I’ve had Belle en Rykiel from Sonya Rykiel sitting around for a while because it just seemed much too heavy to test or wear in the summer, so I thought I’d take another run at it now that the weather is getting all crisp and the Rockies are…. IN THE WORLD SERIES!!!! Well, maybe. At the time I’m writing this, we don’t know yet, and I may be retracting it late tonight or early tomorrow morning.
Also, today will be a sample grabbag giveaway. I have tons of them – Shilo, Bois 1920 Sutra Ylang, some Il Profumos, Cristina Fissore Rapsodia in Blu. So just leave a comment and let me know if you’d like to be in the draw, and the winner will receive a bunch of samples that I need to get rid of before it is impossible to wade out of my office. I’ll even toss in a bit of my Bond No. 9 Andy Warhol sample :cries:. I’m trying to let go of little samples I love, and it’s really, really hard on this one, but I keep telling myself a full bottle will be mines, mines, all mines!!! in December. Lord, I’m just a ‘orrible, selfish wretch. I can’t let go of it. Instead, I’ll be giving away a set of the November Posse Scent Club samples in addition to the grabbag. Two separate drawings for one post, so just indicate if you want in the drawing for one or the other or both. If I can convince myself to have some dignity, the Andy Warhol bit may still make it in one of these.
Belle en Rykiel has top notes of mandarin, red currant, and lavender flowers; heart notes are heliotrope, coffee blossom, and frankincese; base notes are patchouli, amber, vanilla, and Mahogany wood. This reminds me of a creamier, more floral Bond No. 9 New Haarlem. New Haarlem is my favorite coffee fragrance of all time. NH is stronger, more pungent than Belle. Belle is a little softer, it doesn’t have that coffee bitterness, or it is tempered by the other notes. The longer it is on, next to NH, the closer together they start to come, but Belle never quite has that coffee pungency that NH has and veers off away from the coffee midway through the drydown, retaining only a trace of the coffee on me.
For those of you that like your coffee softer and surrounded by flowers and perhaps a teensy bit of some sweets, and that in the open and going to almost nothing in the drydown, and you find New Haarlem to be too Starbucks Burnt Coffee, Belle en Rykiel is very pretty and appealing, and it works far better in colder weather than in summer. I’m still preferring New Haarlem, but I suspect the price point, once it gets to discounters, will make Belle en Rykiel the more attractive of the two.
So ya’ll remember the expensive candle from last week? The Santuario di Bellezza Roma Modern Candle for $120? It smells great in the jar! Unfortunately, that’s where the beauty ends. I tried burning it and I tried melting it, and the result was the same — almost nonexistent throw. ‘Tis a shame because it’s a beauty and should have a way to get out and perfume my house. The only way I could have wound up more irritated by this purchase is if I had bought the bigger $180 version of this “no smell unless you stick your nose in the jar” candle. Why would they spend this much time and effort to make this beautiful fragrance wrapped up in wax in a beautiful 24% leaded jar, tied up with a beautiful bow, just to have the fragrance be a big zero?
Two questions for today. What’s your favorite coffee fragrance? I find myself in need of sampling some more. And what’s the candle you have that has the best throw?
I am a huge fan of the Ikea candles in glass containers. Each comes with a plastic over the mouth that has a picture of what it’s supposed to smell like and no name written out. They definitely scent a room or two really well. Please enter me in the drawings for both batches of samples. Thanks.
No real suggestions on the coffee or candle front but I do want to be entered in the fab sniff bag. Thanks!
My hands-down favourite coffee scent is CSP’s Vanille Café: coffee with cream and sugar and a little dollop of vanilla syrup. Simple, irresistible, intoxicating. (It was reformulated, I think, when they redid their line and called it Vanille Moka: I haven’t tried that so I can’t compare them.)
L’Artisan’s Eau du Navigateur is another good one, but the coffee, to my nose, isn’t a dominant note–it’s more about the leather and wood.
If there are drawings for samples of things, enter me, too.
Hello – the company is California Fleurish, who produce a line called Antique Garden, which has the Green Tomato Leaf. All available online, methinks.
LOL…i try to give away the ones i love and pine after too..
please enter me in both drawings…
thanks
Candice
Please add me to the draw!
I’m here in the upper Rocky Mountains of Idaho…
PUT ME IN THE DRAWING!!!! PUT ME IN THE DRAWING!!!! Thanks!
New Haarlem is the darling of my coffee scents if it weren’t for the price, but Rochas Man quells my craving for a smooth coffee scent for a steal.
When I crave for a more stronger coffee, I like Armani Attitude, but that’s pretty much the extent of it. I wanted to like MPG Santal, but GEE-WIZ! Terribly bitter and without a chaser unfortunately.
Candles? Wish I liked ’em, but I prefer room sprays or even those plug-in thingys.
I can’t imagine a candle that is that expensive! The best candles I have come across are Tyler. The throw is quite impressive and they have so many scents. I train horses, and I can burn one of these candles in the office that is connected to the barn and you can smell the candle in the stalls!
I used to love a Jo Malone frag that had coffee to it…the name escapes me. I have some pure coffee butter I can send you if you like coffee….it is hard to get and very creamy.
Please enter me in your draw!
This *is* a coincidence..I was recently(couple of hours back) reading reviews of candles as I need/waannnt to buy a candle to scent my living room..(right now I have some kind of fragrant reed diffuser thing that I want to change)..so it was fun and useful reading everybody’s comments.
I thought I liked New Harlem(liked it better than the other Bonds) but the last time I wore it I couldn’t wait to get it off..hmm..
Please enter me in both drawings(if its not too late)
Help!! Can you check to see if I’m being filtered? Tried to post twice today and not having any luck. Avoiding any potentially trouble words in this post to see if it works….
