I have been burning two Jonathan Ward candles at home: Mistigris and Fig Ultimatum. I have also had the opportunity to see exactly how these hand-poured candles are created. And some very particular qualities have pushed them to the top of my list of favourite candles.
One of the most rewarding aspects of reviewing products is the opportunity to see manufacturing and creative processes. I come away from such experiences with a deeper understanding and heightened appreciation for the brands that have confidence enough in what they are doing and how they are doing it to let you see ‘inside’.
You can smell Jonathan Ward’s studio as you sashay down the walkway towards it. I think he must be popular with the neighbours for the gorgeous scent alone, but happily, he’s also a charming individual, full of enthusiasm and passion for his work, a solicitous host and a good teacher.
The workspace is small with an office/salon at the front and a factory room at the back. It’s a nice metaphor for the Jonathan Ward candles themselves: the office/salon is simply, but beautifully kitted out with boxed candles lining a wall and a gorgeous mid-century sideboard that draws envious coos from me – it speaks to the aesthetic sensibility that makes Jonathan Ward candles as beautiful to gaze at as to smell.
The brightly lit, clean and organised factory is where the meticulous hard work of creating candles to the highest possible standard is carried out. And where I (who scraped a pass in Biology GCE, failed Chemistry, wasn’t even able to approach Physics, was banned from Art and the despair of Needlework) will be attempting to make my very own Jonathan Ward candle in Fig Ultimatum.
The making of the Jonathan Ward candle
Each Jonathan Ward candle is housed in a fluted crystal double Old-Fashioned whisky tumbler. These are hand-made in Italy to the highest specification, to be repurposed after you have exhausted the candle within. This is essential to Jonathan Ward’s intention of creating ‘truly reusable’ homeware.
These glasses are exactly the kind of gentlemanly tumblers one imagines being handed by an old roué who is enticing you to allow him to set you up with ‘a nice little flat in town’. Much as I love them, they are not something I would normally treat myself to so I’m delighted to be able to repurpose them once the candles have finally burnt out.
The boxes that house the Privé and Scent of Time collections please me no end for similar reasons. They are simple and strong, but when you look closer and touch, both design and texture are very complex. The rich plum/purple palette accented with gold, graded in depth of colour from the bottom of the boxes to the top; the grained texture of the paper beneath the fingertips; the embossed monogram and the Deco style fragrance signature: all of it speaks to an attention to detail, a precision and a determination to have every aspect excellent.
Sustainability and thoughtful, conscientious design
The commitment to responsible and sustainable work shown in the intentional repurposing of the glass carries through every aspect of production. Each candle is hand-poured using a proprietary blend of organic coconut oil, organic English beeswax and organic vegetable wax – certified Organic by the Soil Association. The double cotton wick are ‘dipped’ into the wax and left to set in place (not glued to the base of the glass) making for a cleaner, even burn with no black smudges appearing on the glass.
Innovative and economical
Jonathan Ward has developed a technique called ‘continuous burn’ which allows his candles to burn safely for long periods of time, and with each candle having a total burn time of 40-45 hours, this is an aspect that I adore. I’m accustomed to fancy candles advising me not to burn them for more than two to three hours at a time, and equally accustomed to feeling that I can’t afford to burn them for any longer even if it were safe to do so! It feels decadent in the best way to break the limits, and very economically satisfying to note that even after burning for a whole working day, I have plenty of candle left for the morrow.
The fragrances
When you write for the luxury market you quickly become accustomed to writing candle reviews. So this is the first time in many years that I have found myself challenged, because these Jonathan Ward candles are unlike any I have had the pleasure of writing about before. The fragrances defy glib and easy description, and I have had to think, very hard and for a very long time, about how best to capture their subtlety and sophistication.
It’s daunting. They are paradoxical.
If I tell you that these candles defy the easy ‘flick a switch’ impact that can effect your mood, bringing freshness, seduction, cleanliness, or florals to a space, will it put you off? Because they certainly are mood-enhancing and uplifting, but not easily categorised, nor (thankfully) prescriptive in that ‘feeling down? try jasmine!’ sense.
Over the weeks that I have lived with both Mistigris and Fig Ultimatum, each candle has consistently delivered fragrance that is never too heady or over-powering, and yet has never faded into mere background ambience. I’ve been alert, aware and loving every molecule of each burn.
I like to use my candle collection in pick and mix fashion, chopping and changing according to the weather, the time of day, the task at hand and my mood. But I have used Mistigris and Fig Ultimatum exclusively, and never once felt that either isn’t exactly what I wanted in the moment.
