Cacao Nocturne Candle

Light this one late, in the part of the evening when you've stopped checking the time.

At first it reads as a gourmand: chocolate, dark and velvety and not very sweet, lifted with a little violet and bergamot. Then something shifts underneath it. Aged rum, warm amber, oud and sandalwood rising slowly from below, and it turns into something with the depth of a fine fragrance.

Warm, a little sensual, and just mysterious enough.

WHAT YOU'LL SMELL

• First: dark chocolate, velvety and barely sweet, lifted with violet and bergamot.
• Then: aged rum, vanilla and orris.
• Underneath: oud, sandalwood, amber.

WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT

• Poured by hand in small batches: made in Brooklyn, a few at a time.
• Soy and coconut wax: a vegan blend, with no paraffin.
• Clean fragrance: no phthalates, and nothing on the California Prop 65 list.
• A jar worth keeping: amber glass with a lid, shaped like a little pumpkin. Wash it out when the candle is done and it is yours to use.

HOW TO BURN IT

1. Take the lid off and set the candle on a heat-resistant surface, away from drafts.
2. On the first burn, let the wax melt all the way to the edge of the jar. It takes about 2 to 3 hours, and it is what stops the candle tunnelling later.
3. Trim the wick to 1/4 inch before every lighting, and burn no longer than 4 hours at a time.