An assortment of lovely scents and history, what's more, to obsess over and ramble about? How about fantastic customer service practices and overall presentation (thank you so much for the extras!). I fell hard for quite a few of these little candles by the cold throws alone (Boleyn, Bog Bodies, Shelley, Black Phillip, Table-Tipping, Bring Out Your Dead and Cher Ami topping the lists with realistic florals and fruits, spices or honey) and am finding myself further entranced and saying "Mmmphf" with every flick of the flame. These votive candles are impressive giving off a 2-4 foot throw and complex clever aromas inspired by different events and themes of bygone eras and classics off the shelves. Looking forward to trying the beast sizes, now to narrow my basket down. This won't be the last you have read about Pestilence Pours, that's a promise. Table-Tipping (Honey, Amber, Coriander, Tonka, Tobacco Leaves, Oud and Musk) Smells like an evening filled with necromancy games and levity. The realistic crystallized honey is the conduit of this blend with cherry tobacco adding a fitting fruit laced aspect to the honey while the coriander lends a "dust" illusion to the midground and the oud is laying underneath lifting this fragrance and bringing the final unexpected bang of something to grab your attention. This is a gathering of the elite in a scene and in note selection. Very impressive! For a votive-sized candle, Table-Tipping still gives a 2 to 3-foot scent throw and melts evenly with the strength gaining with every flick of the flame. Bring Out Your Dead (Pumpkin, French Vanilla Cream and Pie Spices) The little candle carries my top two guilty pleasures in life- sweet treats and dark humour; how could I resist trying this combination? All the promised notes are there in a delicious creamy and lightly spiced throw that reaches 4 feet and into the basket Bring Out Your Dead goes. "I feel happy, I feel happy!". Vive la Reine (Chrysanthemums, Green florals and botanicals, Watery Aloe and Sweet Agave) A trill of happy laughter, a delicate hand absently reaches out and creates dancing ripples in the bright sunlight, a blush creeps across a perfumed cheek while a secret letter sits on a draped lap and this idyllic scene is captured in contrasting pastels with strikes of the queen's favourite powdery shade in a portrait that will no doubt hang in her beloved Petit Trianon's halls when she hides away from rigid decorum and hissed whispers behind fluttering fans. It's a scent that makes you wish history would have played out differently and if happiness and touches of romance would have only followed instead such a tragic misunderstood figure. The inclusion of agave in this candle inspired by Marie Antoinette adds a unique sweet fruity extravagance while the soft watery florals on top create visions of a poetic haven away from this world, and I don't know about you, but I always want my boudoir to smell like that. A beautiful creative tribute fragrance. Bog Bodies (Tangy Cranberries, Cinnamon, Sweet Apple and Spicy Clove) Sharp and warm with no sacrifice on the promised cranberries! The clove adds a smoky nearly meditative element whilst the fruit notes of freshly peeled apple sprinkled with cinnamon and cranberry all lends Bog Bodies the perfect impression of something wicked (though celebratory) happening at fall-tide. For throw, this votive covers my whole kitchen with a welcoming tart and spiced aroma that holds a sinister undernote and I'm in love. Is it strange I look forward to unsuspecting guests complimenting Bog Bodies and then launching into a dark history lesson that makes them look toward the exit? Haha, I didn't think so either. Penny University (Fresh Brewed Coffee, Rum, Cocoa Beans) Admittedly this is not my favourite out of the parcel and with its cold throw introduction as the coffee can give off a well skunky though earthy scent (am I the only one who smells skunk when it comes to brewed black coffee?). Thankfully that skunky odor is all about absent after a few moments as the wax heats up and releases a more relaxing fragrance of boozy cocoa and a bitter coffee undernote. It definitely perks up my senses but again not a favourite overall. Boleyn (Rose, Musk and Sandalwood) We've explored my least favourite out of these (lucky) thirteen and now we have arrived at my choice pick out of them all. May I introduce those who adore the rich and heady aroma of fresh roses with a distinct underpinning of escapism to Boleyn! This is how I imagine the royal chambers of a queen that defined an era cast in candlelit shadows to smell of, regal and ostentatious but has a hidden primal and always musing energy underneath beckoning her king to visit her behind heavy velvet drapes. This is a stately and amorous rose fragrance and I adore how Boleyn covers my whole kitchen in such an intoxicating way and allows departures from my mundane thoughts whenever I light this inspired votive. It has the largest throw of them all and will be one of my first beast-sized candle