Vinnie and me enjoying the nice summer weather, but no sunshine to speak of, so the sparkly Rescue Beauty Lounge Locavore I have on my toes (sparkly green/gold) doesn’t show up that well, drat! It is gorgeous, as is the Gold Look Rich, Be Cheap that I have on my hands, which I also couldn’t get to photograph well without the sun.
Cire Trudon candles have been object of my increasing lust since I first read about them, moving up to definitely worthy of coveting when I smelled them first at Barney’s in Chicago. I succumbed after sniffing them again at Barney’s in L.A. and ordered three from Aedes. Two are back-ordered. I did get Spiritus Sancti. The description, “Flickers of crimson, gold and olibanum, holy perfume of altar candles, luxurious wake of censers filled with burning amber; under the nave the choir jubilates, heavenly scents caressing their souls.”
Well. It’s a great incense! Dry, lovely incense that’s not harsh, but full-throated, reminiscent of the best incense from a high mass. It’s a 9.5 ounce glass candle for $75, which is pretty pricey for a candle. So how does it hold up on throw? I don’t even have to light it. I’ve had it sitting next to me by the couch for the last couple of days unlit, and the whole area has this wonderful incense scent every time my nose wags through the air.
Y’all probably want me to light it, don’t you? Oh, fine, but I don’t think it’s entirely necessary. While I’m waiting for the wax to melt to get some idea of the while-lit dispersion or “throw,” let’s go lust over some of the other Cire Trudons, who have some of the most interesting scent combnations in candles since Modern Alchemy, whose candles had zero throw, despite my desperate love for their Day of the Dead Candle that featured marigold. Oh, hey, in searching, I found that Seda France has a Belgian Marigold candle. Okay, that’s getting ordered. Sorry about linking to Candle Delirium, who are the best enablers of my candle fetish. My gift to you – just spreading the obsession.
The Cire Trudon wax is slow to melt, which is good, the candles appear to be crafted so they will melt very slowly and should last a nice, long time. As I said before, lighting them doesn’t seem to be necessary, and the throw when lit is nice, and it takes a while to permeate the air since the wax is so slow to melt. Once it gets going, it has a a very nice throw. It’s not overpowering as some candles can be, but it is pervasive in wafting about the house. I have it burning in my living room, and I can smell it lightly in the dining room and kitchen and bathroom – well, pretty much all of the downstairs.
What I give Cire Trudon is aces for originality. This scent is one of the more conventional they have. I’m definitely in need of Revolution, which is the smell of bread baking (!). I’m waiting on Balmoral (rain, mist, green, smelled this in L.A. and fell in love) and Carmelite (mossy stones, convents and cloisters), but the list of those I still need is growing at an alarming rate. Abd el Kadar (tea, tobacco, ginger) and Empire (pine, sage and hay). The list goes on. I wish they’d make a votive set of all of their candles so I could sample them more easily. I’m greedy!
The whole line is interesting just in the way they combine scents. It’s a little rich for my taste, though they do have a couple of sets of three votives (4.2 ounce candles, which are half the size of the regular one, so not eensy, 30 hours of burn time) for $145.
So let’s talk candles. For throw, I think Yankee Candle does the best, though I find several of the Seda France ones to be the best out there on throw, though not all of them have the same throw capability, it’s spotty. What’s you pick for best throw?
Ladies and Gentlemen: You REALLY need to give up on Yankee … Have you noticed how badly they soot? The fragrances aren’t what they used to be, and my gosh, $24- for a jar?
IF you haven’t PLEASE do yourself a favor and try Village Candles, from Maine.
Better quality, all around… You won’t be sorry!
Was amazed and thrilled and other 1930’s girl-book words to find Cire Trudon unexpectedly in tiny perfume shop off main drag yesterday (was in Toulouse for the day). Balmoral is FAB! My beloved gagged at the one that smells of floor wax, but I liked it well enough. Didn’t get to smell all of them but am now dreaming about grass clippings (and how weird does that make me sound?)
That polish color looks a little bit like Chanel Kaleidescope(sp?)…or does it not?
