Smells Like Home
Call me middle-aged, but I’ve never really understood the cliched groan when it comes to giving and receiving a scented candle. Give me a great candle that smells amazing and I’m, tragically, over the moon. Buying one for yourself feels like one of the nicest things you can do for yourself too. Next payday, rather than dropping £40 in Zara, try going to Liberty and buying yourself a Diptyque candle. It somehow feels like far more of a treat than a wear-once shirt, especially once lit in your room with clean sheets on the bed and a new Netflix show ready and waiting… I’m afraid I’m not one for saving candles either, no matter how nice. I might light some slightly crumbier ones if it’s just me, but I don’t see the point of buying a lovely candle and not using it. I love the look of Diptyque’s when they’re a bit sooty around the rim too.
Needless to say, I’m a bit of a candle hoarder so thought I’d take you on a little tour of some favourites. I shop online for nearly everything so I always like personal recommendations for candles and stuff as otherwise I’m really winging it in terms of scents. Plus, its a good excuse for showing some snap shots of my home and I for one love seeing inside people’s four walls (I’m that nosy weirdo that stares in people’s windows as I walk past).
I got this antique silver tray at Battersea Car Boot sale and it now sits on our beaten up leather trunk we use as a coffee table and has a never-ending buffet of candles circling it. We’re renting right now and while all the furniture is ours, we bought it fairly swiftly and on a tight budget two and a half years ago when we moved in, mainly form Kempton Market, Ebay and stores like Cox & Cox and Graham & Green. Things like cushions, candles and flowers are that bit more important when you’re renting I think as they offer fast, fairly inexpensive ways to make a place you’re own and feel like home. Hence why I have so many of all three right now. Whether we’re having a Friday night in with The Walking Dead or I’m just editing photos on the sofa on a rainy day, I’ll light a couple of candles to make it feel like more of an occasion. Yep even life admin can feel sexy with a few candles burning. The agate slices are a real favourite. They’re from Not Another Bill and such a nice way to layer candles and bits and pieces picked up from travels (and only £20). My sister gave me the jar of matches that you strike on the bottom and I’ve found having them in line of sight, rather than scrambling around for a lighter, makes me more inclined to light candles on the reg.
Fig and rose are two of my favourite bases for candles which is what these are mainly centred around. The plain white one is by an Italian brand called Industria and has an amazing musky smell that combines coconut and vanilla. Plus shout out to an actual fragrance, Byredo Super Cedar that smells so woody and fresh all at once. I like have fragrances dotted around the house as well as on my dressing table so I can grab one as I head out the door.
Left to Right
Carriere Freres Rosa Damascena
Industria Cardinalis
Diptyque Roses
La Feu de L’Eau in La Feu Vert
Byredo Super Cedar
I got this Soveral candle for Christmas after falling in love with brand’s facial oil. At first, I found the smell really overpowering and intense but once lit, it’s much more subtle and really grew on me (as you can probably tell by the fact it’s basically finished now). It’s very earthy and is almost entirely based on Oakmoss so it’s definitely not feminine or sweet, but smells wild and outdoorsy which is sometimes really nice when you’re holed up indoors as it’s pouring with rain outside.
On the total opposite end of the scale, my mum recently gave me this Jo Malone Velvet Rose & Oud which smells like a silk-lined boudoir. It’s sweet, warming and a little spicy and woody around the edges (lol to this reading like a dating profile).
Soveral Woodlands of Avalon
Jo Malone Velvet Rose & Oud
Diptyque Figuer
This is where I end my day and there’s nothing nicer than a lit candle next to your bed as you wind down. I’m terrible at watching tv in bed rather than reading but somehow if I light a candle and have some silence for a bit, I’m more inclined to actually let me brain declutter before bedtime. This one by This Works is especially good for bed time as it uses the same blend of sleep-inducing oils and herbs as the Deep Sleep Pillow Spray (which I’m also obsessed with). The glass and brass holder was a gift from Frances and makes the most minimalist candle a bit more of a statement.
Elsewhere Rose hand cream from Diptyque, Charlotte Tilbury’s night cream and eye cream, Jurlique Rose Face Mist and Show Beauty’s hair oil all feature as part of my nightly routine. The eye mask from Asceno isn’t something I wear religiously at home but if insomnia ever starts to strike, it really works as a fix for me.
This Works Deep Sleep candle
Earrings | Jenny Bird
I treated myself to this Byredo candle around my birthday and I’ll admit I kind of went for it just for the name and the branding. I might even prefer Byredo packaging to Diptque now (no she didn’t)… However this isn’t all style no substance. It smells insanely good and while I can’t quite put my finger on why, it’s exactly what I want in a candle and how I love a room to smell. It’s woody and earthy but soft with rosemary, vanilla and rum. Delicious basically.
I’ve really got into tin candles too. Some of my candles get so grubby inside so having a lid you can put on to keep the scent in and the dust out totally makes sense. This clean, white one is by London brand Evermore and smells super fresh of grapefruit and fruity – perfect in the bathroom I reckon.
Byredo Bohemia
Evermore Grapefruit & Bergamot
Necklace | Jenny Bird
Sunglasses | Saint Laurent
Last and not least, what bathroom is complete with a couple of candles. My all-time favourite, probably because it was the first grown-up candle I ever had, is Diptyque’s Baies. Sweet and fresh, it’s another rose-based one and is the first one I reach for if I have people coming round or something. I got sent the Elemis candle recently and it’s been sitting on my bath ever since. It really does make the most-glamourous bathroom smell like a spa and the light shines through the little gaps in the silver lining which looks kind of sweet too.
Let me know what your favourites are. And if you want to know where anything else pictured but not directly mentioned is from, just give me a shout in the comments. xx
