Candles
A good scented candle changes a room without taking it over: here you'll find scented candles from independent makers, most of them poured in soy or other plant-based wax, and matches to light them.
Read our guide: Home Fragrance & Objects
Olivia Fragrances' candles are hand-poured in small batches in Italy: 220 g of vegetable wax for about 45 hours. Apothisoeurs works with ECOCERT-certified plant wax and a cotton wick; Cedar & Pepper, made in northern France, is a 200 g candle in a glass jar that burns for 50 hours. The Ripple candle by o cactuu has a wooden wick made from reclaimed wood and comes in four scents and four ceramic colours; its 240 g of wax burns for 45 to 50 hours, and the cup can then serve as a vase. Azur hand-pours its soy wax candle in the Netherlands, scents it with essential oils and fills it into a ceramic pot. Asteh's Santo, Sado and Baso ceremonial candles in soy wax come in steel vessels with a lid and burn for 60 hours each.
By scent: Reine de Joie is tuberose on vanilla and sandalwood, and Les fleurs du Jardin orange blossom and ylang ylang on tonka and amber. Apothisoeurs' Cedar & Pepper opens on green leaves and pepper, Iris and Light Amber on citrus over jasmine and iris. Asteh's Baso smells of pine and eucalyptus, Sado of green tea and cyclamen, and Santo of palo santo and orris. Azur's Morning Muse, with bergamot, orange and petitgrain, is meant for the whole year; Winter Glow, with cardamom, orange and cinnamon, is a Christmas candle made only for the season.
The first time you light a candle, let the wax melt right to the edge so that it burns evenly; with the Ripple, this takes at least 90 minutes. Trim the wick to 5 mm before each use, never leave a burning candle unattended, burn it no longer than the maker advises, two to four hours at a time depending on the candle, and stop when about 1 cm of wax is left. To light them, there are OCTAEVO's large matchboxes with about 60 matches each.