Uh, Kaleidoscope. But maybe more sparkly. I don’t have the chippy issues you have with Chanel, but I do heart Rescue Beauty Lounge. I’m wearing Glamourpuss right now, as a matter of fact.
These sound really interesting. I think Liberty might have them in stock… darn it… ;-P
I find the Yankee candles have great throw, but I only have two, a cookie-smelling one and a Christmas holiday one. I’m not mad about either, they were gifts.
After those, I find my Diptyque Tuberose and Baies candles only need to burn for an hour to fill my place with scent. I can smell them unlit, so much that I don’t need potpourri.
Patty, *I* can see your cute toe color. Very nice. I’ll bet Vinnie appreciates it muchly. 😉
As I told Kevin when he reviewed Cire Trudon on NST, the last thing I need is a $75 candle obsession. I am impervious to the appeal of these, I swear. Thanks for enabling by including that link to Candle Delirium, though… very nice!
Those Seda France candles look so nice, and relatively cheap compared to Cire. I agree with you that Yankee does some nice stuff — I’m still enjoying the holiday “Mistletoe” from time to time. My absolute favorite though is Voluspa’s “Baltic Amber” from the Japonica collection. I’ve been wanting to try the Burmese Rosewood also, but that Baltic Amber, I’m telling you, is the best. Super throw and very long lasting as well.
I just got back from SF and went to Diptyque. Their Iris candle was 1/2 off so I bought it. It smells lovely, and the throw is impressive, even when not lit. I had to put it back in the box and under the sink when I was ready to not smell it anymore.
I have the above-mentioned cat issues (my candles have to be placed waaaaay up high where Moose and Squirrel can’t get at them) and I can’t bring myself to spend serious money on candles. So mine are usually Trapp (No. 45, Burmese Woods) or Illuminations (Acacia or Napa Valley Harvest) or Pacifica (any of her herbs & spices candles). Yankee Candles doesn’t bother me at all – I’ve just never found a fragrance that I love there.
Okay, perhaps I’m strange, but I can’t stand home fragrances. Candles, air fresheners, incense, and the like – no thanks. Walking into a Yankee candle shop makes me gag! Can’t stand bathroom air fresheners or any of those things that you plug into a light socket. I don’t want ambient scent in a room, just perfume on my body that I can sniff and enjoy without any competition.
I also don’t care for scented lotions or hair products that compete with perfume. I’ll sometimes wear a perfumed lotion instead of perfume, but wouldn’t combine scents – it’s too much. I typically use unscented or very mildly scented lotions and hair products – ones with fragrances that don’t stick around for more than 5 minutes.
I can appreciate a scented candle when I sniff it in a shop, but I wouldn’t purchase it and burn it in my house. More $ to spend on perfumes I suppose!!!! 🙂
Karin, I agree with you completely!
Yankee Candles ::cannot supress shiver of disgust:: are some of the most wretched things I have ever had the displeasure of smelling. I feel like snorting mouthwash every time I have to walk past one. As for throw, some of the Joya candles aren’t too bad, especially the Orange Blossom & Pale Musk. That baby will smell up your house for quite some time. In full disclosure however, I must admit that I am not really a candle person. I belong to that more dubious tribe, incense admirers. 😉
I have Rescue Beauty Lounge Locavore on my hands right now and Look Rich, Be Cheap on my toes. That Locavore is some sparkler; outside it is just amazing. My office mate noticed my nail polish and asked, “How old are you???” I’m afraid I was rather rude, but you just need shiny objects at the end of winter, especially here in the Northeast.
I have the Carmelite one and I agree the throw is great! The scents, however… I love original and daring scents but there was something about almost every single one of the Cire Trudons that made me feel queasy when I smelled them at Liberty… Something musty, stale… The Odeur de Lune one was, well, interesting with its mineralic notes but it made mee sick as well. And Revolution was the worst of all with its cheap, sweet, fake-buttery, obviously synthetic, generic “freshly baked bread” scent! I’ll be interested to know whether you disagree when yours arrive… I can’t stand any Yankee candle either so I guess you probably will… Oh but I do like my Carmelite candle, though even that one can make me slightly queasy with it’s “murky crypt” odour.
