I don't think I used to think of linden as calming, particularly, but lately I find Astier de Villatte Grand Chalet just that. ("It was here, in this unique landscape with its healing climate, that the painter Balthus made his home, enchanted by the fragrances of milk, honey and hints of citrus from the ancient lime trees that surrounded his studio.") If I had more money to invest in calm, I'd consider the ceramic candle ($140 at Sue Fisher King, or you can get the glass version for $85) and as long as I was investing so much in calm, I might as well throw in the kitty lid, $100).
Top 10 Fall Fragranced Things 2018
While growing up in the hot and steamy South, I loved autumn and its coolness, and you’d think that after Seattle’s oven-like temperatures and dangerously smoky skies this summer, I’d be looking forward to autumn. Wrong. I’m already counting the weeks till spring and wishing I could move to Buenos Aires for the next six months and enjoy spring and summer all over again. Perhaps I’ve changed (emotionally?) but fall feels sad this year; I reckon it’ll be dark, sodden, the beginning of The End — the interminable winter months.
This year I’m going to avoid sentimentality, Japanese death poems, lethargic piano music and drama (I won’t be stoking my self-pity). I’ll tackle my negative autumn (and winter) moods with fun things…
Holiday fragrance gifts 2016, part 2
Part two in our eight-part series on fragrance related holiday gifts features home fragrance items, all sorts. Do add any of your own recommendations in the comments!
From Byredo, the Saints candle collection (“For Holiday 2016 Byredo presents three new fragrant candles inspired by veladoras, prayer candles or seven-day candles”), with Rosewater (rose and geranium), Incense (incense, eucalyptus, guaiac, labdanum, amber and patchouli) and Altar (clove, carnation, ylang, papyrus and vetiver). 400g, $140 each…
Holiday fragrance gifts 2014, part 3
Our 2014 series of holiday gift posts continues with home fragrance items.
For more gift ideas, check out The Scented Hound’s Holiday Gift Guide.
From Acqua di Parma, the limited edition hand-blown Murano glass candle collection…
Astier de Villatte Naples candle ~ home fragrance review
It’s the season for holiday candles. I, for one, am tired of the usual pine and pomander (fruit-and-spice) offerings, so I’ve decided to review a candle that qualifies as “festive” without being a cliché: Astier de Villatte Naples.
When Astier de Villatte decided to honor Napoli with a candle, they had many scent options: the sea (Bay of Naples), the volcano (imagine the incense/smoky notes of Vesuvius); or the pizza (tomato leaf, basil, olive, rosemary).* Instead, Astier de Villatte choose Italian pastry as inspiration; unexpected, but it works.
When I was in Napoli a few years back, I ate like a hog: cappuccino and strawberry tarts for breakfast, an entire pizza or big bowl of pasta for lunch (as for dinners — they were almost “endless,” but in a good way). At tea time each day, I got into the habit of “snacking” at the old Gran Caffè Gambrinus (where the likes of Oscar Wilde, Gabriele D’Annunzio, and, yes, the always-famished Luciano Pavarotti, have sipped and chewed over the last hundred years). There are less expensive, and friendlier, places to take tea, coffee or cocktails than Gambrinus but the pastries are delicious, the café is gorgeous, and if you sit outside, you’ll see the glories of Napoli walk by — animal and human…