The golden plum candle from Linnea’s Lights is a soft, sweet, slightly spicy candle with a throw strong enough to surprise its owner. Below is Lynette Reed’s review, followed by a few notes on what to look for in a candle like this one.
By Candles Off Main, Contributor Lynette Reed: Fragrance fanatic, founder of Illume Candles, Izzy Sayan Perfume, Fluid Fragrances, and creative consultant to many high-end fragrance brands.
There is a special place in my heart for Linnea’s Lights candles. When I lived in Seattle, I opened a small store filled with good-smelly things, and Linnea’s Lights was one of my favorite brands to sell. Not only were their candles an easy sell because all a customer had to do was take a whiff and they were sold, but I loved to take them home on a regular basis and enjoy them in my own space. Linnea’s Lights was relatively new back then, and it makes me happy to see how they have expanded their collection and established their place in the vast candle market.
Linnea’s Lights candles are hand-poured with a pure, all-natural soy wax using fine fragrances and Golden Plum is certainly one fine fragrance! Described as Velvet Plum, Honey & Cardamom, I would say it’s all that and more. The fragrance is soft and sweet but with a slight spice and a powerful warm throw.
Maybe it’s the effect of the double wick that gives the throw an extra boost, but it took over my kitchen very quickly and meandered into other rooms in my place quite unexpectedly. Needless to say, I now have a new Linnea’s Lights favorite!
Be sure to try some of the other scents in the collection, Forest Fir, Cashmere, Winter are a few of my favorites this time of year, and of course no one can beat their Pumpkin, which for me is hands down the best pumpkin candle on the market.
“Linnea’s Lights® is a woman-owned, family driven luxury brand of home fragrances built upon a foundation of quality and craftsmanship. From the introduction of our iconic double-wick, small-batch soy candle in 2009 to the present day, our core values remain constant: our products are made with mindfully and ethically sourced materials, each step of our process involves the touch of human hands, each product is designed and packaged locally in our Midwest studio, and we partner with local and global causes to help make our world a better place.
Linnea’s Lights® products are crafted with passion and a commitment to quality, beauty and giving back.”
What the golden plum candle is meant to smell like
The brand describes the scent as velvet plum, honey and cardamom, and the review above agrees that it is soft and sweet with a little spice. That is a useful clue about how it behaves: fruit and honey give the sweetness, cardamom gives the dry, warm edge that keeps it from feeling sugary.
When a product page lists three notes like this, do not expect to pick them out one at a time. Candle scents are usually blended so that the notes read as one picture, and the balance can shift as the wax warms up. If you only know the name, the three-note description is the best guide you have before you buy.
If you like fruit-forward candles in general, our post on MOR Black Cherry Plum is another one from the archive worth a look.
In short, the golden plum candle sits in the sweet-but-not-sugary corner of the fruit family. If cardamom and honey sound good to you, it is worth trying.
Going by the name alone you might expect a tart fruit candle, but golden plum is described as soft and sweet, which is worth knowing before you give one as a gift.
Why the double wick matters for a strong throw
The review credits the double wick for the extra boost in the warm throw, and that makes sense. Two wicks usually create a wider pool of melted wax, and a wider pool gives off more fragrance into the room. The trade-off is that a double-wick candle can burn a little faster and needs a bit more attention.
Trim both wicks to about a quarter of an inch before each burn, keep them from leaning into each other, and let the top layer melt evenly across the surface. The brand makes its candles from natural soy wax, which many people like for a clean, even burn. As always, never leave a burning candle unattended.
The strong golden plum throw is the main reason this candle earns its recommendation.
Where to burn a golden plum candle at home
In the review, the candle took over the kitchen quickly and then drifted into the other rooms. That is worth remembering when you place it. A kitchen or open living area is a good first choice because the scent has space to travel, while a small bedroom may feel crowded by a strong candle.
Give it an hour or two before you decide how strong it is, since the throw tends to build as the melt pool grows. If you want to read more about the company itself, we also covered Linnea’s Lights: Behind the Brand, and the brand’s own collection page, linked in the review, shows the other scents the writer mentions.
A last practical note: a golden plum candle with a strong throw does not need to burn for hours to do its job. A shorter burn in the room where you spend the evening is often enough, and it keeps the wax even.
The review also names Forest Fir, Cashmere, Winter and Pumpkin as other favorites from the line, so there is plenty to explore if this one becomes a habit. For a different seasonal take from the same brand, see Blue Agave Featuring Tart Lime.
So who is this candle for? Anyone who likes sweet, spiced fruit scents and wants a candle that fills a room without much effort. If that is you, the golden plum is a safe bet, and the brand’s golden plum description of velvet plum, honey and cardamom is a fair preview. If you prefer light, fresh scents, a different Linnea’s Lights fragrance may suit you better than golden plum.
Ask yourself whether golden plum matches the rest of your home fragrances before you buy.
Header photo: Evan-Amos, Wikimedia Commons (CC0).
