Home fragrances

A selection of good quality home fragrances, including scented candles, room diffusers, lampe berger fragrances and room sprays.

My Top 5 Favorite Autumn Fragrances

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As leaves are turning into beautiful orange, brown, red and yellow colors, we are slowly moving into autumn in Amsterdam. I have started wearing wool sweaters, thin shawls and warmer autumn fragrances although the weather we are having is exceptionally warm and sunny. But nature is showing us the season is really changing and we are getting ready for winter which is hard to imagine when feeling the actual temperature. I have been reaching for Mitsouko, PHI Une Rose De Kandahar, Slowdive, Flowerhead and burning Nordic Leather lately and will review them in a few  words to give you an impression.

1.Guerlain Mitsouko edt (bottle from 2017) is  a lighter, younger and more sparkling version of this classic perfume from 1919. Although I miss the warm peach and soft suede from the bottle I just finished (the one on the photograph) I love the brightness, citrus and powdery softness of this new Eau de Toilette for colder evenings and at night. It’s a very soothing and relaxing fragrance. I recently bought* a refill bottle at a very reasonable price online as these refill sprays will be discontinued. Worth a (re) try if you don’t like the edp, extrait or didn’t like it before. 

2. Tauer Perfumes PHI un rose de Kandahar, is a beautiful warm woody spicy rose, very much loved among perfume lovers. Due to the rare rose oil from Afghanistan it’s not always available. According to the official website it can be bought at the moment. Andy Tauer offers samples on his site as well so you can try them easily.

Notes: Apricot, cinnamon, almond, bergamot, Bulgarian rose absolute, rose from Kandahar, bourbon geranium, tobacco leaf, patchouli, vetiver, vanilla, tonka bean, musk and ambergris. Perfumer: Andy Tauer Year: 2013

3. Byredo Flowerhead Eau de Parfum, this young and uplifting modern floral is not a warming autumn fragrance more a reminder of long sunny summer days and excellent for the warm sunny golden days we are having. A must try for tuberose lovers. It has quickly become ome of my favorite florale as it is such a happy fragrance. 

Notes: Angelica seeds, cranberries, sicilian lemon, sambac jasmine, rose petals, tuberose, suede and ambergris. Perfumer: Jerome Epinette Year: 2014

4. Hiram Green Slowdive. Slowdive is a honeyed golden warming and soothing fragrance. Although officially it is a tobacco centered fragrance on my skin it becomes much more honey centered. Slowdive is very suited for these warm autumn days inviting us to relax outside for a drink, cycle or lay in the grass in a park.

Notes: Neroli, orange flower, tobacco blossom, tuberose, honey, dried fruit, resin Perfumer: Hiram Green  Year: 2017

5. Scented Candle and Fragrance Cards Zara Home Nordic Leather. 
This scented candle is my favourite at the moment and excellent value for money. I wouldn’t have called the candle Nordic Leather as I don’t smell any leather. Nordic Oud or Wood would have been a more suited name as it is a very warming woody fragrance with sandalwood, incense and spices. Nordic Leather has incredible throw off and could be overwhelming if you are sensitive to fragrance. The candle is not very suited either if you don’t like fragrance leaning towards masculine.

The Nordic Leather fragrance cards are fabulous to scent clothes. But they could be overwhelming as well like the scented candle. Both are available online and at times on sale.

Concluding: Mitsouko, PHI Une Rose De Kandahar, Slowdive, Flowerhead and scented candle Zara Home Nordic Leather are my favorite Autumn fragrances at the moment.

*Read this excellent article of Persolaise on what to be aware of before buying and testing Mitsouko. Don’t let it scare you though!

All notes of the fragrances were taken from the Luckyscent website, except for the Zara Home Candle. Photographs made by Esperessence.

Nicolaï Maharadjah Room Fragrance

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What will tomorrow bring

The best image to illustrate the scent of Nicolaï Maharadjah is the painting What will tomorrow bring? made by Henriette Hackenberg. The colours in the painting are found in the home fragrance Maharadjah. The blue from the lavender, brown from the cinnamon, dark red from the clove, gold for the warm vanilla and orange for the overall feeling of comfort. The roomspray and scented candle give me a cozy feeling of enjoyment in my house like the painting. They are a perfect match.

Nicolaï Paris is a French perfume brand which was founded by the French perfumer and president of the Osmoteque in Versailles, Patricia de Nicolaï. One could say the Osmoteque is a perfume museum and archive where one can attend lectures, have private consultations and scent old classic perfumes. It was founded by former Jean Patou perfumer Jean Kerleo.