I desperately want Revolution, unfortunately Cire Trudon candles are way out of my price range right now! I ordered a Freshly Baked Bread candle from an e-tailer just yesterday though, so hopefully it’s similar! I also ordered Earl Grey and Honey, Witches Brew, Tobacco, Hypnotic Tonka Bean and Oatmeal Raisin Cookie. She had a pretty interesting scent list..I love the way my house smells with candles burning and the price was defintiely right.
Oh, forgot to mention… The Fracas candles I got at fall sniffa last year were FAB and I don’t even like Fracas. Had one hell of a throw!!! Wish I could get more, dunno if they make them though.
Has anyone tried the NASA/moon Cire Trudon (it’s them that makes it, isn’t it?)
I got a little set of the Modern Alchemy candles the other week too and am really sad at the pitiful throw as well 🙁 At least it was on clearance for $10.
I have an Apothia Candle in Scene that I love – it’s Pear, Juniper and Fig… I wish they had a scent version of it.
Those candles are pretty impressive and the incense sounds divine.
I recently discovered Pacifica candles, and they’re my current obsession. I have my eye on their blood orange and fig-and-something else. Of course Yankee Candles are the old standby, but my really high-end loves are BURN and Dyptique.
PS Balmoral was AMAZING and I don’t even like green smells that much. Gorgeous gorgeous grass.
For Throw Up, Yankee candles are best.
Okay, that was mean. But I hate walking by there in the mall. Too much. Other places I hate smelling: Aveda, Lush (urk), Body Shop, BBW (during the Holiday Season.)
Dude, our emoticons have vanished? The menu plug-in? So sad. On the other hand it’s nice to be updated, and thanks.
My never-lit Annick Goutal Sac de Ma Mere is still sitting here …. what, more than a year later? Next to me while I blog, smelling like the luxury comfort handbag of all time. Thanks again.
Btw, Patty, El Vin is totally cute!!!! So are your toes!
xo>-)
I envy you all your candle-lust. My sinuses do not react well to candles, alas, though I keep them around for occasional wafting (I light them, then take the boys outside for a brief walk). I now buy them, sniff them for a minute (feeling my sinuses swell up and shut down) and then wrap them up as gifts.
Dang.
Is this a new format for the blog, btw?
Hi, Patty. I love the Cire Trudon as well. I only have one (gah, they ARE expensive) — Le Roi Soleil, which supposedly smells of wooden floors at Versailles. It does, in fact, remind me of the smell of polished wooden floors at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where I used to study aeons ago. Abd el Kadar is another favourite, so very green. To me, it smells of freshly crushed basil leaves. I also like Ernesto (a leather-tobacco fragrance inspired by Cuba). I love that they are really conceptualized as “fragrance compositions” — I’ve never understood why there’s often a sense that candles or parfum d’ambiance has to be “simpler” in structure than personal fragrance.
My latest favourites, though, are the IUNX candles. Did you get a chance to smell them in Paris? I think my favourites were Pulpe (a vividly fruity mango), Fusain, and Cramoisi. (The latter two were, if I recall correctly, more in the woody-resinous direction). Canne à Sucre gives a remarkable sense of sucking on freshly cut sugar cane. (I took notes: other candles in the line are Arbre à Pluie, Datte, Francipanier Blanc, Gomme Arabique, Papyrus, Pin Parasol, and Vapeur). Available only at the Hôtel Costes in Paris, alas.
Hey Patty … what an adorable photo! Those candles sound amazing. I am a bit of a candle slut and I’ve tried many from highbrow to lowbrow. As for throw I have found Trapp Candles are pretty decent in that regard. I’ve also found some rather inexpensive ones at Marshall’s with pretty decent throw, too. I love the Diptyque line, specifically Opopanax. When my house was for sale last year my realtor kept saying “please light that gorgeous candle before a showing.” I don’t know what it is about that particular candle (and scent) but I always have one on hand and it instantly lifts my mood.
Thank you for that link … heading over there soon.
