CANDLE RETROSPECTIVE: Winter ~ MEMORIES

Winter has a very special place in my heart - it was the candle that my boyfriend was burning when we first started dating years ago.

So, let's go back go back in time to winter of 2012...

So after a few dates, it looked like he and I had something special that would lead into being both serious and exclusive. That said I started visiting his apartment more frequently. I marveled in the fact that it didn't smell like perpetual bachelorhood - sweaty feet, musty balls and frozen pizza. Definitely bonus in my eyes..and nose! However I did noticed that his apartment smelled strange and unnatural - it was something home fragrancey. Was it a room spray or something? It baffled and confounded me with each visited. Then one evening he invited me over dinner made by his expert hands. I'm seated and awaiting a scrumptious meal when he takes out a candle and lights it. It was the 2011 version of Winter. Then I look around and he had several wallflowers plugged in various outlets of the room. I finally solved the mystery of weird funk in my paramour's apartment. But then I found myself in a particularly awkward conundrum - do I patiently and politely put up with it or do I voice my dislike of this fragrance? I initially opted for patiently and politely putting up with; I am a gentleman after all and I didn't want to give off the impression that I was a bitch who thought his apartment smelled weird. Although after a couple weeks since that discovery, I simply couldn't take it anymore and I asked him as nicely and politely as I could if he could not burn the candle while I was around. He acquiesced that I could tell he was both stunned and hurt; I'd find sometime later that Winter was one of his all time favorite scents ever, if not his top favorite. Needless to say I did feel a little guilty after hearing that admission.

Fast forward to 2014. I decided to start the tradition of burning and plugging in Winter in honor of our anniversary around the same time that I first started going over to his apartment. Of course my bf was very happy about that not just because of his love for Winter but also he as just as much of a sentimental sap as I am.

It's now 2016 and I've just started burning Winter again thus continuing the tradition.

I grew from truly loathing this scent and to absolutely adoring and treasuring it. It's true, I do appreciate it's complexity and sophistication and most Slatkin era scents hold high esteem with me. But it's more than that. Winter for me is a very indulgently nostalgic scent; with every sniff, it takes me back years ago to those happy moments when my bf and I first started courting each other. Those are very special memories that I hold dear in my heart. It's remarkable and wonderful that something as simple as a candle can conjure and evoke mermories that special.