A few months ago, niche brand Juliette Has A Gun added scented candles to their line-up. Instead of creating wax interpretations of their current EDPs, they created three new “concept” scents. In true Juliette Has A Gun fashion, these candles attempt to be edgy and broody. The overall vibe and candle names/concepts reminds me of teenage angst. Together they are all very Marilyn Manson-ish. But, I’m not saying that is a bad thing!
OK, I haven’t burned any of these candles because I don’t own them, but I have had numerous opportunities to sniff them. I’m including my impressions of the scents, my quick notes. I can’t comment on how they burn or how much they throw. If you have any of these candles, please comment. I want to know how they burn. Are they worth the price tag?
Mary Jane – Yep, this is hash scented: green and smoky. It reminds me of those “Marijuana” incense sticks that used to be sold at record shops like Tower or even in goofy places like Spencer’s next to 311 posters and black lights when I was 14. Now you can get those novelty incense sticks in candle form. Or you can wait until summer and hang out on my deck. Unfortunately, my entire neighborhood smells like weed smoke. Why? Kids drive up in their Civics on a Friday night and smoke weed in the synagogue parking lot that is known as my backyard. You darn kids!
Lucifer – This one smells like a fire place, smoldering ashes, a simmering campfire. You get it. That’s what it smells like. This is very comforting to me. My house has a wood burning fireplace and I have a chiminea (hate that word). And I still like Lucifer the best out the trio.
Marilyn – This one is made to smell like vintage cosmetics, a tribute to the icon Marilyn Monroe, not Marilyn Manson. This is a nice fragrance, not my favorite from the three, but it’s nice. I thought this would be my favorite, but it isn’t. My house already smells like cosmetics 🙂 Marilyn is a delicate blend of waxy rose and powdery violet. Annick Goutal has a similar candle, La Sac de ma Mère, which I like better because it has a leather note.
Each candle burns for about 50 hours and retail for $58. JHaG candles are available at Candles Off Main.
I tried the Lucifer candle and I love it. It’s nice to find a campfire candle that focuses on the smoky smell without going overboard with wood notes or wet ashes. I burned it and while it burned well, definitely give it a long burn time the first go around to avoid tunneling. I love the silver container with the story on the front.
Mary Jane is a very raw hash scent for me. I haven’t burned it yet but the cold though is unadulterated unlike the Jonathan Adler Hashish candle (more sweet) http://www.candlesoffmain.com/jonathan-adler-hashish-candle.aspx or the Modern Alchemy Opium Den candle (more tobacco) http://www.candlesoffmain.com/modern-alchemy-opium-den.aspx. Mary Jane is Dave’s favorite of the 3 and he’s anxious to try it. He loves Opium Den so we’ll see how it compares.
I thought your comment about the Marilyn candle was funny. This is the first cosmetic/lipstick candle I’ve smelled, and I don’t have a lot of cosmetics in my house, so for me this is a fun scent. I haven’t tried this one yet, either, though. I a little too girly for me but I think it would probably be very nice burning. I need to expand my horizons and give it a try.
The candle we tried burned cleanly and easily and was moderately fragrant.
I’m still battling with myself if I want to buy one of these. I think my next candle purchase will be Aura line.
Lucifer is good. I think I want to burn it in the summer for the nostalgia.
The more time I spend with Mary Jane, the more I like it. Like you said, it isn’t sweet or “dolled” up.
Marilyn – I see this being the most popular out of the trio. People love this sort of thing. For me, it’s a very day to day smell. I have a cosmetic problem 🙂 I’d rather take the $60 and buy a powder & lipstick.
Now that I’ve gotten wax samples of Mary Jane and Lucifer from Sue, I can safely say I WANT, I NEED. But, they are a lot of money, and if I’m going to spend that much, I might opt for Diptyque. Not sure. I still need to try Marilyn, but I don’t think it will be my favorite.
Carrie Meredith recently posted..Indulgence- what does it mean to you and a draw
I really do like these, I don’t know, it’s the price. I could get two Aura candles for this price. But, these smell really good.
Mary Jane is growing on me. If I buy one, that may be it. The deal with Marilyn is that it is nice, but if I was going for that sort of thing, I’d buy Diptyque Violette.
I’m totally obsessed with Aura Cosmic (blood orange/vanilla) right now. I also have Luscious on the way, and I have Obscure too, which is very nice. But Cosmic, it’s drool-worthy. I want to smell it all the time, and it’s a good-size candle and lasts awhile. It does make it harder to justify buying a JHaG candle when you know you can get an Aura, Voluspa or Votivo candle instead.
Carrie Meredith recently posted..Indulgence- what does it mean to you and a draw
So Cosmic is good? That is next on my list. I have Luscious and it is so luscious. I’m sad because I dropped it and it shattered like crazy. I haven’t broken a fragrance product in years so, it was bound to happen. It just pissed me off because it is one of my favorite candles ever and I had to throw it out 🙁
Yikes! I’d be pissed too. Yes, I love Cosmic so much and couldn’t recommend it enough. Obsessing.
Carrie Meredith recently posted..Indulgence- what does it mean to you and a draw
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