I’m a fan of Diptyque Figuier candles, which also smell good unlit. Must go over to Aedes and give the Trudons a sniff. Spiritus Sancti sounds great—I love frankincense.
Scary story about your cat, QuinnC. Glad it wasn’t any worse than that. I’m always nervous about leaving yahrzeit (Jewish memorial) candles burning when we go to sleep, so I set them in a dish in the bathtub for the night.
Yeah, what happened to the emoticons?
I have the same fear with yahrzeit (and other) candles. Good idea about the bathtub. Our small dogs won’t go near the tub. They have their own phobias!
I have one Trudon (Gad they’re expensive) but have smelled them all in those bells they have over the candles… What strikes me is that they are composed exactly like fine fragrances: there’s a real composition going on there. When I wrote Ramdane Touhami, the artistic director and co-owner of the brand (which also makes the candles for Guerlain, the Ritz, etc.) he said they were his compositions, but clearly there’s a pro working there with him, as Ramdane is sort of more of a Renaissance man. I don’t often do this, but to learn more about the brand and the man, here’s the link to my post:
http://graindemusc.blogspot.com/2008/08/from-sun-to-moon-scented-candles-by.html
A candle that smells like baking bread….am I missing something here? I’d rather discuss that sleek looking Vinnie….
Me too. I think I’m in love with Vinnie.
Dear Patty,
the Cire Trudon do sound wonderful….
But the customer care is a bit slow: I wrote them because I was wondering if they had a selling point nearby but I never got an answer…
(yes I know they have a dedecated web page, but my experience is that niche lines don’t update these things very often)
BTW, the votive candle set is a great idea!
These candles sound delicious, Patty.
Like Violet Noir, I am plagued by a fear of fire, recently reinforced by a large blaze in my condo building, apparently set off by a little dog knocking over a candle : (
When I recover from this incident, I plan to light my Messe de Minuit candle, hoping it smells as nice as its unlit throw promises. I think I’ll place the tin in a small bath of water, just to be safe.
My favorite candles in the past have been a too-sweet but relaxing vanillic from some mall kiosk, and a fabulous Nars candle-insensey, intense, great throw. I still have the remnants, and sniff the bits now just to remember how good it was ; )
OK, then, maybe we can get an symbol –> emoticon key? I don’t think I can re-create Musette’s muse et al 🙂
In a former life I favored L’Artisan candles. That was BC–before cats. Specifically, before Aretha flounced in, fluffed out her long hair and plume-tail, turned dramatically, set her tail on fire with the candle and then dashed through the house in terror, spreading sparks. Ahem. I digress. L’Artisan has a lovely throw.
And while the rest of you mourn the demise of emoticons, I grind my teeth that a Wal-Mart ad covered half the blog and refused to be budged or removed. I’ve never been in a Wal-Mart and I sure won’t start now.
Well, I don’t do expensive candles. I love Gap holiday candles for their throw. Used to buy Votivo, which also has great throw, but I won’t spend money on candles anymore – just perfume!
To be honest, I don’t know squat about candles. I think I must have been Mrs. O’Leary (or her cow!) in a past life. I’m always afraid the candles are going to ignite a fire. About a year ago, I started lighting candles at the dinner table for dinner, but once dinner’s over, the candles go out.
Having said that, I do like to smell candles, and the best ones I have ever smelled have been the Sage Onyx candle and a Catherine Memmi candle that’s called Mocha or something like that, but smells like molten chocolate. These candles that you described above in your post sound divine and very original.
But I do know a little something-something about nail polish, and I simply love the toesies, Patty! RBL makes the best nail polish. I just wish I could buy it at my local beauty supply store and that it wasn’t so dern expensive.
Vinnie is the cutest, too! I can tell he loves nail polish almost as much as we do.
Hugs!
Oh, and nice piggies! And the Vinnie’s not bad, either!
Aaaggghhh…it’s just not the same without the emoticons!
I am in way over my head here. I have had, like, three candles in my house in my entire adult life: Costes, and Diptyque Tuberose and Violette. Love the first two but, especially considering my obsession with all things violet, the Diptyque Violette is disgusting — just shockingly bad. Like gas station bathroom bad.
