Vanilla Brûlée Candle

Even though my basket was rammed full of goodies that day, so much so that other people had started to notice and take pictures of probably the biggest haul they'd ever seen, I still forced myself to venture downstairs, intent on scouting out each and every new product available in the Oxford Street store. 

It was while I was down there that I noticed the candles - tucked away by the counter and thwarted somewhat by the impressive displays that stood in front of it. My heart was telling me to grab them all and leave before I changed my mind - my wallet was screaming at me to leave at once. Unfortunately, I chose to only purchase a single one that day - intent on returning a few weeks later to pick up the rest. However, it was not to be. 

For those who haven't been following Lush's saga on their 'new' candles, the company were forced to recall them a few weeks after they initially appeared. As a way of producing environmentally friendly substitutes, Lush chose to encase the wax between the walls of a bamboo shoot - a component that although very natural, also happened to be rather flammable. Not a good design for a product that needs fire to work!

After an unfortunate customer experienced her candle burning out of control and destroying many valuable objects around it, Lush had no choice but to remove all of the products from the shelf, where they have yet to return to my dismay. 

Offering a fragrance very similar to the Vanillary range, Vanilla Brûlée is a feast for the senses - a candle with a circumference of 5cm and a height of roughly 6cm. While the shape and design of the candle remains the same across all four of the scents that were available, each and every single candle is unique in size and shape. 

As Lush use bamboo shoots to carve their 'cups' to pour the wax in, no two sticks are the same width - so what you end up with is an array of thin, fat, stubby and slender candles - all weighing the same but looking very different indeed. Intent of getting my money's worth, I went for the biggest one I could find.  

While this seems fairly small for the price tag it comes with, this candle is a slow burner - barely creating a wax puddle more than a few millimetres deep with each and every use. I've used my candle a good 4/5 times now and the wick has not burned any lower than what it was when I first purchased it. 

Lush describe the smell of this as having 'scorched notes - evoking a comforting sense of dessert deja vu.' While not as sickly sweet as Vanillary can be, I can definitely acknowledge the slightly burnt vanilla note that dominates this candle - one that is grounded a little by the inclusion of the sandalwood.

What I love about this candle is that although not a very overpowering, dominating smell, once you've lit it and left the warming aroma to fill the room for a good 15-20 minutes, you can detect the scent in little bursts while it's still lit, which is great if you're enjoying a bath at the time. The comforting aroma really helps you to relax and unwind - like a pair of thick socks on a winter's day. 

I really hope that Lush bring these back into circulation as the candles are perfectly safe. As long as they're rested on something that won't catch alight, set somewhere away from anything that the flame could reach and watched while lit, these candles are a beautiful addition to any home, and it's such a shame that I am unable to enjoy any other fragrances until the problem has been dealt with.    

Quantitative Ingredients: Rapeseed Container Wax (Brassica napus), Perfume, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (Cocoa nucifera), Sandalwood Oil (Santalum austro-caledonicum viell), Tonka Absolute (Dipteryx odorata), Fair Trade Vanilla Absolute (Vanilla planifolia). 

Vegan?: Yes.

2015 Price: £22.50 for 80g.

Year Of Original Release: ?