Okay, sure, I see how this works now: I’m not allowed to mention I’m a Diamondbacks fan, apparently, or it sends me straight to the smut can. :d Congrats on your World Series clinch!
No help on coffee scents, but I can highly recommend Gold Canyon candles for throw. Inexpensive, lots of fragrances, amazing candle sillage.
Hope this one makes it through!
Please enter me in both drawings. I have yet to try any cofee-based scents. Thanks!
My favorite coffee scent is Black Vetyver Cafe and my candle with the best throw is Mocha Latte by A Zaftig Woman etailer.
Love your site:)
Jane
Thirding Yohji Homme. And L’eau du nagivateur rocks this side of the Rockies. I’m all about the manly coffee.
Hello,
Please enter me in both drawings…..
I’m a little reserved in trying heavy coffe or chocolate scents, but Belle En sounds worth the try….
I’m alwasy looking for a new and different scent, i just can’t take them too heavy
:xOh,Lord…..just yesterday I re-tried Bond #9 New Haarlem,and am simply NUTS for it….I want to bathe in it,spray it on my sheets,douse my whole body with it,etc,etc….fav. coffee scent??…..that’s putting it so mildly…..now about candles….I YERN(old term,’cause I’m old!!)for candles with great throw….years ago,I found one at K-Mart,yes,that’s right,K-Mart….unreal…..sooooo,I’ll be scoping out the comments here,and then after I sell the house,so I can purchase the Bond,and the candle(you KNOW it’ll cost many $$$$$$)…..I will invite you all to tea in my cardboard box,where I’ll be living,and smelling great….total fun!….I luv ‘youse guys….please enter me in any/all currant draws:”>
am i too late to enter? i’d love to grab the grabbag!
do you know rochas absolu? belle en rykiel reminds me very much of it. and yes, both are better suited for cooler temps.
Hi Patty!
I have to agree with the AL Cafe Noir as being a great and affordable coffee scent!
So sorry about your candle :((!! I have a few of the Bond No. 9 and the throw is amazing. I can’t burn them for more than a few hours due to the potency. I’m SO lemming the Solonge Stoned candle…would love to know the “burn quality”!!
Would love to sample your grab bag of goodies!
Thanks :d
I found this all very inspiring — to seek out more candles. I have had great luck with the reasonable (sort of) priced Voluspa, and the wonderful Geodesis — hard to get in Canada. And Japanese incense is great, but vanishes the instant the incense does. Very transient.
Have not found a chocolate noted perfume yet to enjoy. Ava Luxe’s didn’t grab me. Love to be in the draw!
Cheryl
Not familiar with the coffee scents . . . but I have come to love Slatkin candles — especially Oriental Spice and Frankincense. Twigs is good and their Christomas candle is a winner.
If it isn’t too late, may I be included in the drawing?
Good luck with the Rockies!!!
Enter me in both drawings please 🙂 I need something new to spritz now that rainy, cold weather has once again come to Chicago :_( Coffee fragrance, hmm. I don’t love gourmand smells somehow so I dunno about that..
Please enter me in the drawing. Pretty, pretty please.
How ’bout those Rockies!!!
Patty, so sorry you were disappointed with the candle purchase – but disappointment is the ONLY experience I’ve ever had with candles. Have somewhat better luck with fragrant soaps (but not to perfume my house, obviously!)
Please enter me in the drawings. Would love to have some new samples.
Also, since I know how much you guys here hate Angel – I’ve finally summoned the courage to ask – does anyone else smell a light coffee fragrance in it? Maybe its supposed to be chocolate?(Ducking and running now)
You know, I can’t bear to burn candles when I really love them, I keep an old battered pacifica in a discontinued scent in my underwear drawer, it looks like a spotty christmas tree green but it smells soft and sweet and delicious.
okay, actually minimizing it now…
I’d love to be in both drawings, Thanks! – I’m exited about the November scent club.
minimizing the window at work now…
I’d like to enter both drawings, please.
Of the two coffee fragrances I’ve tried, New Haarlem & CDG Wood Coffee, I much prefer New Haarlem. I enjoy wearing NH after dinner and before bed.
Sorry I’m no help as far as candles…usually use incense.
What kind of Incense? Anything in particular? I always eye the Shoyeido ultra luxe ones, which you can get at a better price in their sample pack, and they are really stunning incense scents, but even I can’t justify spending several hundred dollars on a pack of incense. Eeeek!!!
Hey Patty! Sorry it took me awhile to reply. This is our usual incense (I’m sure we’re not unique in liking this?) Nag Champa – Satya Sai Baba. I also like Nag Champa – Sai Baba Super Hit Incense.
I’m sure I could dive into the world of high-end incense quite easily if I let myself.
🙂 Please enter me in the drawings. 😉
Coffee is my fave in fragrance. I love Cafe Noir a ton, also Bond no 9 New Harlem is a good one. That one is strong though
Absolutely, Jen!
Oh, lawd, coming late to the blog again. Please enter me in the drawings, if possible! The weather is finally cooling down here in BKK, so I don’t worry so much about being a stinky wildebeest when I sample new scents…
You’re not late, Noy! I’m glad you’re getting some relief from the heat. The fall here has really been just spectacular.
My Annick Goutal candle (Petit Cherie) does have a very good throw. But also this makes me think if you really want to scent you house, the best thing is to use those lamps that waft specially made home fragrance oils around. Also I do find that L’Occitane home fragrance sprays are very good. And the Jo Malone home fragrance sprays are delightful…Please enter me into all the drawings! I am being greedy aren’t I…
You aren’t being greedy!
