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December 05, 2012 at 08:42 AM
Subtle tones of cherry, tobacco and vanilla? A hint of jalapeño; coffee maybe? If only. Fine wines are so 2011. This holiday season, luxury candles are the rage.
“With complicated fragrances and prices that can approach $500, they are a long way from Mom’s vanilla,” according to The Wall Street Journal. “Swaddled inside gilded boxes that open up to release wafts of heady perfume, high-end candles make a popular holiday gift–especially for oneself.”
The paper quotes Anthony Carro, proprietor of Candle Delirium in West Hollywood, Calif. (where else?), who claims sales of the $25-to-$85 candles he sells have grown 10% to 15% a year for the past five years. One reason may be that people are staying home more, he says. “Candles,” he adds, are “kind of an antidepressant.”
Calling December “show time” in the business, The Journal notes companies roll out limited-edition scents and boxed sets. Laura Slatkin, chief executive of Nest Fragrances, says her company rings up 40% of its sales from October to December. “People burn more candles in the winter,” she says.
The paper adds that like wine, high-end candles contain more, and often pricier, fragrance. Wax and fragrance have to be compatible and correctly blended, or the perfume oils will “leach” unattractively at the sides, says Karen Solari, vice president of marketing at Symrise.
