Ushering in Autumn with NEST candles

Lucky me! NEST Fragrances has graced us with a new vanilla-based candle for Autumn, called Tahiti Vanille. I have an insatiable appetite for vanilla in personal and home fragrances. It never gets old to me, ever. Tahiti Vanille is a bright, cheerful vanilla, definitely of the island variety, with a touch of coconut and warm spices as accents (official notes: vanilla bean, white chocolate, cinnamon, caramel, white rum). It could easily become a favorite throughout the year, and is never heavy or too rich of a gourmand scent. Can vanilla be buoyant? Why yes, yes it can!

Laura Slatkin was inspired to create Tahiti Vanille while visiting a vanilla farm on the Tahitian island of Tahaa, where she would pass by racks upon racks of vanilla bean pods drying in the sun. I love that image, and hope that one day I can enjoy those smells and sights, but until then, I'm happy to get my vanilla fix through NEST's new candle.

I'm always impressed with how highly fragranced the soft wax is, and how evenly they burn. As long as you keep the wick trimmed to 1/4 inch, you will never have to babysit or fuss over a NEST candle. As per usual, the packaging and striped, etched glass vessel is divine. A true pleasure through and through. I save all of my NEST glass vessels and once the candle is all burned up, I like to put change in them, perfume samples, cat toys, anything that will fit.

This is a good time to remind everyone about one of my favorite candles ever, NEST Pumpkin Chai. I pine for the scent year round, but it's especially wonderful in the Autumn. If you haven't had a chance to try it yourself yet, you might be thinking, "Oh, another spicy pumpkin candle. Great." But wait! It's anything but ordinary. Pumpkin Chai bypasses the "pie" thing altogether, and instead blends a heady combination of spices like Masala chai, cardamom, ginger and cinnamon. It is simultaneously scrumptious and sophisticated, and if you're looking to set a festive mood for Halloween or Thanksgiving, you couldn't do better than NEST Pumpkin Chai.

The wax is a spiced blush orange color, and the glass vessel is transparent dark ambery-brown. Just beautiful. All NEST candles make wonderful gifts, if you can manage to loosen your grasp on them long enough.

These candles can be purchased at Candles Off Main (my favorite online and brick & mortar candle shop), and also places like Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. The 8.1 oz size candle retails for $32, burn time is approx. 50 hours.

[candles were sent to me for consideration by the company]