I’m going to have to investigate the lamps and oil burners, they sound like just the ticket to fill in the gaps between incense and candles.
Please ender me in the draw!
I have bought candles from the brand Voluspa and they have the best throw and lots of fragrance options!
Will do! I really like Voluspa too. They have a Black votive pack with liek 12 different scents. That is a great pack!
Not much of a candle person at all, I’m afraid…but I am a baseball person (Go Rockies!!!). Yes, please oh please enter me in your drawings!
Will do, Karen! If the Rox win the Series, there will be a great drawing!!!
The only coffee note in any scent I truly love is the one in CdG’s Kyoto. It lends all those cool evergreens a shot of attitude.
As for candles, I too am of the small-apartment-two-cats variety, and I tend to keep my burning objects to incense. One stick of sandalwood (bought cheap at Whole Foods) covers up the stink of life pretty handily.
Please enter me for both drawings!
The cats aren’t so bad, but I have a dog and three males in the house, one of them of the teenage variety. Lots of boy smells to even out! 🙂
Go Rockies!!! (and Indians!)
After having worked for the ‘bux for two years, I’m afraid the only coffee fragrance I like is, well, coffee. However, I can tell you which types of coffee I prefer based on aroma, flavor, and country of origin/method of processing (I was one of the few baristas who actually cared about coffee). You sound like you’re more of a fan of Latin American coffees and lighter roasts, no? Very floral, nutty, sometimes cocoa-powder aromas, maybe some fruit…
Anywho, please enter me in both drawings! Thanks! (If you ever need help finding a good coffee…)
Coffee?!@?@?@? Yes, please! I’m a coffee fiend. Not mild at all. The stronger the better. I like my coffee to stand up, salute me in the morning, and then melt back into the cup like black tar. 🙂
I can’t think of any coffee fragrances that I have tried. As for candles with great scent throw, Chantecaille Frangipani candle, Henri Bendel Birch (may be discontinued) and also the Bendel Ginger and Clove candles. Worst scent throw ever were the Party Lite candles I bought just to be a good friend (I still have them).
I would love to take some samples off your hands! Thanks!
Thanks, Donna! Bendel again!! 🙂
I’m never satisfied with candles’ ability to scent a room, so I opt for oil burners or incense. The only coffee frag I’ve tried is New Harlaam, but I do love it. No, wait, that’s not true, i tried Ava Luxe’s Cafe Noir, which was too sweet for me.
Also, I’d love to take some samples off your hands, laugh.
I’m covered on incense, love the Shoyeido. But what are you using for oil? The Lampe Berger? Or something else?
Oh Patty, what a terrible disappointment! I feel for you.
Where coffee scents are concerned, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool New Haarlem Fan. I also like Rochas Man and Yohji Homme. I THINK I’d like Jo Malone Black Vetyver Café, except that it doesn’t hang around long enough for me to smell it. As for CdG Wood Coffee – cold, stale, week coffee forgotten on the windowsill (sorry, Divina!)….
Some gentle soul sent me three travel-size Henri Bendel candles, and they’re really great. I also luuuuurrrve Annick Goutal’s “Noel” Christmas candles, even though I can only afford the super-tiny travel size. They’re insanely expensive, but smell wonderful and perfume the entire house! Mariage Freres I keep hanging around – they’re not cheap, and I wonder whether they can possibly be as good as the MF incense sticks (Fruits Rouges is to die for). I’d hate to be disappointed. The best candles I ever had were from O&Co., a company which sells olive oil products. Their basil-scented candles burned down to the last tiny sliver, had a great throw and came in cute little ceramic pots. But I can’t find them anymore! SOBBBBBB!!!!!
Worst candle ever: Donna Karan Black Cashmere (and I love that scent!). An enormous, expensive black thing with minimal throw which left you with a big block of scented black wax when it burned down after only a few hours. Not worth buying….
Oh yes – I’d love to be in both drawings!
I don’t remember seeing candles at O&Co, but those sound amazing.
I have one of the mariage freres on order, and I need to stop in and grab some incense when I’m in Paris (adjusting shopping budget UP… again). I also need to go back to my Paris post from a couple of weeks ago and jot down all the great tips in a notebook to take with me!
Oooh the Annick Goutal Christmas Candles! Haven’t bought them before but I had the chance to sniff them in the department store last year. Absolute holiday heaven. I would definitely shell out for those if I had the money!
Unfortunately, as a relative newbie, I don’t think I’ve ever sampled a coffee scent and I’m not much of a candle person lately – I have what I think is an Archipelago Botanicals Havana Jar Candle at home on my dresser, but I haven’t opened it for probably 2 years…. but I sure would still like to be entered in the drawing:)
Congrats on the World Series!!
for an unused candle you have just hanging around, that’s a great one! 🙂
Another tired Denverite here – can you believe this??!! They just keep going . . . . Please enter me in the drawing if you would. My latest favorite candle is the L’Artisan Annanas Fizz one (it has a different name than the scent, but I cant remember it – like I said, I’m tired).
All these Denverites! So exciting, I think we’re getting close to a… group! Maybe when I get back from Paris, we can plan a group thing to sniff what I bring back or just all hundreds of bottles I have, which would be fun! Like a sniffing party… with booze!
I would love to be entered in both your drawings.
I do love candles and I am always sniffing them where ever I go. I have a Geodesis candle in Lotus that is lovely, both lit and unlit. They sell a cover for it, it you want to enclose the scent while it sitting there on your shelf.
I am getting a Diptyque candle for my birthday. I smelled it burning in a little shop and decided to splurge. The scent was Baies. Hopefully, I will enjoy it as much in my home, as I did in the shop.
