The holidays are about simple pleasures. I recently expressed that sentiment with a straight face to a friend — after shouting with glee: “Cire Trudon makes room sprays now!” My friend read the Cire Trudon Les Parfums d’Intérieur PR announcement and said: “I get the ‘pleasure’ part, Kevin, but what’s so ‘simple’ about a $142 room spray?” Fair enough.
Cire Trudon’s new room sprays come in its most popular candle fragrances: Roi Soleil, Spiritus Sancti, Abd El Kader, Ernesto, and Nazareth. Since one of my favorite churches, Santo Spirito in Florence, is thousands of miles away, I opted for the Cire Trudon fragrance that might help me conjure its atmosphere this Christmas (provided I close my eyes, get my imagination in high gear, and queue Monteverdi, Cavalli and Albinoni on the CD player); I chose Spiritus Sancti.
Spiritus Sancti smells like “classic” church incense…a mix of myrrh, benzoin (not too vanillic or powdery) and severe labdanum; it starts off “cold” and almost “menacing” before becoming warm and smoky. As Spiritus Sancti fades, its ‘smoke’ decreases and is replaced by an after-burn aroma of charred woods. Many people I let smell this fragrance cried: “Church!” I enjoy the scent of church incense and whenever it’s sold at cathedrals I visit, I buy some. (Incense-haters will not like Spiritus Sancti.)
All the Cire Trudon room sprays smell great and are made with high-quality ingredients; I prefer them to many perfumes I’ve sampled this autumn. In fact, I wore Spiritus Sancti on my person (it’s long lasting but a bit “flat” on skin). Sprayed into the air — as it’s meant to be — Spiritus Sancti’s fragrance blooms and lingers for hours.
My house is not the size of a cathedral and the only ‘services’ I perform there involve food and drink, and hungry “pilgrims” no greater in number than 15, so I don’t need 375 ml (12.7 oz) of Spiritus Sancti room spray. I could spritz myself and my house, every nook, every day, and (almost) never use up such a huge bottle of fragrance; and if I love a scent, as I do Spiritus Sancti, I don’t want to overuse it.
Cire Trudon room sprays come in beautiful dark-green glass flacons that are equipped with bulb atomizers (pretty, yes, but bulb atomizers are prone to leaks and allow air to reach the fragrance — and cut short its shelf life). I hope Cire Trudon will eventually make smaller sizes of its room sprays (I’d be happy with 100 ml bottles) and replace the bulb atomizers with regular spray nozzles. Until then, I’m sticking with the Cire Trudon candles.
Spiritus Sancti (375 ml/$142) is available at Cire Trudon’s New York boutique or at Aedes.
Note: top image is Santo Spirito by Lucarelli [cropped and re-tinted] via Wikimedia Commons.
Thanks for the timely review Kevin! I have this candle, as well as Roi Soleil, and I gave my brother Ernesto as a gift. I am wary of the bulb atomizers, I have had the leaking/evaporation issue with these (perfume bottles) in the past. Nonetheless, I would love to just HOLD one of the bottles and SPRAY it a few times, just for the thrill!
Can I interject and ask which of those candles is your favorite? Kevin has convinced me I need a Cire Trudon candle, and I’m still deciding which one.
R: don’t you dare buy one without sniffing it in the store first!
I am nearly crazy enough to spend this much on a candle, but I’m not crazy enough to go all the way to NY to do it.
Hi Robin, a difficult choice but I think Ernesto is amazing! It is between Ernesto and Roi Soleil… in that order if I had to choose.
(which shows you that I made the ultimate sacrifice by giving it to my brother!)
robin, i have all of the candles, and mademoiselle de la valierre is my favorite BY FAR. it’s a tuberose unlike any other i’ve smelled – damp and green. i’m disappointed there’s no spray version of it!
Late reply, but thanks so much!
Robin, verrry late reply and perhaps it’s too late for your purchase, but I wanted to let you know that I just sniffed these before the holidays and they might have done the unthinkable: convert me to a $85 candle. They were all good, but I remember liking Abd El Kader, Mademoiselle de la Valierre and Chandernagor specifically. And Balmoral maybe.
Sarahbeth: ha! I hope you find a bottle to spray!
Me too, but I don’t think Barney’s Seattle will stock the room sprays, nor Blackbird in Ballard… but who knows?
This sounds exactly like something I’d love, however at $142 a bottle I could probably get away w/ just spritzing a small bit of Avignon around my tiny living space instead.
I do want to sniff this though as I absolutely adore Church incense.
Klytaemnestra: well, Avignon would be more expensive per spray…that’s fore sure!
I am a masochist for reading your review, Kevin! I saw this and Nazareth on aedes.com and now I can see my credit card trying to levitate out of my purse. The bulb atomiser isn’t even enought to ward me away. Although I hope, like most atomisers, they actually include a separate cap that you can keep on it while stored. I don’t mind switching out the cap and atomiser if it’s going to save the juice.
It’s funny, my family is lapsed-Catholic so I didn’t go to church beyond 6 years old. I would occassionally attend with my cousin’s family when I stayed over on a Saturday night, but I don’t really associate incense with any of those experiences. I know censers were used, but maybe the incense was cheap. *ducks momentarily from lightning-wrath of God* Maybe that’s best as I didn’t come to appreciate all the ritual and ceremony until I studied religions in college.
