When the windows stay shut for months, fresh orange candles are what I reach for, because citrus smells like air moving even when nothing in the room is.
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It’s one of those stuffy winter days where you just want to open the windows and clean the stuffy air out of th house. Today I turn to my fresh, orange scented candles to help me out.
One of my favorite fresh orange scents is Orange Sanguine by Atelier Cologne. I fell in love with the cologne at first sniff. When they launched a candle in the same scent, I immediately snagged it. I’m crazy about Atelier candles. They smell exactly as the cologne so I can be surrounded in the scent I love so much. While they don’t burn evenly, they do burn cleanly and completely off the glass. The fragrance is strong without being overwhelming. Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine features top notes of top notes blood orange and bitter orange along with heart notes of jasmine and geranium from South Africa. The base notes are amber woods, tonka beans and sandalwood. What’s not to love?! Atelier Cologne candles are made in France with a blend of vegetable and paraffin wax.
I am completely addicted to the Tocca Stella Body Scrub (Tocca Esfoliante da Corpo Stella Rich Body Polish ). I LOVE this scent and the body scrub is the best I’ve tried. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until just recently that I started burning the Tocca Stella candle. The fragrance is the same as the polish and it’s a perfect, fresh scent. Heaven!!
Another favorite blood orange candle is Red Flower Italian Blood Orange. Red Flower does a great job at making scents that focus in one one particular fragrance. Their blood orange candle is their most beautiful burning candle offering a brilliant orange glow as the wax liquefies. The scent is simple and pure.
“Imagine the creamy flavor of a homemade gelato, dripping with mandarin, sweet tangerine, honeyed Clementine, and a hint of musk.” I love Bond No. 9 perfume so when I heard they had a candle in my favorite orange fragrance, Little Italy, I jumped on it. I love the orange vessel and heavy gold top.
Zesty orange scents are great anytime of year. In the winter they offer a fresh reprieve. In the summer, they are cooling on hot, steamy days. Orange is one of the few fragrances that can translate well into bath products, personal fragrance and home fragrance. Or all of the above at the same time!
Why fresh orange candles feel so clean
Citrus peel oil is sharp and bright, and our brains read that as fresh. It is the smell of a kitchen right after you zest something, which is hard to feel gloomy around.
Orange is also friendlier than lemon. It is round and sweet at the edges, so it suits living rooms and bedrooms as well as bathrooms.
Orange peel is one of the oldest fragrance materials we have. Cold-pressed peel oil is bright and a little bitter, and it appears in perfumes, cleaning products and candles because it works for everything. That versatility is why orange is hard to replace.
Fresh orange candles do double duty in winter. They freshen stale air and they feel cheerful when the sky is gray.
Few scents are as friendly as fresh orange candles, which suit living rooms and bedrooms as well as bathrooms.
Fresh orange candles are the quickest cure I know for a stuffy house.
The many oranges
As the post shows, there is not one orange. Blood orange is deeper and a little bitter, mandarin and tangerine are sweet, and clementine tastes honeyed. Bitter orange adds a dry edge.
This is why two orange candles can smell nothing alike. Choose by how sweet you want it: gelato-sweet for dessert moods, bitter and woody for something grown-up.
Pairing orange with amber, wood or musk gives it staying power, since citrus on its own fades fast.
Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine opens with blood orange and bitter orange, adds jasmine and geranium in the heart and rests on amber woods, tonka and sandalwood, according to the post. That wood and amber base explains why the candle lasts rather than flashing and fading.
I would add that a candle which does not burn evenly is a trade-off. If the vessel tunnels a little, rotate it and trim the wick, and be patient.
Choosing among fresh orange candles is easier when you decide first whether you want sweet or bitter.
Pairing orange with amber, wood or musk gives fresh orange candles staying power, since citrus on its own fades fast.
Some fresh orange candles lean sweet, and others lean bitter and woody.
Orange through the seasons
In winter, orange offers a reprieve from heavy spices. In summer it cools you. That flexibility is rare in scent, and it shows up across bath products, perfumes and candles.
I like to use an orange candle in the kitchen after cooking and a body product in the same scent afterward. They tie together nicely.
I like to match the scent to the task. A sharp orange suits morning cleaning. A creamy mandarin and musk blend suits a quiet evening.
The Bond No. 9 candle mentioned above is dressed in an orange vessel with a heavy gold top, so even before you light it the candle sets a tone.
Fresh orange candles work in every season. In winter they offer a reprieve from heavy spice, and in summer they cool a steamy room.
Fresh orange candles also look cheerful, especially in bright vessels.
Burn well and read more
Citrus fragrances thin out if the flame is too small, so let the wax pool reach the edge. A vessel that burns evenly keeps the scent steady.
For a related fresh candle idea, read Because Life Doesn’t Always Smell Like Roses and the scrub post.
For some background on the fruit, the Wikipedia article on the orange explains how the sweet orange came about.
Open a window if you can, light one, and let the room wake up.
Body products in the same scent make the whole day smell consistent. If you love a fragrance, consider buying the scrub, the perfume and the candle together, and use them in the same sequence.
After a day of cooking, fresh orange candles are what I reach for most. They sweep out the last of the kitchen odors.
A body product in the same scent makes fresh orange candles part of a whole-day routine.
Open a window if you can, light one of the fresh orange candles and let the room wake up.
