If you’ve read even a tiny selection of my articles on this blog, you probably know I adore benzoin. My love affair with benzoin began with incense. Long ago, I bought benzoin-scented incense cones from a company that supplied incense to churches, and I enjoyed the benzoin fragrance so much I purchased Siam benzoin “tears” (appropriately named since a wounded tree produces the scented resin). I still heat benzoin tears in little tin cups on an electric burner to release their smoky-sweet aroma throughout my house.
Diptyque’s Benjoin candle is strongly scented; even its empty box (a month after purchase) is perfuming a large closet in my bedroom. Diptyque Benjoin is a simple benzoin perfume; it reminds me of Papier d’Arménie, and it also brings to mind Guerlain Bois d’Arménie (but with less complexity, of course). Unlit, Benjoin smells like vanilla bean liqueur aged in old wooden casks…
From Diptyque’s Holiday 2009 collection, the (gorgeous) Benjoin candle: “Its smokey note of benzoin gives off a mysterious yet warm and cozy aroma.” The design is inspired by 