The geodesis stuff is great. I had a couple of their room sprays, but I should get one of their candles. Dark and rich, they are perfect! Wow, I just saw Votivo has a whole coffee and tea series of candles too, no!!!
Belle En Rykiel-
God help me, I wanted it to be a HG- and I detested it so, I returned it to Nordstrom’s. It smelled weak and fakey-fake to me.
Shoot me .
AL Cafe Noir- really good. And the discontinued Liz Zorn’s Sienna Sun- just stunningly dark and yummy.
I love candles, but I never buy them…
That would detract from my horrific perfume expenditures, ma belle !
Really? That just stuns me, it seems like it would totally be a mtach for you. One of those sure-thing-misses.
I have to do the candles. I’ve got this obsession about the smells around me, have had for decades, so I’m always on the hunt for the perfect smells to have just simmering and for temporary smells.
Oh yes, pulllleeeeze enter me in both of your drawings! I hope I have 1/2 the luck with the drawing that our Rocks have had in the playoffs!! I stayed up to the very end of the game so I could celebrate — even though the alarm goes off at 5 am @-) Let’s hear it for the ‘flyover states’!! Whoo hoo!!!
I love coffee-scented and flavored things. It’s just the plain old cuppa joe that doesn’t appeal to me (tea drinker here). I like the Belle en Rykiel, too, and have been toying with the idea of buying some. I think this would make a great cold morning scent. Virtual caffeine? lol Why not!
I don’t really know any other coffee scents, but I’m writing down the names suggested here and adding them to my ‘to try’ list. :d
I got two GREAT candles as a gift last year. Sadly, there was no brand name on either of them and the gifter doesn’t remember where she bought them. One was orange, the other pear, and they came in urn-shaped jars and smelled heavenly. Very natural fruit-smelling and they scented the entire main level of my house.
I keep looking at every shop I visit, hoping I can find that distinctive frosted glass urn-shaped jar.
Can you believe it?!??! I mean, I expect the Broncos or the Avs to do a championship every now and then, but the Rox?!?! I’m jacked.
So you’re in Denver too? Do we have enough of us to get together? I’m always envious of everyone else’s little gab-sniffs.
Enter me for both please!
BTW, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Belle en Rykiel! I tried it for the first time two saturdays ago in Nordstrom, but I had no idea what the notes were. Thanks for the review!
Oh, good! I could see how it would be love. I just like my coffee to smell a bit more bitter, but it’s very well done.
Oh do sign me up for the drawing.
The only two coffee frags that I’ve tried are the CG Wood Coffee from the Sweet series and the Bond So New York. The Wood Coffee was okay on me, a bit too sweet, but mostly a nice woods and patch scent. The So New York just smelled a bit off. But that could have been the coffee/chocolate/plum combo…it wasn’t really sweet on me, just something didn’t go well and made a weird flatish sour note. Blech. Alas, I’m afraid I’m no good for suggestions.
Plum and Coffee? I think I could pass. I haven’t smelled that Bond, But they do manage to make combinations work that I wouldn’t have thought they could!
Hello from a fellow Rockies fan just down the road from you (Stapleton)! UNREAL!!
Please enter me in the drawing, thanks!
I don’t have a favorite coffee fragrance, but I’m very curious to try Belle en Rykiel now. The other notes sound very good.
As for candles, I like Diptyque, but they’re awfully spendy, so I don’t often go down that road. My favorite affordable candles are by Capri Blue, which I buy at Anthropologie — and I especially like the ones in the pretty, cut-glass jars, which you can reuse.
Mostly though, my preference is to burn Japanese-style incense (no bamboo core). My favorites are by Mariage Freres, which I seem to find only in Paris (but since you’re going … check it out!), but a stateside runner up is Shoyeido (who, if I had to guess, might be the company that produces the Mariage Freres incense — just a hunch).
Best,
Marsi
You can find the Mariage Freres candles online at Aedes de Venustas. The Ambre is luscious…but incense are my favorites too. Thanks for all the great suggestions – the candle I was using was delegated to the coat closet (as it has, I fear, good moth killing capabilities).
I found another place online that has the Mariage Freres, but just a couple of them, because Aedes is tempoarily out (yes, I lifted my Aedes ban and have recanted… for now). I’ve printed off the store address for Paris so I can pay a visit. I need to sniff their incense sticks muchly!!!
Okay, there may be enough of us Denverites for some little mini sniffing expedition, but I have no idea where we would go. I’ve flat sniffed out all the department stores. Maybe I should invite you all over here to sniff? That would be fun! booze, perfume and some snacks!
I still can’t believe we are World Series bound. We’ve had so many long, sucky seasons, this is just a thrill, but they need to get off of those late night games, I kept falling asleep!
BTW, you sent me on a mission to find that mariage freres candles and incense sticks when I’m in paris.
If you’re around stapleton, we are practically neighbors!
It’s on Rue Vieille du Temple if I remember right (very close to an old frien’s former apartment)… You can stop off there after going to the Picasso museum, and then watch the gay boys parading a little down the road…
I’m wrong!
I’m possibly more angry than you are about your candle. Indeed, what’s with all the presentation on a turd?! Yankee candles are just my favorite. I’ve tried others and always “meh” my way back. I use the crock warmer, and leave it on 24/7. Right now I’m drooling over Autumn Harvest. That spicy yumminess makes me feel like an amazing housekeeper and cook, even when I’m tripping over toys to take the fish sticks out of the oven. (And the house doesn’t smell like fish sticks!)
Oh, and lots of little mystery vials? Catch me while I swoon… with my last conscious thought I gasp, “enter me!”
Ack! Shirl, I’m writing p0rn again!
