I am completely guilty of joining the fragranced candle bandwagon back in college (ok, and maybe for a few years afterwards). I hoarded the sickly sweet Freesia scent from the ubiquitous Bath & Body Works accompanied by asinine white ceramic stands on which to 'display' them...I even stooped to buying, dare I admit it, Vanilla Musk candles from Target with faux silver plate stands. Oh, the shame!Thankfully, I have moved on from that horrid stage of my life and limit my smelly candle purchases to only the fragranced favorites from Kobo (the White Birch & Rosemary is sensational) and Modern Alchemy (Tincture of Winchester is unreal)...so, maybe, for old time's sake, I also enjoy a Dyptique Figuier as a guilty pleasure. But mostly, I am determined to keep it simple, sophisticated and most importantly, subtle. These days, I practically gag when I smell Vanilla Musk.
I have also grown up to actually own my very own candlesticks (no more cheap plate things). Quite an accomplishment! I have these fantastic crystal ones from Anthropolgie and a faux metal Antler pair from Maxwell-Silver. However, what I failed to consider in my candle maturity was the trouble resulting from different sized candlestick openings. The Crystal pair have giant holes in the base while the Antler pair have comparably smaller openings. It's impossible to buy candles that fit both!
Alas, my dear readers, I have uncovered the ultimate solution, the elegant tapers from Creative Candles, beloved by both Martha Stewart and House Beautiful (is there a better endorsement). I discovered these beauties when shopping at my treasured South End design store, Hudson, and was attracted to them mostly because of the rich, saturated colors (I bought the mustard yellow, pale turquoise and classic brown). What I came to find out is that along with quality construction (the wax is so silky) and yummy color choices, each pack includes a beeswax strip to help "size" the candle to fit any candlestick.
It's a miracle! Now I will limit my taper candle purchases to only the offerings of Creative Candles.
