Products

Go to the archives

Diptyque candles

By Jesse Kornbluth
Published: Apr 14, 2016
Category: Home

READER REVIEW: “What’s the very best gift? Simple. A candle. Many hours of joy and serenity, a universal source of delight, sets a tone for not just your home, but your life. So why not get the very best one in the world for someone you love? That would be the Diptyque. A candle could be a ho-hum gift rather than a ho-ho, but not this one. It takes 1300 roses to make ONE gram of pure rose oil used in a Diptyque. This candle lasts so long it’s like a bottle of Dom Perignon that keeps refilling itself while your back is turned. Just buy one and see what happens. Would you give your love a $7 bottle of champagne?”

I went to an old-fashioned East Side dinner party recently — first course, turn to your left; second course, turn to your right; in the morning, write a note to the hostess on heavy paper — and had a major revelation.

It may sound small — it was about candles — but candles were the least of it.

It was about money. And value.

So there I was, entering, being greeted in the foyer as a Diptyque candle burned. And then, as if a drug had kicked in, I was in Paris, wives ago, before the Reagan riches began. My wife’s job was being rich, my job was writing; we could go anywhere for weeks at a time. So, of course, Paris. The franc/dollar exchange was so ridiculous in our favor that a visit to the Diptyque shop on Boulevard Saint Germain was like going to McDonald’s — you could shop without thinking hard about it, the way we now hit One-Click on Amazon and not think we’re spending actual money.

A Diptyque candle now costs actual money. The scents are delicious, but there’s a baseline taste in all of them: money. Fun fact: Meghan Markle had Diptyque perfume diffusers positioned around the ancient British church in which she was married to drive out its “musty” smell.

That seems like a lot. I often buy candles at Target: $7.

That is the very definition of “false economy.”

The Diptyque candle is the better buy. [To buy Diptyque candles from Amazon, click here.]

It’s the better buy because it lasts much longer than most other candles — between 50-60 hours. Because once it fills a room with scent, you can blow it out and the room will continue to be gently perfumed for hours. Because when it’s burned out, you’ve got a vase for short-stemmed flowers.

Janis Joplin said, “What you settle for is who you are.” Her implicit point: Don’t settle.

Diptyque candles are just… better. For me, the best. And not just the candle itself. Just as important is the way the candle reminds you that you deserve to be surrounded by beauty. [To buy a Rose candle, click here.] . Diptyque also makes a room spray. [For the room spray, click here.]

Last week I bought a Diptyque candle. I hesitated at the buy link. Later, I’ll get the message: Beauty has its own economy.