Did you see the new holiday ones? I snagged the silver fir and the frankincencse one, they sound great. Shirl said that sparkling vanilla is awesome, but I can’t do vanilla in this house (lousy men that hate vanilla, harumph!)
Coffee & chocolate are 2 gourmand notes that I like on the real thing but can’t wrap my mind around as perfumes. Case in point, I’m test driving Piment Brulant today & the chocolate note in it is kind of weirding me out (it was a freebie, I wouldn’t actually choose a scent like that). So, haven’t sniffed any coffees yet.
And wow holy cr@p Patty, are you KIDDING, $120 for THAT? Ouch! I don’t do candles much because 1 small apt + 2 cats = candle hazard. Plus, candles with too much throw choke me out of my little space pretty quickly & make me wheezy. I did have a Yankee Clipper candle once & it was so strong even unlit that I had to regift it. So I’m a bit useless on that front. But … I do sometimes light little L’Occitane candles in tins in the bathroom for guests & they fill the space up beautifully. I’ve used vanilla & green tea (a bit herby for me, actually). And I’ve also had some really lovely leather scent candles that throw nicely even unlit (cheap pillars from a leather shop on Christopher Street. ahem.) And I have a poshie soy candle in a jar that REALLY throws but ah, can’t remember what now. I’ll check tonight at home & post it.
Don’t forget the name of that candle! Hey, have you been down to Aedes to smell the new holiday diptyque candles? If you get that way, need a report back on the incense one. 🙂
Saved by Google! It’s the Votivo Aromatics Black Ginger candle. They’re very soft & melty & I’d thought they were soy candles, but the sites I just looked at didn’t say soy. So, maybe no. Still, like the name says, very aromatic.
I will try to get to Aedes to candle check. I’ve recently gotten interested in incense even tho my first forays (Avignone, Messe de Minuit) were disasters. Even Ouarzazate was kinda sour-ish for me. But I love Barbara Bui & Joseph Statkus & want to find more. So, incense candle sniffing I will go. Just don’t hate me if it takes a couple weeks to get there, please.
I would love to be entered in the drawings!
I’m not a huge fan of coffee fragrances, but for another Bond, So New York is a recent favorite of mine, and it does have an “espresso accord”. It’s reminiscent of Angel, except that it smells good :d
I will second and third some posters from above about the Henri Bendel candles – Firewood is my favorite and scents the entire house from my daughters’ room. But for really covering a whole house, for my money, the home fragrance oils can’t be beat. It literally takes less than five minutes to spread to every corner of my big house. And you can’t beat the price either, $3 right now at B&BW!
::cries::: :(( Why won’t those Bendel candles work for me?!?!?! Crap, the price on them is so great. I’ll just keep trying.
I’d love to be entered into the drawings. Haven’t made it to coffee scents yet, as I’m fairly new at this game, but I’m working on it… and, for candles, I recommend Archipelago Botanicals and also these adorable Aunt Sadie’s candle-in-a-can concoctions that I first picked up at an Anthropologie last year. Super cute, great throw, not so hard on the wallet.
Definitely agree on the ARchipelagos. I’ll have to look out for those Aunt Sadies!
I really like New Haarlem, but I like it even better as a candle–and it has great throw!!! Other coffee loves are Navigateur and Yojhi Yammamoto Homme. Dying to try the Silver factory, but I guess I’ll just have to be patient and wait! 🙂
Uh-oh, you had to go and say that!!! I’ve been trying to ignore that little factoid for a while. Maybe one will show up on ebay! Well, I’m hoping anyway.
The New Haarlem candle lasts forever, too. And it’s very nice looking–and great for Fall! Somewhat pricey (though not as bad as the one you bought), but totally worth it, IMO. Just sayin’
One candle I would NOT recommend is the Armani Prive Bois d’Encens (or probably others in the series). Gorgeous looking (with a price to match), but no throw at all!
On other coffee scents–I like JM Black Vetiver Cafe, too, but it lasts about 5 minutes on me (I see that others have this problem); everyone but me seems to love the A-L Cafe Noir, but on me it’s too sweet–smells like those little candy Coffee Nips, ya know?8-|
My favorite coffee scent probably would have been Comme des Garcons Wood Coffee from the sweet series, but the lasting power is non-existent. Still, for the time it lasts, it is a beautiful coffee fragrance.
Please count me in for the first grab bag too!
yeah, i love that wood coffee, but it vamooses on me in about a second. Otherwise, it would be the perfect coffee scent
Wow, lots of comments today.
Best throw candle that I like: Henry Bendel Amber is amazing – amber and woods, not as sweet as many ambers – great for fall winter, and you can often find for 1/2 off at B&BW. Sorry to hear about the Roma candle, that bites.
I LOOOOVE New Harlem, must try the Belle de Rykiel, please sign me up for the draw of the grab bag. Love Angel Men too, but didn’t think it smelled like coffee (more like chocolate)Thanks
Hmm, even though Bendel’s don’t work, that amber sounds pretty great. I need to go check that one out!
Go Rockies! I’m a western gal at heart having lived in Idaho, Wyoming, and New Mexico and I figure it’s time for a non-coast team to take The Series.
I haven’t tried any coffee frags, but love the smell of the beans as I pour them from the grinder. Sometimes I think I crave the smell of fresh ground more than the actual drinking of the coffee and I’ve often considered leaving beans around the house as popuri.
I love Archipelago candles and the 60-hour soy candles (in a jar) have good throw (at least to my nose). I’ve found the jar candles at Beauty First, of all places, but originally purchased them at Whole Foods.
Please enter me in any and all drawings…….:d
Archipelago has some great candles. I just wish they’d come out with some new ones! *stamps foot*
I have got to finally try this one. How slow am I? 8-|
I think you’d like it. Not sure it will be love, but it’s well done. Not love for me, just deep like and very easy to wear.
