admin I have a clear brief when shopping for candles: Luxury hotel lobby vibes. If you’ve ever walked inside a hotel and been greeted by a comforting, expensive scent that instantly makes you feel at home, then you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s the perfect accompaniment to plush furnishings, hardwood floors, and low-lit lighting. Often clean, usually warm, and always luxurious, it is exactly the vibe I’m after.
My obsession began in 2017 when I first stepped into the Monbijou Hotel in Berlin (side note: highly recommend). The lobby decor is chic but urban, muted colour-wise, and filled with low-level seating, ambient lighting, and artfully-arranged coffee table books. In the winter there’s an open fire and in the summer fresh-cut flowers. However, the first thing I noticed was the scent. It’s part green and leafy, part musky and smoky (I’m certain there are notes of pepper and violet) but above all it smells expensive. It’s vibrant and luxurious, but in an understated, cosy way. The home fragrance equivalent to wearing a skin-scent like Le Labo Santal 33 or Escentric Molecules 01.