Lamaroc: I didn’t grow up Catholic but how could I resist all the picture books of cathedrals all over Europe, Latin America filled with amazing sculptures, paintings…not to mention candles and incense. I love all the rituals of religion…esp. the nice smelling ones.
Ah, this is lovely sounding, I love incense scents. The high price would prevent me from buying it, so I agree that it would be nice if they made smaller sizes. If I’m going to spend $142, it will be on perfume I can wear.
sweetonpink: I’m really amazed at the size they picked…and curious to see if they fly off the shelves.
I’ve been using and LOVING my Abd El Kader roomspray for the past month. Lovely investment – I spray everything including my person and my linens/sheets. Also I spray a tissue heavily and place it in my vacuum filter – so every time I clean – the scent seems to flow into the room.
It was the substantial 12oz+ size that made me justify the price – with that amount of juice – I don’t have to wait to treat myself to it on special occasions.
I bought one of the candles (I actually think it was Spiritus Sancti) and it didn’t have the throw that I imagined it would have. At least not what I was hoping for the price. That said, it smelled gorgeous. So, for not too much more more money, a huge bottle of the room spray does seem like a reasonable investment. And I love your trick of putting a tissue scented with it in the vacuum filter.
Melisand61: some of the candle scents are more subtle than others…Spiritus Sancti in candle form is “quiet”…perfect for a small room. In roomspray, it really is “expansive.”
Kevin and Melissa, this is just the very thing I was curious about: the throw of the Spiritus Sancti candle vs the roomspray, having not smelled either in action. I’m actually attracted to the candle more having learned that it’s not too “guffy” and domineering. I love the smell of my favorite candles, but feel like it’s such an olfactory commitment to have the scent lingering in the air when I’m in the mood for other smells, including my own perfume, and “none”.
Also, it seems that an incense aroma *should* come from a burning source, not from a can.
But like Melissa, I’m seized by the idea of scenting my vacuum cleaner! It happens naturally when after vacuuming up Christmas tree needles, so why not help it along with a spritz from my collection?
mayk: nope…you can be lavish with that amount…don’t forget your car (if you have one)
“I love all the rituals of religion…esp. the nice smelling ones.” So true, and it is fascinating how many religions have used incense over the ages.
I bought the AG Noël parfum pour la maison which is delightfully piney. I was hoping I could spritz it on my clothing, too, and thereby take it with me throughout the day, but, oddly, it has NO sillage used that way. I can smell it if I put my nose to the cloth, but otherwise not at all.
Kevin, I am curious if you or others have tips for using room sprays, as I haven’t quite figured out how best to deploy it yet.
Noz: most roomsprays don’t have sillage when on skin…I”ve only come across a few that do: Diptyque Mimosa, a favorite, does. I can’t think of any secrets to deploying room sprays…I think the fact I have ancient wooden floors in my house that absorb fragrance helps the sprays linger longer. I sometimes spray my shower curtain with fragrance…everytime I walk in the bathroom it smells GOOD.
Oh, wow – I would never have thought of the shower curtain! Thanks, Kevin!
I love incense and this sounds so lovely. (you’re doing it to me again!) I’m going to get out my AG Noel, spritz it a bit and chant “I do not need a $142 room spray…I do not need a $142 room spray!”
mmmm, yeah, now I feel better. Some Noel bolstered my resistance.
My family is not catholic, I’ve only ever been to one catholic service as a teen, and I don’t recall any incense at all….so I have no negative (or positive) associations to color my appreciation of “church incense” . I’d love to sniff these, but it’s doubtful I ever will. and now: back to breathing deep the piney/fir goodness of Noel !
I wonder if people ever split room spray… ***insert expression of utter innocence***
I meant to say: I know the picture has been tint adjusted etc etc…but golly, that’s the most gorgeous blue…I want to just sit and stare at it!
Daisy: Noel is a great spray…I’ve not even gotten thru a bottle of that, let alone 13 oz of a Cire Trudon room spray. The Italian sky CAN look that color…in summer.
Kevin,
This is my very favorite church in Florence. I am not as focused on the room spray, just on the church. There really is something so very special about it.
Filomena: I loved it long before I ever got to visit it…that facade
I knew I recognized the church in that picture! Santo Spirito is definitely beautiful, but I have to say, Santa Maria Novella holds a special place in my heart, and is my favorite church in Firenze 🙂
Spiritus Sancti sounds quite lovely – I hope to get a chance to sniff one of these days. But, at $142 for a room spray, I also hope I don’t fall in love with it! (Wow!!)
Poetria ha! Yes, perfume lovers must make a pilgrimage to SMN
I know, I know! But, here is the sad part: I visited Firenze, and SMN, in my pre-perfumista days! So I had NO idea what I was missing, when I did not try to sniff everything there! Of course, this just means I HAVE to go back 🙂
Oh dear the lemming awakes………Selfridges has the room sprays as well as the candles and I spent a happy half hour spraying them all in different directions so I could sniff each one. This one is indeed beautiful but I have Diptyque John Galliano so would go for something else………the tuberose one was DIVINE and I also love Roi Soleil and Ernesto. I had put all thoughts of them to the back of my mind whilst concentrating on presents for family and friends but that task now pretty much complete………the lemming awakes……..
Donanicola: Roi Soleil IS great…we always say this at NST, but Cire Trudon needs a spray equivalent of the votive candle sampler…maybe three sprays in 40 ml each? Dreaming….
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas-dear Kevin 🙂