Nicolaï has a large home fragrance collection including room diffusers, room sprays, scented candles, catalytic lamp liquids (for Lampe Berger burning lamps) with at this moment 25 different scents and 3 Christmas fragrances.

It has a perfume line as well, as most of you already know. Except for two, Just un Reve and Rose Oud, Nicolai perfumes do not work on my skin. Her perfumes are not my taste as I find them a tad too sweet.like adding one cube of sugar to my coffee which then overdoes it in sweetness. So I prefer the room fragrances for my home as most of them are perfumed treasures on their own.

Nicolaï Paris has a home fragrance line consisting of candles, room sprays, reed diffusers, essential oils, lamp liquids. It has a bath line as well.  My favorite room fragrance is Maharadjah. It is very well suited for autumn and winter and a bestseller in the Parisian Nicolaï shops.

The best image to illustrate the scent of Maharadjah is the oil painting is my living room, What will tomorrow bring? made by my dear friend Henriette Hackenberg. The colours in the painting can be found in Maharadjah. The blue from the lavender, brown from the cinnamon, dark red from the clove, gold for the warm vanilla and orange for the overall feeling of comfort. The roomspray and scented candle give me a cozy feeling of enjoyment in my house as does the painting. They are a perfect match.

Maharadjah comes as a scented candle, reed diffuser, essential oil, lamp liquid, room spray and used to be sold as eau de parfum. I have tried them all. It comes in a more intense version as well, with the same scent but a bit more intensified. The reed diffuser is my favorite.

This is not a fragrance if you are looking for a subtle home scent as its throw off and longevity are amazing. But this is what I personally enjoy. The reed diffuser lasted almost a year. I find it to be well worth its price of 46 euro.* As it is a high quality fragrance and a magnificant scent, a perfume bottled as a room fragrance giving pleasure for a year.  What more would one want for one’s home ?

Have you tried Nicolaï home fragrances ? Or do you use other home fragrances ? Which one are your favorites ?

All room fragrances can be ordered on the official Nicolaï website and the Perfume Lounge in The Netherlands.

More paintings on: Henriette Hackenberg’s website

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this article were bought by me.

*Note 1: But price is always personal and what you are willing to pay for a (room) fragrance.

*Note 2 : This review discusses Maharadjah not the other scent from Patricia Nicolai Maharani, which is different.

 

 

Oliver & Co Santalum Scented Candle

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According to his website Oliver & Co Spanish perfumer Oliver Valverde created his scented candle Santalum in 2010 together with four other candles, Ambrarem, Tuberosen, Terralium and Muskal. Ambrarem, Santalum and Tuberosen are still in production at this moment. The design of the container was simple and stylish to change in 2013 into a more futuristic and personalized one, inspired by space ships. I preferred the older packaging as I find it more suited to the fragrances. Oliver Valverde made the futuristic packaging to contrast the fragrances.

Santalum 3Like Oliver Valverde himself, these candles represent their own style both in packaging and fragrance. Compared to his perfumes the scented candles are less outspoken. Their throw off is marvelous and one of the best I have encountered so far to the point that the scent can be overwhelming at times. I tend to burn some of them (Ambrarem and Tuberosen) no more than one hour for this reason. All details, from the packaging to the design and fragrance are thought through and made by the perfumer himself.

One of the things to keep in mind when buying a scented candle is its size. Most of the scented candles are 190 grams (for example Diptyque) but Oliver & Co candles are 225 grams Santalum 2so they last longer. These scented candles include a wooden lid (where some other brands charge for them) and the containers can be re-used easily. So far I have used scented candles in the scents Tuberosen, Santalum, Silver Fir and Ambrarem. They are tempting to collect and easy to re use as their colours are beautiful with all different designs.

The most important thing remains its fragrance though. I believe Santalum to be my favorite one but have to admit it depends on the weather and season. The same as the scented candle Ambrarem, I wish Oliver made a perfume from it. Tuberosen and Santalum are suited for summer as they are  based on the summer/late summer flowers rose and tuberose. Silver Fir and Ambrarem are both very appropriate for cold winter weather.

What does Santalum smell like to me:

A beautiful feminine elegant light ethereal rose and raspberry fragrance which would make an excellent perfume and reminding me of Nicolai Rose Oud. If you like Nicolai Rose Oud Eau de Parfum you will probably like this scented candle.

What does it do ?

It brings softness,  soothes and relaxes.

Official notes: Sandalwood, Raspberry and Rose Petals

Burning time according to label: 50/60 hours

Size: 225 gr

Longevity: 5/5

Projection: 5/5

Price: 50 euro (sign up for the official newsletter as Oliver & Co has regular sales)

Disclosure: all candles mentioned in this article were bought by Esperessence

Photograph: Esperessence

 

 

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