My sister and I are both into scented candles and we have our favorites. T loves Voluspa candles and they are one of her signature gifts. I love Astier de Villatte candles which conjure up the world's most fascinating cities and neighborhoods. 

My other favorite candlemaker is Dyptyque—I love how I haven't even lit the one on my coffee table and yet the whole living room smells wonderful. My favorite scent from this line is Baies with a rich scent of roses and black current leaves. 

A tip for hard burn candles like this one: make sure the first burn is over two hours long. You'll want to see a pool of liquid wax reaching all edges of the candle before you snuff it out. This way your candle will burn entirely, from rim to rim, and not just in a column leaving a ring of wasted scented wax on the outer rim. 

Another good tip is to have a candle snuffer or a wick dipper, which will extinguish your candle smokelessly and coat the wick in wax for easy relighting. (You could also use a nonflammable long skewer.)

What to do with the candle glass once the candle is done for? Well, I like how Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere uses them as makeup brush holders. 

[1. C. Lynn; 2. Emily]

i've already written about my love for laduree macaron and the pleasures of finding the newest trends in confiture, but this towering candle, that stands almost a foot tall, is an extravagant display of confectionary perfection--and quite literally takes the cake.

"At Point à la Ligne, making candles is still a very hands-on process: molds are carved by hand, one by one the wax for each candle is poured, and the final product is given hand painted accents. In the world of wax, their commitment to quality and craftsmanship make their candles stand out as works of art. Point à la Ligne has been manufacturing quality candles from the Bordeaux region of France for over 35 years."


hand-poured and recreated in meticulous detail by Point à la Ligne in Paris, it is incredible to imagine the amount of work that has gone into the formation of such a temporary sculpture. exquisite as it is, you may have difficulties setting it aflame--but what a birthday candle to set before your loved ones. put your order in at the rose and radish.




I must also mention the "forever cupcake," which the rose and radish stocks as well. food made of plaster--how very japanese.

you would be wise to take their advice upon gifting this item: It could go [very] wrong if the recipient doesn't have a sense of humor and you don't have a real cake hidden somewhere.