The purchase of this True Grace Portobello Oud candle was 100% by chance. I will explain.

I am addicted to the Spirit of Christmas. Those in the know will I understand why. Those unaware, please read this blog post carefully and……. you are welcome!

Spirit of Christmas

Spirit of Christmas is a yearly event held at Olympia Exhibition Centre. It is hard to explain how fabulous it is but think of every item you need for Christmas. Think of every gift you need for Christmas. Think of every type of food you need including cheese, wine, Christmas cakes etc. Then think of a building full of thousands of women shopping their legs off. Now times all of the above by twenty, throw in discounted products and you are close to the Spirit of Christmas. It truly has to be experienced to be believed. Click here to see videos of last year’s event.Also, there is an event called Spirit of Summer. This is a smaller version of the Christmas event but it is still a large event and features many of the same independent exhibitors.

The next event will hopefully be in 2021. Both the Summer and Christmas events were cancelled this year due to Coivd-19 but you can purchase from some of the exhibitors here. I have browsed the site and cannot find the same discounts and deals that feature during the live show. That being said, if like me, you attend every year and purchase from the same exhibitors, you can access them through the Spirit of Christmas platform.

Credit:spiritofchristmasfair.co.uk

There is so much that I can say but in brief, book a ticket and check it out for yourself. Back to the candle.

True Grace

Last year, we were able to select to purchase a True Grace Portobello Oud candle along with the our Spirit of Christmas ticket. The key thing, the candle was priced at £20, a discount of £15 when compared to the retail price of £35. I jumped at the opportunity.

Regarding logistics, I collected the candle from the cloak room at the event, it was a seamless exchange.

Portobello Oud

Portobello Oud Candle

By now you will all know that I adore deep woody oudy scents. Portobello Oud provides this and so much more.

This candle has all of my favourite notes. Flagrant top notes of citrus bergamot and spicy ginger. Heart notes of earthy sandalwood, oud and Coriande. With deep, dark and rich base notes of leather, patchouli, musk and cedar. This candle reminds me of Marrakesh. It takes me back to trips where I spent hours exploring the spice stalls in the souks.

This candle is both warm and spicy with a delicate balance of wood and musk. The musk reminded me of a trip to Dubai where I spent the night in the desert at a Bedouin camp. The air was warm and thick with spice. It was everything I had hoped the middle east would smell like.

The Wax

The majority of commercial candles are made from paraffin wax, a by-product of petroleum refining. The Portobello Oud candle differs as it is made of paraffin wax, gm soy and palm oil. The advantage, such a mix eliminates the negative burning features of candles made with only one type of wax. For example, paraffin candles can emit fumes and soot but it is the most economical wax to buy and is easy to find. Soy wax can require more chemicals to hold scents but it can be slow burning and does not release toxic chemicals when burnt. Palm oil candles are also very hard and so burn slower but it is not from a sustainable source and is harder to work with than other waxes. This candle’s wax blend is an attempt to craft the perfect candle.

My thoughts, this candle has a good scent throw whether lit or not. Placed next to the wall and lit, I have not seen any soot marks and whilst I have burnt it for a number of hours, the wax level and wick is still relatively close to the top of the candle glass.

This is my first True Grace candle. Something that I had wanted to purchase for a while and not due to price point and it being lower down on my candle priority list. Now that I have tried one, I would definitely purchase another candle at full price.

Are there any candles that you are yet to purchase? If so, maybe today is the day! A little tip, I often wait for Selfridges to have 10% or 15% off close to Christmas. I then buy all of those items I wanted throughout the year. Also, Liberty always includes candles in their store wide sales too.

Happy shopping!