So as I said my dandle arrived today - haven’t received the nail polish yet as it’s in a separate package (long story, had to get around customs stuff, should be here by the end of the week). I’m burning it now so I thought I’d post some thoughts as it’s really *super* interesting.
(Just gonna say I’m not the best at describing scents in a wine-tasting sort of way, sorry.)
First impression on opening the packaging was that - as Phil said - it’s strong, you do smell it right away (same as the Phildle). Which I love! I hate burning a candle and barely being able to smell it. These even fragrance the room a bit without being lit.
So the box says the scent is: black pepper, pomegranate and spices on a bed of wood.
The first thing that hit me was the spiciness, and after a few minutes of womandoingmathmeme.gif I realised it was mainly clove, i think. It’s a lot of deep scents, and mainly I find it’s a lot - sweeter than i expected? Which i think is the muskiness that Phil mentioned. It *is* very musky. (It’s also probably the *slight* fruitiness from the pomegranate.) It strikes me also as slightly smoky, in the way that teas can be - sort of wood-smoky. (But not heavily so, like it doesn’t smell like something’s on fire …ironically)
I think it might be slightly more divisive than the Phildle - I love both but I think the Phildle is probably more - pleasant? And would be appealing to more people? It’s fresh, citrusy and fruity at the same time without being overbearingly any of those things (so it isn’t cloyingly fruity, or too sweet, etc). I can see how not everyone would love this one. It is quite a heavy, peppery scent - as Phil said, really nice for cold weather/winter. I like it a lot - I used to use black pepper body wash - and I admit I’m fascinated by Phil describing it as ‘such a Dan scent’. Like, I don’t necessarily think he smells *like* the candle obviously, but the fact that the scent is very ‘him’ is just fascinating.
After half an hour-ish of burning I’m getting mainly the warm-sweet muskiness in the room, I think. And to a slightly lesser extent the clove, and the slight smokiness. It’s very appropriate for (just after) bonfire night and reminds me of being warm inside on bitterly cold, crisp nights with loads of stars visible. I *really* like it.