Tara Sofia Perfumed Candles – 'The Empress Collection' | Now Available!

After an arduous few months I am excited and incredibly proud to unveil my brand new debut candle collection in all of its glory...

 

Each of the 4 scents are directly inspired by a particular artwork in my collection, which sees iconic women turned into extraordinarily jewelled, cultural hybrids.

A LOT of work went into these as I wanted them to be truly luxurious home accessories – conveying the idea that you can indulge in something as small as a scented candle but the impact it can have your living space is huge. I wanted to create a collection of candles that offered so much more than other brands, so here is how they do that:

♥ The dazzling, champagne-gold metallic finish on the glass is created using a unique process, meaning no two vessels are ever the same. So in essentially they are works of art in themselves, and look visually stunning when lit as the flame delicately flickers through the pattern in the glass.

♥ Each candle contains the maximum percentage of fragrance possible in order to ensure an optimum scent throw without compromising the burn quality. They contain double the average percentage of fragrance, placing them among the most perfumed candles in the world.

After seemingly endless fragrance options and blends, I deliberately picked fragrances that had naturally strong notes in them – to really convey an idea of opulence. This also means they are capable of scenting large rooms effortlessly, giving off a wonderfully intoxicating aroma. 

♥ A genuine ‘Tara Sofia’ candle is easily identified by its beautifully embossed nameplate.
Made from 100% copper, the nameplate is intricately embossed with the signature logo, and individually hand-applied.

The candles are now available to purchase at www.tarasofia.com. Let me know what you think!

Be sure to follow us on twitter and instagram (@tara_sofia), where we are having a giveaway each week for a month to celebrate the launch. It’s an opportunity to win one of each of the 4 amazing scents, so make sure you enter :-)

Please don't forget to subscribe - will be featuring fragrance profiles on each of the 4 amazing scents in the next few blogs.

Grasse - the perfume captial of the world

A few weeks ago I visited the town of Grasse in the South of France – a veritable mecca for a fragrance junkie like myself. It is considered to be the world capital of perfume and did not disappoint!

Historically Grasse was known for leather tanning during the middle ages, however the unpleasant smell of the leather was not exactly desirable amongst the glove-wearing gentry. Galimard, a tanner in Grasse came up with the ingenious idea of scented leather gloves, an idea which quickly spread amongst high society, thus giving Grasse its worldwide reputation.

Why is Grasse so special? Partly due to its geographical situation in the hills. It has a unique climate which is perfect for growing flowers such as lavender, myrtle, jasmine, rose, orange blossom and wild mimosa – amongst some of the most expensive essences.

There are 3 major perfume houses which have been in Grasse for hundreds of years – Galimard, Molinard and Fragonard. As we were limited on time, we only visited one of the smaller museums: the Fragonard Perfumery. It has 2 properties in Grasse and we visited the modern one just outside the town centre. 

 

We had a short tour which showed us various aspects of the perfume process –from extracting floral essences to highlighting how fragrance is a true art form. People qualified as “Noses” formulate fragrances, and there are only around 50 qualified Noses in the world. To qualify they must apply for a course (only eligible to those who show a natural aptitude) and then study for 10 years. Noses work for various fragrance houses to create and blend – leaving ‘recipes’ for the factories to follow in producing them.

 

 

For more information visit www.fragonard.com – there are some lovely sections detailing the history of perfume and also the various techniques.

Like any good tour, we ended in the gift shop!  However this wasn’t your usual gift-shop experience. Our tour guide took us to a counter full of perfumes (cue my heart racing) and we spent a good half an hour spraying and sniffing, whilst learning how different fragrances suit different people. “This fragrance is good for blondes” the guide asserted… how does that work??

The make-up of our skin is different according to our colouring and our skin reacts differently to the different families of scent. Meaning the same perfume can smell totally different from person to person.

The best part about visiting Fragonard (& Grasse in general) is that you are able to buy quality perfumes direct from the factory, at a fraction of the usual retail cost. They maintain the importance of the fragrance itself rather than the packaging. You really feel like you are getting down to the true nature of a perfume, completely unaffected by its branding or supposed fashion-status. If you have a good nose you might even be able to decipher familiar scents that usually appear under luxury brand names.

Their Parfum comes in simple gold bottles - specially designed to keep the scents ‘good’ for 7 years. I am the type of person who could literally stand in a perfume department for HOURS smelling everything so I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I was to be let loose in there! It goes without saying that I came away with quite a few to add to my collection and I pretty much had to be dragged out on my heels.

For anyone visiting the French Riviera I would definitely recommend you take a trip to Grasse and experience the true essence of fragrance. If you weren’t obsessed before, you will be after.