I trust her in all olfactory matters and I was correct to do so in this case. This is lovely, and has a wooden wick (a wooden wick!) which crackles like a real fire. Thyme, lavender, cedarwood, sandalwood. 10/10.
At the slightly ridiculously priced end of the scale, but I once had a gift voucher for Liberty and decided to go wild. The container is fabulous, and the scent is a very good white floral.
