Last week I had the rather fabulous experience of meeting Jo Malone to find out more about her most recent creation, the Jo Loves Candle Shot. I popped along to her gorgeous London store on Elizabeth Street – a must visit for anyone who wants to truly indulge in fragrance – where I grabbed a seat in the studio and made a candle with Jo! How’s that for an experience?
The candle itself is just wonderful and I’ll be reviewing it in another post soon. In the meantime, I thought I’d share with you the process of making a Candle Shot so you can get an idea of whether it’s something you’d enjoy. The answer is “yes, you will”…
The idea for Candle Shots came to Jo when she was in New York and witnessed a large queue for a shop that was allowing people to design and create their own Pop Tart flavours. Consequently, Jo wanted to create something similar for candle lovers, and the Candle Shot Studio was born.
You can make your own candle either at the virtual studio online or in person at the Elizabeth Street store; it’s worth pointing out that even though the service had literally just launched, during the short time I was there for the event, a couple of people popped in to do it, so I can see it really taking off and expanding to include more fragrance options.
Speaking of fragrance options, let’s have a look at what’s currently on offer. You choose your base scent from the four currently available – Mint Mojito, Charcoaled Lemons, Tahitian Gardenia or Fig Trees – and you add to this your Shot scent from Lemongrass, Fig Trees, Mango, Petitgrain, Mint Mojito, Charcoaled Lemons and Tahitian Gardenia. If you’re instore, you can play around with the scents on bits of card to see what sort of combination takes your fancy.
One thing I will say is that each of the above scents are interpretations rather than literal – I realise that might be an obvious statement but, to give you an idea, the Lemongrass isn’t just lemongrass, it’s also Eucalyptus Heart, Rose Accord, Fig Milk, Lilac, Cedarwood Oil and Musk. Jo is world renowned for creating some of the most amazing fragrance combinations, so it makes sense that these base and shot scents would be complex and creative rather than basic and generic. Consequently, I read the options available beforehand and thought none of them would do it for me, yet when I smelled them in person they ALL were amazing and I really struggled to choose!
A couple of standout scents for was the Charcoaled Lemons – Jo puts a selection of citric fruits on the BBQ in the summer to create a burst of fresh fragrance in her garden – which had the most wonderful edge to it, like a lovely little lemon that decided to rebel. There’s also Salted Caramel that has literally just arrived and it is *amazing*. I actually built my whole candle around that scent and had my base scent as Fig Trees just because I felt it was the most suited to the caramel flavour – I would’ve gone for the Charcoaled Lemons had I not been under the caramel spell!
If you love candles and you want to try your hand at making your own creation then you have to try a Candle Shot, and if you can, try and make it in store to indulge in the full experience. It isn’t cheap at £75, but you get a one-to-one consultation and a beautifully presented, extremely well made candle to take away. I had mine on the go for a few hours yesterday and my room is still filled with that glorious caramel aroma, almost 24 hours after burning, so you really do get a long-lasting fragrance. For more info on the studio, head here – link.
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This sounds amazing, would make a really unique gift for someone (or just a treat for yourself!)