Considered by the Chinese as one of the three holy fruits with peach and lemon, the grapefruit was a symbol of prosperity and fertility. Also highly prized by the Greeks and the Romans, the hesperide has a crisp freshness: known for its rich terroir and unique soil, the Salta region enhances the citrus’ intensity. Blended with verbena and hyacinth, the grapefruit fragrance is aromatic. ~ Cire Trudon
In those three sentences, Cire Trudon references Italy, Greece, China and...Argentina (its beautiful Salta region does produce citrus...but is more well known for its lemons).
CITRUS LESSON: As regards China, I think Cire Trudon is confusing grapefruit (C. paradisi) with either citron (C. medica) or pomelo (C. maxima). Pomelo and Buddha's hand citron (a variety of C. medica) have symbolic meaning in Chinese culture. Grapefruit? No. The grapefruit originated in the 18th century — in the Caribbean region; it's a cross between the pomelo and the sweet orange (C. sinensis) — and sweet orange is a hybrid itself, between pomelo and mandarin (C. reticulata).
"No matter the muddled blurb, the Salta candle is superb" (I admit, lines as bad as Cire Trudon's!)
Robin posted her daily lemming devoted to Cire Trudon's Salta candle back in March of 2019. Grapefruit? A blue jar? She and I were both 'smitten' and chomping at the bit...and wanted the other to buy Salta first before forking over $115 ourselves. I kept waiting for my local Barneys New York to stock Salta so I could sniff before buying, but Barneys went out of business before that happened. So, I just up and told my partner to get Salta for me at Christmas; after all, I've never been disappointed with a Cire Trudon candle.
Robin: this review is dedicated to you; as I suspected, you possessed the spine of steel, not me.
Salta is part of Cire Trudon's Les Belles Matierès series (I've also owned and reviewed Tadine). Salta is easy to review: just imagine handfuls of all sorts of pungent/oily citrus peels placed in a mortar and pounded. The lively scent produces euphoria. As I smelled the Salta wax (cold, when burning, even rubbed into my skin) I imagined all sorts of citrus: grapefruit, tangerine, citron, even kumquat. This is citrus variety C. x 1000: outrageously powerful in scent. If any of you are asking why I'd pay $115 for a citrus candle, all I can say is Salta's like smelling the real thing (on steroids), without a hint of chemical/synthetic aromas. It's a citrus-lover's dream. Though there's a light citrus floral in the background, I don't detect hyacinth or verbena in the mix...and that doesn't disappoint me. The hyacinth element was what "scared" me all those months as I kept hoping Robin would buy Salta first. (Hyacinth can smell cheap in fragranced products and have a weird jagged/fusty vibe.)
If you have a favorite grapefruit (or other citrus) candle, please share the info with us!
Salta burns cleanly and its scent intensity fragrances a big area. For the mood it produces in me, Salta's $115 price is a bargain.
Now, if I could only figure out why Cire Trudon named this candle after Argentina!
Note: top image of grapefruit via Wikimedia Commons.
Salta is known for citrus production providing the overwhelming bulk of lemons for the southern hemisphere. I am not sure about grapefruit.
Thank you for the review. My partner dislikes scented candles, so my wallet is off the hook for this one.
monkeytoe: I can’t decide if that’s good or bad! BUT: money $aved for sure!
Here to add absolutely nothing, other than the comment that I love Salta and the surrounding villages up the Calchaquí Valley, Payogasta and Cachi and such. One of my favourite places that I have travelled — did not note a lot of citrus orchards but we were there in very early March, which is likely not the season.
Erin…I would love to live there.
I think if you dedicate the review to me, I have to buy it?
R, either that or I’ll have to get you one myself!
I need to lay off the candles for a while, but this sounds great! I love citrus, too.
I came across a promising grapefruit candle made by Harlem Heirloom. Smelled good in the jar- very realistic without any cat pee edge, but I didn’t buy it
I also really liked the L’Occitane Chez Bienvenue which is sadly discontinued. Very lemony and bright. I have the room spray sitting in my Ebay watch list (I would wear it as perfume).
Elisa: I remember Jonathan Adler’s Grapefruit Pop candle was very good…and under $40. Zingy.
I would love to sniff Salta–I like the name and can imagine a salty citrus (based on the word association) –but the word of course means jump…. (and probably the origins for the name of the city aren’t even Spanish and have nothing to do with jumping, leaping, etc!) ANYWAY, in honor of your review, I opened my last unopened candle, Valencia from Tocca, and have just lit it. Being Tocca, no doubt there are no pith or peels–but it is as close as I can get.
Oakland Fresca: enjoy it!
I really loved this post. Learned a lot e.g. grapefruit being a hybrid and sat here Googling the Salta region and looking at beautiful pictures. I have been to Argentina and went to Chile with my family almost three years ago now, but did not know about this part of Argentina. When my husband asked: Where did you hear about Salta?, my answer was: NST!
Amyitis: Isn’t Salta gorgeous? It’s 28 degrees and snowing in Seattle…I want Salta.