Fab Find of the Week: AJA Botanicals
We’ve lately gotten to know the four candles created for Tilly Wood’s AJA Botanicals brand very well. They’ve been flickering on Jo’s desk since she got a sneaky preview in August, never failing to elicit the comment: ‘What’s that gorgeous smell?’, as visitors ascend the stairs.
A passionate advocate of all things natural and organic, Tilly has clearly worked really hard on this collection, to utterly beautiful effect. The base of coconut, soy and beeswax makes for an ultra-clean burn, without smoking or indoor pollution. (Though we do always trim our wicks with all candles, before use, and these are no exception.)
There are four different fragrances, which we’re hard-pressed to favourite because they’re all fab, based on natural, aromatherapeutic oils.
INTO THE MYSTIC Fancy a spot of forest bathing? This is wonderfully grounding and centreing, perfect for times of stress or for when you’ve been cooped up. It has a real forest floor beauty, with oils of lavender, oakmoss, cedarwood and green, green galbanum. Shop INTO THE MYSTIC here.
HELLO I LOVE YOU Remember those Timotei ads where beautiful young women frolicked in meadows…? This has a bit of that vibe, blending summery flower scents (geranium, jasmine), with bergamot for even more brighteness, and a touch of frankincense and cedarwood, to tether it. Shop HELLO I LOVE YOU here.
DREAMS We like Tilly’s description, here – and heartily concur. DREAMS is for long, hot baths, for yoga, and for lighting in the kitchen in the morning. When you de-stress, you see solutions, so this is a candle for clearing the mind, or for transporting you almost to an other-worldly plane.’ Angelica, fir needle, fragonia and spikenard are the essential oils that will transport you, via this candle. Shop DREAMS here.
WALK ON THE WILD SIDE OK, so if we were FORCED to choose one (above)… It’d probably be this wonderfully ‘unwinding’ blend, with lots of soft-buffed leather and smoke, thanks to ingredients including labdanum, cade and oakmoss. A definite Friday night choice – just add a supper jazz soundtrack, and chill.
We really like the fact you can choose the look of each candle to match your décor, too: light, bright and white, or moody black, both hand-blown glass. And there are several different size options, from a votive (burn time, an impressive 15 hours) through to the three-wick candle (burn time 50 hours); the votives are a great intro to get your scent choice right, of course. Reed diffusers are available, meanwhile, if you don’t like to light candles. (Many landlords actually ban this, we know – and mums often like to avoid naked flames with kids around.)
However you enjoy it, the whole AJA Botanicals collection is flickeringly fabulous.
Votive candle/£29 for 75g
Single wick candle/£80 for 250g
Triple wick candle/£125 for 525g
Diffuser/£90 for 150ml
LOOK OUT FOR TILLY’S UPCOMING 7 SECRETS OF BEAUTY & WELLBEING