Just started using a candle I bought last year (end of season sale) Voluspa Ginger Vanilla Clove. The entire house is scented within an hour (small house, one level). I plan to get another Voluspa in another scent to see if this is the norm. Best coffee scent is my nose inserted in a cup of freshly brewed Taylor Maid Farms Red Rooster Blend. So far haven’t really been drawn to the idea of a coffee perfume but it sounds like the AL Cafe Noir is one to try! Would love to be entered in the draw. Thanks!
I adore the vanilla and chocolate voluspa ones, but every male in this house despises the smell of vanilla or chocolate unless it is attached to some baked good, so the screaming starts as soon as I light them up.
They love all my incense and woody scents, though!
Wow! Y’all are up early (late?)-must be the coffee!
I found Belle en Rykiel at a mini-Sephora outside Paris this summer, liked it right off, but have a brief Angel moment (sorry March, are you OK?), before getting the pleasant mix of coffee, light patch, flowers. I have been wearing it a lot on “I don’t know what to spray” days.
I have admired other coffee scents, but they just don’t work for me. I had great hopes for New Haarlem, but like many of the other Bonds, it goes to straight vanilla quickly on me. I have to try the Ava Luxe next.
I just can’t get American football. I read “Football for Dummies” regularly, and cheer when the gang cheers, but, it’s not working. I am a dummy. I grew up watching and playing soccer, that’s much more my sport. And…ok, I simply don’t like the football players body types. But, hmm, basketball players, I’m all over their sort. Superficial me.
I’m with you on the basketball (and soccer) guys. Oh yes.:-“
Oh, and go Rockies! Those white pants aren’t half bad, either…
Football? Rockies are baseball. 🙂 But that’s okay. Hockey players have the BEST bods out there, period. More like Rugby/soccer players bodies.
Vanilla from New Haarlem. Wow. What you do to scent just slays me. 🙂
Sorry I went on a football tangent…I did “get” the baseball thing after I thought about uniforms. But, nah-no likum hockey bodies.
I’m with Elle on L’Eau de Navigateur being my fave coffee scent. I also used to love Angel Dude mostly for its burnt coffee note but no way will I wait anymore for Dr. Mengele’s metalic lavender-tar top accord to burn off before I can enjoy the drydown.
I’m not much of a candle person as I’ve only had one so far – L’Occitane Candied Fruit. The throw is so-so, but strangely it scents the room more when it’s not lit. The scent = Angel Gal sans the patchouli.
So sorry that your $$$ candle is a non-starter, P!
Hugs
I’m trying to figure out how I missed the Navigateur. I know I’ve got some around here. I just need to dig it out!
Bond New Haarlem is the only Bond I’ve sampled that I would seriously consider being FBW. I have two samples that I’m savoring, I think it’s the perfect chilly weather Saturday scent. And, as mentioned above, I’ve heard wonderful things abt. AL Cafe Noir. Sample sl*t that I am, I’d love to be entered in any drawing that comes along.:x
Absolutely, Rosarita! NO matter how many samples we have, we always want more, more, more! I do it too! 🙂
Hello!
I think this blog gets better and better, great job. My favorite candles are Rigaud Gardenia when I’m feeling flush -just feeling, not actually flush – and Antique Garden is great for a price, they do a Green Tomato Leaf that I love and they are about $15 a go for the 50 hour jobs. All their candles are great.
I’d love to be in the draws.
Keep on rockin’
Dennis
Thanks, Dennis!
I know I’ve had that tomato leaf one. Was that Rigaud? It is one of my favorites, and I need to find another one!
You know I want in on the drawing!
I’m very sorry to hear about the candle, it stinks(literally) when you want to love something and it lets you down. I live in Tennessee for those of you who don’t know, and perfume choices here are really, really sad! Before I found all you other fragrance freaks the only shot I ever had at smelling good was to buy unsniffed online, which does NOT work out in the longrun, especially where full bottles are concerned! Letdowns suck, I feel your pain. Now I am going to say something just so everyone can have an early morning laugh–I have never smelled Angel, never even seen a bottle (am I the only one?) That tells you something about perfume shopping here!
Speaking of shopping, I hope you’ve been saving some serious cash for your trip, Patty, things could get dangerous $-) Which reminds me, I think I need another Serge fix before you go!
I have no input on the coffee or the candles. I haven’t tried any coffee scents yet but this seems like a good time of year to start.
You know, even though I live in Denver, we don’t get that much niche stuff here. My house is the best perfume shop in Denver at this point. 🙂 Totally sucks.
And skip Angel. I had a bottle of it break in a shipment, and I”m still trying to get all the Angel smell out of everything. That stuff is just noxious.
Me, save? I’ve got some cash laid in for the trip. It mos def is going to get dangerous!
The biggest throw candle I’ve sniffed is probably Yankee Candle’s Greenhouse – shares a few things in common with Sarrasins, strangely (or alternatively my nose is strangely convinced this is so). But my favourites are Diptyque candles – as much for sentimental reasons as for throw c- I need to try the newbies.
As for coffee in frags – not a note that’s good for me. When
I was seriously ill a couple of years back, coffee was a smell that turned on me and became vomitworthy (sorry folks). It stayed that way for a few months. And now, though I’m back to drinking a cup or two a day, I still have an unstable relationship with it… Black Vet Cafe is bearable.
Oh, and Matt’s just sprayed himself with Penhaligon’s Endymion – fantastic on him, and that has an entirely enjoyable coffee note.
I’ve heard a couple of times that that Greenhouse is pretty awesome, so I ordered one! Yankee Candles always seem to wind up with the best throw. It’s goofy, but true!
