Le Labo Santal 26 Candle

Having finally stepped into Le Labo's mysterious world back in March, when I was steered to buy an amazing, totally heady, memory avalanche-inducing Le Labo vintage Pin 12 vintage candle, by Camelia, at Le Labo's Marylebone store, it was pretty clear as my home became habitually Le Labo scented, that when that candle came to an end, no other brand of candle would ever do again. After all, as I said in a previous post about the Pin 12 candle, Le Labo's candles don't just tease off a scent, they move right into your home and set the atmosphere. 

After my lovely initiation into Le Labo's world by Camelia, I had a strong sense of Le Labo being inseparable from the notion of a treat, of treating oneself. And so it was, when the Pin 12 candle ran out, I waited a little while until I felt like playing the treat card again. I've been working flat out for ages now on my 14th book (more details on what it is, when the publisher is ready) and yesterday marked the end of a round of intensive edits. Finishing that leg of the work created a great moment for a treat and as I brought my daughter home from school, we headed for Le Labo. 

Although I would happily buy the Pin 12 candle again, a Le Labo store, as the name would suggest, is like a petite magical laboratory and I felt I'd be missing out if I didn't try a second candle. So after sampling the Anis 24 (I was wooed to this digitally having read on the Le Labo website's mentions of Marseille, which appealed to me having spent a summer holiday two years ago in Cassis and Marseille and fallen for the rugged charm of that strip of the French coast) and Calone 17 candles (I am obsessed with the sea), my daughter and I settled on Santal 26, which made me think instantly of a Riad we stayed at in the medina of Rabat in Morocco: the scent is that of aged Moroccan rugs and babouches shops and dark wooden furniture and a room shuttered up and dimly lit to keep out the excessive summer heat). 

Having settled on the Santal 26, this time I chose the 'classic' glass jar version of the candle and not the vintage tin style. As before, everything was beautifully wrapped (even a day later, the tissue paper used to wrap the candle in the box smells absolutely gorgeous) and as the sunny day turned into a supernaturally lit London evening, the candle brought memories of that Riad in Rabat shimmering back into my home.