Fragrance Friday

I've taken to burning candles pretty much continuously since my therapist recommended it as a way to remember my friends who have died. I feel like I should review them, because there's not a lot of candle scent reviews online, but I don't really want to. I purchased the candles in memoriam and very actively didn't try to intellectualize how they smelled. My "goal", if one can call it that, is to find a scent that captures the spirits as I knew them, so even candles that I like the scent of (like Muscari) get only a mediocre response in that regard. That being said, here are some extremely brief summaries of some of the ones I've tried. Maybe they'll help someone. I burned the votive candles of all of these except for Suede Blanc, which was a 2 wick metallo candle; the pictures for each reflect that.

Voluspa Maison Blanc Suede Blanc

Smells like dude cologne or aftershave. It's fine, it's just...not what I was hoping for. The denizens of the internet love it, though. Good throw.

Fragrance Friday: More Candles

Spring is springing in the most delightful way: we've had 5 days of glorious sun and temps in the 60s-70s, the trees are blooming, flowers are sprouting, and regrowth and happiness abounds. Spring is my favorite season (even if it does have my least favorite seasonal collections!), but in the past few years, it has coincided with some glumness. My first assaults were in the spring and I found out my school had betrayed me in the spring, but this year, I feel surprisingly light. Counseling helps, kids! Unfortunately, the relative mental health has been tempered by the shadow of the passing of T. As I was driving to class yesterday under the blossoming trees, in awe of their loveliness, I was struck with the realization that she does not get to experience it, that no matter how beautiful the blooms and vibrant the flowers, they will not reach her. I do realize that for life to be moving, there must also be death, but I don't have to like it.

My counselor told me that candles are common cross-culturally as a way to honor those who have died and suggested I get one to burn when I'm thinking of T. I haven't felt all that interested in perfume lately, sticking to a few tried-and-true favorites, but I do still love experiencing pleasant smells and decided that a scented candle could be one way I remember T. I'm still searching for one that smells like I feel about her (such might not exist), but I've tried a couple that I'll share with you today!

via

First up is Voluspa Black Figue and Chypre. I love fig candles and had tried their Figue de Bordeaux variety so thought it would be nice to check out something different. Where FdB is pure fig, creamy and green and woody, BF&C is darker and moodier. It's still very much fig, but weighted down by a slightly sour, dirty moss, like...I don't know, a fig found in a cave in a forest. The throw is awesome, probably thanks in part to the two wicks; I burn it in our living room and the scent trails all the way up our foyer onto the second floor, but it doesn't linger for a long time afterwards. I find it burns evenly and, as long as the wicks are trimmed before each use, doesn't smoke. Voluspas are great, and I have another couple (of the smaller Petite Decorative Candle design, in Crane Flower and Moso Bamboo) on the way! $16 for 11 oz, ~50 hour burn time, available from Nordstrom and Beauty.com, among others

Fragrance Friday

I haven't gotten any new perfumes in awhile (though I have some new Solstice Scents headed my way!), so I figured I would talk about non-perfume fragrance today. Namely, a candle. Namely namely, this candle:

via Candle Delirium

I have a thing for fig candles, you see. I'm not crazy about it as perfume (Diptyque Philosykos continues to not make sense on my skin, every few months when I decide to try it again), but as a home scent? Hells yes. I love the creamy fruitiness of it, and how that's offset by a woodsy base and complemented by subtle leafiness. I got a mini Pacifica Mediterranean Fig candle a few months ago, which was great, but the throw was pretty mild, so as a pre-finals preemptive stress reliever, I ordered the Voluspa Maison Rouge Figue de Bordeaux, one of two fig scents they make (the other is in the Maison Noir line), from Nordstrom. It's a two-wick candle that burns approx 50 hours, though I have long since lost track of how long I've burned it so I can't actually attest to whether that's true. The packaging is gorgeous, but my favorite part is, of course, the scent: it's a creamy fig with a bit of coconut, lighter on the green than others I've smelled, and it scents the whole house when I burn it (and our house is not small, which helps explain why 3 generations can live in it without killing each other). Basically, I'm enamored with it, and I have a big long list of Voluspas I want to try, including Black Figue & Chypre, and a couple ambery ones, and some white florals, and...yeah.
$16 for 11 oz, available from Nordstrom and Candle Delirium (the latter of which also has 3 oz votives for $9 that burn 25 hours, but I don't think the throw would be as nice on those; larger sizes are available from both retailers as well)

Have you tried any Voluspa candles? How do you feel about fig scents?