Cire Trudon and Astier de Villatte

[Royal Dude]

Hello!

 

Recently I was gifted a Cire Trudon candle and an Astier de Villatte candle. Both of them smelled amazing, but I almost had a heart attack after I saw how much they cost! I couldn't believe it! They smelled so good that I wanted to buy more, but it feels super irresponsible with prices like this. So, this started to make me wonder if I could make similar smelling candles for a fraction of the cost at home? Just small batches here and there for personal use. I started to do some research on candle making and now see that it isn't quite that easy! There's a lot more that goes into it than you may think.

 

I'm making this thread now because I would like to hear some thoughts and opinions on these brands, and what exactly makes them able to ask the prices they do. Is it the quality and amount of fragrance oil they use? I will say that they smell better than many candles I've owned in the past. There is definitely some depth to both of them, as they smell just like high quality perfumes and colognes. They're also very strong with great hot throw.

 

I imagine the prices also come from the hand blown glass, nice packaging, and of course the "prestige" of the brand. But how much would it cost to make candles of similar quality yourself? Do they source their fragrance oils from places not available to most people?

 

I have many questions, but I will leave it at this for now and just add on if replies come in. I look forward to browsing the site and learning more about the craft of fragrance blending and candle making!

[TallTayl]

Welcome to the new addiction of scented products.

 

a candle is only as good as the fragrance used.  Higher end brands such as Jo Malone, Tom Ford, Cire Trudon, etc, have their own perfumers and order their candle fragrance designed for purpose: their candles. 
 

Most popular retail candle fragrance available to home makers is designed for soap, lotion, candles, etc. to fit within a specific price point range. To get the depth of fragrance and quality of your gold standard candle I would suggest finding several perfumers and fragrance houses to learn what you can get outside of the mainstream retail options. Fragrance compounders such as Lebermuth and agilex have been around for a while. They have access to perfumers that can create a world of fragrances most people never know exists. 

 

another option is to buy the perfume you love and spray it onto salt, sand, potpourri, etc and let it perfume the air in a space. While it won’t work in a candle due to the alcohol content, it will perfume the air with a pleasant aroma. 
 

watch for sales of your favorite candles and stock up when possible.
 

you can absolutely reproduce any candle, the process will just cost substantially more to make than to buy the original.