Almost a year ago, I included The Vampire's Wife Bonfire Candle in a round up post of the candles I was coveting at that moment.
Well, eleven months later, I've finally got around to buying and burning it.
I am a bit of a fangirl for The Vampire's Wife, so I would have been interested in any candle they launched, but Bonfire's description actually did seem very up my street from the get go - top notes of leather and cedar, middle notes of tobacco and resin and base notes of herbs.
I was also heavily seduced by the aesthetic of course, with the deep red vase and the black wax giving the sensual, gothic vibes that caught my interest in the first place when the brand launched.
With the descriptions and the notes - saying this candle channels 'the dark, seiditous and uneathly energy' of the bonfire celebrations in Lewes, 'a town with a history of martyred heretics, hauntings witches and pagan rituals' - I was expecting something intense and smokey when I blind ordered this, something like Feu de Bois but ramped up even more.
What I got was something that is pleasant but subtle. I wouldn't use the word weak, it's definitely got a scent to it, but it's much more mellowed out than I had anticipated. I think it's probably a great candle for people who like heavier scents but find they induce headaches, as it has those leather notes that are so often mixed with other heady ingredients to result in something pretty pungent and not great for migrane sufferers.
However, I'm slightly sad to say, for me - I'm a little underwhelmed. I want a room rocker of a smell. I want to be burning a candle in my bedroom and be able to smell it in the downstairs hall. And ultimately this is too fine, delicate and subtle to do that - you catch it in the air of the room you're in but it's like a very elegant, refined party guest who has impeccable manners and leaves before the night descends into debauchery. And quite frankly, I wanted debauchery.
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