purchases this year (maybe for my birthday). Highly recommend. Cher Ami (French Lavender, Chamomile, White Tea, Apple Blossom and Dew) Soft and relaxing like the morning cooing of a dove or a pigeon more alike as this fragrance was inspired by the courageous homing pigeon of the same name that saved 194 Allied soldiers during WWI. This inspired gentle scent is bucolic with notes of a spring morning as you could imagine the guns falling silent across the french countryside. Very lovely and a beautiful welcoming aroma to company as they find their way to your door. Burke & Hare (Wet Grass, a patch of green clover and a little bit of fresh dirt) As it says on the tin with a realistic muddy aroma of clumps of clover and cemetery dirt. Thank goodness Pestilence Pours didn't go another route and recreate a cadaver or anatomy theatre fug with a whiskey barrel or tea chest for the ol' true crimes by Burke & Hare, haha now that would have been something and as much as I adore dark history I don't think I want the distinct stank of formaldehyde, benzene and spirits wafting about my home. I can easily appreciate and applaud the scented storyline and inspiration of the moved cemetery earth just fine and I think others would agree. Danse Macabre (Bonfire, Sweet Amber and Caramelized Marshmallows) This interpretation of allegorical art celebrating universal mortality is oddly comforting and delicious with a warm vintage vein running underneath the smokey sweetness. Perhaps this is a curious and clever capturing of the saying "sweet release of death". I do so love and greatly appreciate this little shop's morbid sense of humour. Fellow dark hearts rejoice, go ahead and giggle and light up Danse Macabre; I think you will be happy. Shelley (Plum, Citrus, Amber and Light and Dark Musks) Of course, the authoress who sparked a new genre of literature that still inspires and terrifies readers would receive a fascinating scent tribute from Pestilence Pours which is dark but has a bolt of romantic current laying in wait. Very fitting and I wouldn't expect anything less. I swear I smell hidden pine intertwined in the wisps of smoke escaping from Shelley no doubt harkening back to the trees around Villa Diodati. It curiously brings to mind heavy velvet drapes and dreary nights by a fire; perfect to tell ghost stories by. Another selection for my basket when the time comes. Black Philip (Black Currants, Jasmine, Rich Black Tea and a touch of Smoke) This is an intriguing layered fragrance of sweetness, smoke and a touch of tannic floral. Definitely one of the most intriguing Halloween themed candles I have tried. I wonder if there is a wisp of musk underneath the top notes as there is something a bit dare I say bewitching about Black Philip that catches your full attention. Another fitting series of curious notes that beckons you closer with every dance of the little flame. Madame Deficit (Vanilla Cake, Coconut and White Musk) Mmm smells like a perfume I would gladly don with an even balance of gourmand and sophistication. A non-overwhelming blend of creamy sweetness and powdery musk. As complex as the scandals, historic opinions and legends surrounding Marie Antoinette. Reading the description of Madame Deficit the notes oddly work as this figure was harassed with slander (one of the false tales of lavish dinners and carefree comments such as the "let them eat cake") which only led to a tragic disconnect from the public and the destruction of a dynasty. Spring Heel'd Jack (Caramel Dipped Apples) And we have arrived at lucky number 13 and a bonus candle I found tucked into my parcel (thank you so much, Pestilence Pours) and is no doubt a sweet playful tribute to the tradition of telling ghost and supernormal stories during parties in the Victorian era well into the Edwardian period on All Hallow's Eve. I can easily imagine the giggles and feigned gasps as well dressed ladies and their dapper beaus cuddle close and play little games and indulge in autumnal treats (such as caramel-dipped apples with a sprinkling of warm cinnamon) as the tale of Spring Heel'd Jack is whispered whilst the candles around them gutter with the October cold winds finding their ways down the chimneys and betwixt cracks in the windows. It's a simple blend but still manages to capture the imagination. Very nice! Pestilence Pours |
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28th of January 2023) NOTES/COMBINATIONS and Stones CURRENTLY ON THE HUNT FOR: Naughty Licorice/Star Anise Cardamom Cardamom Cake with Roses Smoky Honey & Leather Leather and Florals Pomegranate Colder Tuberose scents Smoked Florals with Cinnamon and Honey Graham Cracker and Incense Double strand of Rose Quartz or Moonstones or Black Tourmaline Chainmaille Jewellery Houses of Fragrance and Interest on the Horizon (shops that contain such temptations): LurkerAndStrange Good Spirit Wolf Rapt In Maille ToadStoolSoaps DSH Perfume Baphomet&Co Harvest Moon Haven Granny Hootenanny's Shop
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