Nascent perfume brand Nomad Noé makes candles that are all about bold archetypes and fragrant storytelling. Names like Poet in Hangzhou and Muse in Wyoming written boldly on the front allude to the tales of forgotten historical figures from around the world. “We aren’t necessarily going on physical journeys now,” says co-founder Corentin Hamon, who is a veteran of LVMH, Givenchy and Penahligon’s. “But we are going on spiritual journeys.” We spoke to him about the best way to care for your candles, wherever you are.
BURN WISELY
According to Hamon, you want your wax to melt evenly so your candle burns beautifully every time you light it. One way to ensure that is to start with a high-quality wax: he uses a blend of coconut and apricot. “It’s a new alternative to paraffin and soy that has a creamy, white appearance and burns perfectly. And it’s better for the environment.” The other is to consider how long you’re burning for. “After two or three minutes you will be able to really, really smell our candles, but I think two hours is the best to fully scent a room,” he says. “And I wouldn’t go more than four hours.”
TRIM THE WICK
To help the candle wax burn evenly and avoid divots around your wick, Hamon says to trim it before you burn it, when it’s dry and the wax around it is solid. “You always want to maintain a wick between 3 to 6 mm, a quarter of an inch. Otherwise you get the hole in the middle of the candle.” A long, angled wick trimmer makes this task easy (and is a great gift for candle lovers), but if you don’t have one, you can use a scissor. “The wick should always be upright, not to the left or right,” he adds.
TOP IT & REUSE
Each Nomad Noé candle comes with a vibrantly-colored lid. Placing it on top of the candle when it’s not in use helps keep dust off the wax. And once it’s fully burned, the bisque porcelain vessels can be reused for plants, pencils, makeup brushes or matchbooks to light the next fire.