Tantalising trio

LES BELLES Matières (The Beautiful Materials) is Cire Trudon’s latest triple threat, a candle collection that orchestrates fruity, woody, and floral fragrances.
For this collection, the Paris-based luxury candle maker returns to the origins of rare perfumes, delving into the rich hours of botanical discoveries and revealing the genesis of grand olfactory adventures.
Reggio comes infused with mandarin from Calabria in southwest Italy, in a tribute to the mandarin tree which has prospered on the occidental banks of the Mediterranean Sea since it was brought back from Indochina in 1828. Reggio opens with notes of grapefruit, followed by a heart of mandarin essential oil, and finishes with a whiff of mimosa.
Blooming with Indian jasmine, Madurai first seduces with ylang-ylang, then a core of jasmine sambac absolute, on a base of benzoin. The Duke of Tuscany first brought jasmine in India in 1690, a flower originally from Arabia. Fresh or dried, jasmine plays a quintessential role in India’s myths, legends and daily rituals.
Last but not least, Tadine pays homage to sandalwood from the French archipelago of New Caledonia. The celebrated spiced wood was discovered in 1840 by Englishman Edward Foxhall on the Isle of Pines, and then garnered popularity by the end of the 19th century as an ointment for the hair and body, as well as a remedy against incense. Tadine reaches out with notes of cardamom, and ropes you in to a centre of sandalwood essential oil, before settling on a base of guaiac wood.
Each Les Belles Matières candle in classic (270g) is priced at RM469 and available at KENS Apothecary.