I thought I would just mention this candle, as I think it smells fantastic, but it turns out to be really difficult to find, some rare collaboration between Nieman Marcus and Ambercrombie & Fitch. TJ Maxx yields mysterious gems, now and then. I only picked it up to investigate because I thought the packaging was cute/ridiculous.
I’m going to mention it anyway.
Usually I don’t buy scented candles. I think this is one of just two that I have, and the first one I was given. It now inhabits that category of not-very-desirable objects I haven’t quite thrown away yet. I have one of those little tea candle diffusers that I sometimes put essential oils in or, more likely, just drops of perfume. With candles the scent is often too cloying, even if it is abstractly nice, or too cheap/synthetic. This one, though, just smells so good. I bought it impulsively and stuck it in my closet. The official notes are teakwood, mahogany, cherry bark, sweet tobacco, amber, and plum. I pick out amber, cedarwood, and sweet tobacco, with the amber rather dark (which I could see as plum-influenced) and dominant but I would say balanced with the wood.
I suspect this is a testament to the virtues of paying up. That is, expensive candles, not unlike expensive fragrances, where the expense is reflected in the ingredients, really do smell better than their cheap cousins. This is particularly evident when I note how pungent the candle is just sitting around, unlit.
So I guess I like expensive candles now.
UPDATE July 2013: This candle, while high quality enough to smell very good, is not high quality enough to burn well (evenly, completely). Lesson learned. It turns out there is (as with so many things. As, really, with everything) a whole world of candle knowledge.