Congratulations, Patty! Your team is going to the World Series!
My favorite coffee fragrance has been mentioned twice already: Ava Luxe Cafe Noir. I love the mix of coffee, patchouli, spices, cedar, mocha, lavender. You name it, it’s probably got it. It’s especially great in fall and winter. Eau du Navigateur is too much for me.
Slatkin & Co. candles have remarkable throw, especially Twigs. Archipelago Botanicals Havana can also be perceived from afar.
Please put me in the first drawing. The club samples will be wending their way to me soon.
Squeeee!! I am so jacked, and I don’t even normally watch baseball!
I have the twigs and havana. Love the havana, but those bendel’s just don’t work for me, and I really am not sure why!
Would love to be in both drawings!
I did a special sniffing of coffee & tea perfumes with some coffee professionals recently. My favorite was Black Vetyver Cafec followed closely by Eau de Navigateur. I actually had a hard time with the vanilla-lavender sweetness in the Bond–I take my coffee black. The worst was Cafe Royale from that fancy bespoke brand? With all the different notes in a big display? Forget their name now. Anyway, it smelled like stale flavored coffee in the grocery store aisle. Gotta try that Ava Luxe!
I quite like these travel candles by Big Dipper Wax Works up here in Seattle. I get them at the health food store. The Lemongrass-Grapefruit “Vitality” candle throws quite well and smells great.
Sounds like you might mean Memoire Liquide, re the stale coffee smell. I was entirely seduced by their range & display at Bendel’s & even considered a jasmine green tea but in reality, every one of the samples I have has left me flat. They’re overly sweet, sort of one dimensional & just plain “eh” or worse.
The only ML I really love is Black Tea-wonderful!
Yeah, there’s only a couple of the MLs that I wound up liking enough to wear with some regularity. They are very linear, and some are better than others, but at least the price point isn’t too horrific.
Ohhh, many samples to test, that´s my hobby and therefore I would like to be entered in the drawing. Thank you Patty!
Will do, Alica!
Hmm – not much of a candle person. I always forget to put them out so then I don’t use them and they become dust collectors. Maybe I’m too practical?!
As for coffee scents, I haven’t explored those so I will have to visit the Perfumed Court! But I love the coffee note I get in Lutens’ Borneo 1834 and in Chanel Coromandel. And I always inhale very deeply when going past Starbucks! Please enter me in the draw for those lovely sounding samples
Absolutely de-lurked Kim! 🙂
Enter me please. I love your site.
Absolutely, Jennifer!
Ah, yes, huge second for AL Cafe Noir! I’ve worn it for the last four months,and even in the heat of the summer it was great. Rich, dark bitter-sweet smoothness that lasts all day.
Another one I love is Ankhara oil perfume by Liz Zorn. It’s not all about cofee,it has amber and a touch of rose and much more, but ,oh how soft, gentle and smooth it is, I cannot begin to tell you!
As far as candles go, I love my Botanique candles, those jars last forever and the throw is huge. I’m also guilty of liking some Pier One candles, they do have a couple of good ones. Not to mention at about $10 for one, it’s not that much of a gamble. Sorry about your candle mishap, Patty,I wish you could return bad candles :(!
Oh, and I’d love to be in the draw, thanks!
Another cafe noir fan! Okay, must try. I swear I had a sample at one time, but ic an’t find it!
I am trying to find Botanique candles and came across this blog…Do you know of a site I can order them from. Garden Ridge in my area has stopped selling them!!! I love these candles and I’m driving myself CRAZY looking for them. Any help is appreciated! Thanks
Stepping out from lurking, drawn by tantalizing glimpses of tiny vials of new lovelies to try. . .
Favorite coffee scent, hopelessly commercial, but weirdly fascinating: Black Vetyver Cafe by Jo Malone.
Candles with the greatest throw: Henri Bendel. My favorite is the Mimosa, but I’ve tried the Amber, Lemon Verbena and Bitter Orange and all are quite potent, lit or unlit. Rarely do I burn them longer than fifteen minutes, and then I walk into the room to be overpowered. . .
I forgot the Jo Malone! That’s one of my faves too. It’s different from New Haarlem, but I like it very much.
For some reason, the Bendel’s candles don’t work for me. I’ve had a couple of them, firewood and something else, one of the Elton John ones, and it was just a miss. I think it’s me. 🙂
Ava Luxe’s Cafe Noir; great coffee scent, though longevity isn’t great on me. But the price is right. It’s also great layered with MPG’s Santal Noble.
Oh yeah, please enter me in the draw, too.
Vasily
Cafe Noir comes up a lot – I’m putting that on my sample list. Have you sniffed her latest things? I’m turning into a big fan of Sin and Madeline
Sin, Madeline, and Incense Noir are on my must-try list for the winter, along with Kashmir Spice, Sweet Tobacco, Turkish Vanilla, and possibly Moksha. (that sounds kind of odd, doesn’t it??). I’ve tried 29 AL frags so far (!). Unfortunately, her shopping cart has been down for weeks while she “catches up” so I’m anxiously awaiting AL’s return so I can put in a winter order.
On my must-have favorites AL list for cooler weather are Cafe Noir, Kretek, and Feu de Bois. The warm weather must-have list is Midnight Violets, Fig Leaf, and Fig Wood. My all-time favorite AL frag is Midnight Violets: violets of the deepest hue shining darkly by the moonlight in a loamy forest, growing out of a discarded rubber tire. There’s nothing sweet about these funky violets! Personally, I wish AL would concentrate more on a few quirky masterpieces of the brilliance of Midnight Violets rather than on all the pedestrian reality and gourmand scents.
