Fragrance might not be the most obvious topic for Collector’s Corner but I do think it is one of the most important ways to make your home feel cozy and more like “you”.   Of course we are going to be covering the more obvious items that we collect, from linens to silver, but I think that scent is so personal and powerful that it shouldn’t be overlooked.  Smell is subliminally the first thing we register when we enter a space and, when linked to someone we love or even a place that we love, it provides instant comfort when we catch its scent.  Whenever I smell my late grandmother’s favorite scented candle, for example, I am instantly transported to her house and feel her around me.

My grandmother and mother always had beautiful candles burning in their houses, which not only made their houses feel welcoming but also became signature scents that family and friends associated with them. One of the more famous instances of this associative effect is, of course, the story of the Rigaud “Cypres” candle.   Rigaud was a little known candle company before Jacqueline Kennedy started burning the green “Cypres” candle in her houses, including the White House.  Thereafter, the association with her made it the most sought after scented candle on the market – probably even to this day.

Certainly, a favorite scented candle can become a personal connection between our homes and us, and some people even take traveller sizes of their favorite candles in order to feel “at home” wherever they are.   Whenever my mother visited me at University, she would bring me a beautiful candle for my room, which instantly transformed it from a dorm room to a haven.  I didn’t have much of a budget to indulge in such treats, but I made it a habit to smell scented candles wherever I found them and I developed a “nose” for the scents that I loved.  Knowing what smells made me feel calm, well, and even pampered, I was able to find candles affordable even for a college student!  I also noticed and loved how entering a scented room made my college guests feels welcome and special.

So, even thought I know that candles are transient items that we use and have to replace, they are powerful elements of memory, comfort, and feeling loved.  What better reason to develop your own scented oasis then, a simple gesture that wherever you are in the world, allows a scented breeze to bring a loved one to mind or takes you home?  Here are my favorites:

BAIES is a classic.  I love a rose scented candle.  Feu De Beaumont (jasmine) is INCREDIBLE and the highest quality on the market currently in my opinion, along with Fleur 09 which we are currently burning and enjoying immensely. xx