As I get older I realise that I love my home comforts more and more, and a good night for me is one spent in with great food, a movie (which doesn’t necesarily need to be great) my Nigel and my cats. To perfect a relaxed evening at home all one needs to do is light a lovely smelling scented candle – and If there’s one thing I love just as much as perfume it’s a scented candle.

The great news for us perfume lovers is that many fragrance houses offer home fragrance lines, including scented candles, that capture the scent of some of our favourite perfumes and some that offer up entirely new odours. One fragrance house whose candle offerings are particular intriguing is Maison Francis Kurkdjian.

As part of our wedding day Nigel and I are dead set on including some Maison Francis Kurkdjian candles in our ceremony – after all it would be a crime for our wedding not to be impeccably scented now wouldn’t it? So we know what brand we want, and we know we want floral candles so that narrows the selection down to two candles; APOM and Aqua Universalis.

Maison Francis Kurkdjian Perfumed Candles are impeccably presented in uncovered wax on a zinc base (with velvet on the underside). The wax is designed in such a way to allow the candle to burn in on itself, illuminating the candle from the inside to create a breathtaking and soft glow.

The burn time for each is approximated at an impressive 40 hours, meaning that lighting them for short periods of time gives them a decent lifespan. As with all things within Francis Kurkdjian’s Maison, his perfume candles have been created to seamlessly mix functionality with simplicity and beauty.

APOM in candle form, like the two scents that share its name (Homme and Femme) is inspired by the mediterranean and focuses on the note of orange blossom. That however, is where the similarity between the scents and the candle lies, as this version of APOM is orange blossom seen from an entirely different angle.

Here the orange blossom comes across as rich and fleshy with a sweeter and more palpable presence. There is a touch of the powdery anise vibe found in APOM Femme but the dominant note is a wonderfully velvety and full-bodied vanilla that smells comforting and beautifully exotic all at once.

Aqua Universalis is one of my personal favourite fragrances from Maison Francis Kurkdjian. It is so much more than your average clean and musky laundry fragrance, in fact it is nothing of the sort and showcases a wonderful contrast between bitter bergamot, fertile muguet and diffusive musks.

The candle is very much in the same vein as the fragrance but feels a lot greener (I’m thinking crisp, green stems and buds) with more emphasis on the white floral notes as opposed to citrus. Much like the fragrance, Aqua Universalis’ Perfumed Candle evokes the feeling of ice cold, mineral-enriched water, however this time the feeling runs through your whole house rather than just on the skin.

The Verdict

Both candles have excellent throw and easily fill up a room with scent. I would say that the APOM is the stronger of the two and for that reason it would be the one I am more attracted to for a wedding. That said, I would be more than happy to regularly burn Aqua Universalis in my house, it just smells so irresistibly floral and crisp.

The other major plus point for the Maison Francis Kurkdjian Perfumed Candles is that they are incredibly attractive to look at. The fact that they burn in on themselves means that there is no jar to contend with and the candles look absolutely beautiful glowing on their zinc base.

Now we just need to convince M.Kurkdjian to create an OUD Perfumed Candle…

Availability

Maison Francis Kurkdjian candles are £55 for 385g and are available in Pour le Soir, Pour le Matin, Lumiere Noire, Aqua Universalis and APOM.

Join the Discussion!

Have you tried any of the MFK Perfumed Candles?

What are your favourite scented candles?

Please leave your thoughts in the comments box below!

Disclaimer
Image 1 via franciskurkdjian.com (two images combined). Images 2 and 3 bigelowchemists.com.