It’s funny, I get a lot of lavender and not much of any coffee with the Belle en Rykiel. Nothing is as nice as Bond #9 New Haarlem!
Please enter me in the drawing, and do try hard to be altruistic about the Warhol scent. 😉
Lavender, really? Wow, that was one of the notes that never even registered.
I really am torturing myself on that warhol. I know I need to share, really I do!
My Orange & Patchouli candle has such amazing throw (without even being lit) that I just had to put it into my coat closet to give myself a break! It is from Shadow & Light and is made of all naturally derived ingredients, herbs and essential oils- no artificial dyes or pigments. Thinking about getting their Nag Champa scent (maybe if I lived alone). I also haven’t explored a coffee scent (would it be like a nicotine patch in reverse?) I gave up drinking coffee decades ago…but I love the smell and can’t pass my partners’ cup of coffee without sneaking a sniff.
Please enter me in the draw – Thanks 😡
That sounds like a great candle! I think I’ll go hunt that one down too. 🙂
Ack!!! A $120 candle with no throw?!?! That’s a bite in the fanny, isn’t it? I think for $120 it should scent your house and rub your feet…
On a much smaller scale: you know I love me some scented hand soaps. And when I buy them and unwrap them and use them and they lose all their smell in 3 days or thereabouts, that chafes me.
Belle en Rykiel is exactly as you described — like a lower-voltage New Haarlem. I actually prefer Belle — I like to smell the coffee, but blended with other things. I get a lot of coffee but all those other goodies too, and it lasts a long time on me. And you’ve reminded me again that I need to smell the original Sonia Rykiel fragance, which I hear is gorgeous.
A ‘bite in the fanny’ doesn’t travel well transatlantically…:”>
I know! It actually smelled great until I lit it. I’m hoping if I cover it, I can get some more smell out of it. Disgusting.
Hope they are in the World Series! Although, God help me, but I couldn’t immediately figure out which world series. 🙁 Had to ask DH. He long ago resigned himself to the fact that I’m a total sports moron (well, except for soccer) and patiently explained that there is only *one* World Series and that, of *course*, the Rockies are a baseball team. It still seems odd to me that there is only one World Series. Don’t all sports have play off series? DH and I shall have to discuss this in greater detail tonight.
But I do know my coffee scents and my fave is L’Eau du Navigateur, followed closely by CdG’s Wood Coffee and New Haarlem.
My fave candles are from L’Artisan, Karen Klein (I live and die for the Leather, Tocacco and Hay one) and Mariage Freres (The Rouge is my fave from that line).
You’re okay by me Elle – soccer (ahem, the real FOOTBALL) all the way!
Okay, I hunted down that Mariage Freres, and now I need some of those! But while I was meandering saw Aedes has a new Diptyque for the holidays — a couple of them. A ginger one and an incense one. Eeek!!!!
I hardly watch baseball until we get to the exciting poitns. 🙂
You’ve just asked about two things I havent explored.I have been closing my eyes to the writings about all those beautiful candles out there, and can not think of any ‘fumes I have tried with coffee in them. And I do soooo love the various aromas of coffee. How could I have gone and missed that? Help! Another note to lure me. Thank-you Patty. 🙂
And yes please toss my name in the draw.
The good news! is that it sounds like Ava Lue’s Cafe Noir might be a good coffee, and she has a wonderful price point. I need to try that one.
Well, enter me in the draw – sounds interesting!
My fave candles right now are Pacifica pillar candles – they have pretty nice throw once they get going. I bought the same brand
in a glass jar, and it had almost no throw whatsoever. So I
guess the pillars are the best option!
I generally am reluctant to spend tons on candles since you are quite literally burning your money, but I do like the scent options. I’m actually considering buying one of those catlytic burners from Lampe Berger. In addition to scenting the air, they’re supposed to have a cleansing effect. Anyone every try one of those?
I’ve tried Pacificas before in the jars, and they were okay on throw. Since I do the melting thing, I can’t do pillars, which is a shame!
Haven’t tried the Lampe Berger, and I really should.
The Lampe Berger is fabulous. I am currently in love with the oil named “Felicite du Bois de Oud”. Also, PdN has her own lamp system + oils and you can use those in the Lampe Berger too. I haven’t tried any of them yet, but I bet they are to die for.
I have managed not to get sucked into the more expensive collectors Lampe Berger (although they are beautiful) and have a couple of the basic plain glass ones. Much cheaper !
Glad to hear you liked the Lampe Berger! I haven’t spoken to anyone who’s actually used it before, but it sounds like a great concept. According to the sales lady, these burners were originally used in French hospitals to clean the air. They probably more cost-effective in the long run, without the melty candle mess.
I had no idea Patricia di Nicolai made scented oils as well! Of all the perfumes I sampled in Paris, hers were my favorite (and had the most friendly patient service I might add).
Please enter me in the drawings!
As for your questions, I don’t think I’ve tried a coffee fragrance, only ones with chocolate — very intriguing! I’ve had candles with decent throw, but I’ve always lived in small apartments, so who knows. I can’t remember their brands, probably Yankee Candle or something else mainstream and accessible. But the best candle experience I had was a $3 locally made candle I bought on vacation to waft away the nasty air freshener smell in the budget hotel room I was staying in — worth every penny!
yeah, I’ve got some square footage to cover, and I actually have better luck with the Shoyeido incense, which is amazing, but it just doesn’t last as long.
Despite having some cheesy scents sometimes, Yankee Candle, so far, has the best throw of any candle I’ve had ever. I think I’ll snag that Greenhouse one and a holiday one!
Sounds delish! Please enter me!
From the wilds of the Eastern Connecticut shore..
Tom
What you doing in Connecticut?!?! Bet it’s gorgeous there right now.