I don’t have any idea baseline to compare the throw on these to, but all three seem pretty good in that respect. Especially the Costes.
I do see that Aedes has a Limited Edition Rose candle from Diptyque, which I would really like to smell because I am currently rose-fixated.
The emoticons! Where are the emoticons Boss?????
Oh, damn! I’d forgotten about Balmoral and Abd el Kadar. Must have – especially the Abd el Kadar. Love this line. And you really do need Revolution. Pure deliciousness. My faves for throw are probably L’Artisan and Karen Klein (specifically the Leather, Tabachi and New Mown Hay candle, which I literally live and die for). Am very worried KK is going out of business because almost all the stores I’ve bought them from in the past have ceased to carry them. 🙁
Please post about the Seda Belgian Marigold when you get it!
Why does Elle have emoticons but not meeeeeee?
I typed that one in the old fashioned way. 🙂 Anything more expressive and I’d have been out of luck. And if you love violet, there’s an amazing candle w/ fantastic throw (also smells intensely just in its container if you remove the aluminum lid) called Violette de Paris by La Bouquetiere. And if you can handle a big 80s scent, Diane von Furstenberg had an incredible violet/rose scent called Volcan d’Amour out for a while and it can still be found on ebay periodically – often goes for a *very* low price ($10 range). It came in a stunning, award winning bottle and that goes for a much higher price (bottle collector magnet – grrrr), but usually comes up on ebay in the unspectacular bottle version.
Elle-
I am changing my name to Volcan d’Amour immediately! Oh, I lurve that name so much I don’t give a hoot what it smells like…must, must have it!
The emoticons were a plug-in in WordPress. Patty just updated our WordPress last night, it was seriously out of date and we were wondering whether some of the thread glitches and other oddities were because of that. It was white-knuckle, hats off to P. We were worried we would blow up the blog content. Whew.
But unless she figures out how to add them back in (and I’m guessing this is not at the top of her priorities list) they’ll only show up if you type them in. 🙂
Well we’ll just have to tax our creativity (and our memories! -)) (let’s see what that does – I’m looking for ROFL guy)
xo
>-)
ps. carter – if you’re into Violet, come sit by me and Mistress Shelley (and a host of others, of course) I am a huge fan of violet but it has to be green or a bit dirty (as in ‘with dirt’) greasy violet brings up my lunch.
Favorites here are Liz Zorn’s Violets and Rainwater (delicate with a whump! of dirt), L’A’s Verte Violette (wearing that today), and Zorn also has a dark violet, Domino Viole, that I like for winter evenings.
xo >-)
Yup, I’m on a violet pad, too, with some dirt and/or leather making it a happier place. Jolie Madame fpr leather, CB Wild Hunt for dirt, LZ Violets & Rainswater for a lighter something, SSS Voile de Violette for medium bodied honeyed sweet w/a touch of green. (Still looking for my perfect dirty green violet….)
As for those emotidudes, here’s shot at a few: 8: <:) :@
Emotidude bust. It may be goodbye…how appropriate I gave ’em such a workout yesterday. RIP…
Since today’s post was a candle one, I’m gonna wonder out loud here if anybody has ever tried to diffuse perfume in a candle, in the fashion of dropping a few essential oil drops in the melted wax pool. Or maybe even in a diffuser. Just wondering, without taking my lazy self through the archives to see…
I did. It was ugly.
Musette–
Thanks for the veritable violet bouquet! I was doing one of those “Top Scents” lists for my own pathetic amusement when it hit me…duh!…that nearly all of them were violet. Apres, Bandit, Jolie Madame, Bois de Violette (be still my heart), Dans tes Bras…
They’re all on a bit of a hiatus at the moment while I pursue a rose that can somehow manage to satisfy my blind lust for Homage Attar but doesn’t make me feel like I’m going to have a stroke when I buy it. I’ve got it on order at Luckyscent but won’t be shipping till sometime in April so Andy Tauer, are you feeling me here?