The more I have explored both and bent my will to puzzling out just what makes them so special, the more frustrated I have become! I have realised that candles for me perform much the same role as music in amplifying my mood, or changing my mood; in setting an intention, or in returning me to a moment in the past. I have certain songs that I can rely on to help me capture emotion and specific memory; songs that I turn to for help when writing fiction, as they pin down feeling like a butterfly on a board – and I have candles and perfumes that perform the same function.
But there are certain artists and certain songs that I cannot use in that way. I can throw a dart at almost the entire oeuvre of Serge Gainsbourg and know that whatever starts to play will be perfect in that moment – whatever it is, whatever I am doing, whatever I am feeling. These Jonathan Ward candles seem to hit the same sweet spot. Just as sometimes I might focus on the melancholy in Serge’s vocal, at other times on the instrumentation, I am always engaged, always intrigued, often surprised. So it is for me with Mistigris and Fig Ultimatum.
Mistigris is one of seven candles available in The Scent of Time collection, inspired by historical figures.
Mistigris is inspired by Mata Hari, the Dutch woman whose name became a synonym for a femme fatale, and who was executed in World War I as a double agent – a charge she fiercely denied.* Jonathan Ward does not dwell on Hari’s tragic end but celebrates an earlier period of her life; imagining her ‘slinking into her cousin’s casino in the hills of Monte Carlo … the Jack of Clubs placed face down, painted nail hovers above.’ Mistigris is described as ‘an arial charge of wildcard luck. Spiced and smoked pheromone floral’ and realised with top notes of Bergamot and White Grapefruit; a heart of Carnation, Carrot Seed and Pink Pepper, and a base of Amber, Myhrr and Tonka Bean.
For me, Mistigris is a gentle kiss on the mouth, but with a sharp nip to the lower lip – I find it a deeply comforting fragrance but with an elusive, wild undercurrent. I might like to have Mistigris burning at my funeral and I certainly want to enjoy this fragrance for the rest of my time here on earth.
Fig Ultimatum is one of three candles that comprise the Privé collection: the three most popular fragrances from Jonathan Ward’s original collection.
It was inspired by Jonathan Ward’s desire to reinterpret fig, a scent that had become so popular that it had ceased to surprise and become almost generic and encapsulates ‘a moment when sunshine has been dazzling the soft, waxy, leather-like textured outer skin for weeks, injecting radiant warmth into its luscious heart’. Top notes of Cassis, Purple Fig and Ginger; a heart of Date Patchouli and Sandalwood, and a base of Amber, Iris and Musk.
Fig Ultimatum has been my saviour in the recent heatwave. It might seem counter-intuitive to burn a candle when the temperature is scorching, but the relief that this particular fig provides has been like water in the desert.
Excellent and Inimitable
I hope that I have enumerated all the reasons that I believe these candles are truly excellent – I have realised that I have been stress testing them to some extent, probing and pushing to find anything to critique. I just can’t. To me, they are simply flawless.
And it is for this reason, that I fervently hope that they also prove to be inimitable.
I really dislike ‘dupe’ culture. Nothing frustrates me more than to see innovative, creative, and valuable work ripped off and copy-catted. It saddens and enrages me beyond measure when the result of this reductive plunder drives good people’s businesses under, just to turn a few bob for larger corporates and other unscrupulous operators. So, I really hope there are no vultures out there attempting to reverse engineer Jonathan Ward candles, and I hope that if they do try, they will fail. I don’t think you can reverse engineer the obvious passion, original thinking and commitment to perfection that makes these candles so special.
Affordable Luxury
Both Mistigris and Fig Ultimatum have an RRP of £40 for 265g. This compares very favourably to mass market candle favourites such as Diptyque and Jo Malone, and is an absolute bargain compared to Lalique candles (which until encountering Jonathan Ward candles were at the top of my favourites list, just to give you context). I think this is a remarkably affordable price-point for a hand made product. It works out to about £1 per hour of burning, and for me, lying on the sofa luxuriating in these fragrances for an hour is as relaxing as a massage, making £1 per hour of pleasure a total bargain.
Take a look at both collections, and click on the candles that catch your eye to enjoy Jonathan Ward’s story-telling in the detailed descriptions of each one. Another hopefully inimitable aspect of this brand is the pleasure that Ward takes in conveying his thoughts and inspiration in writing.
If you enjoy Ward’s writing as much as I do, make sure to follow his instagram too for gorgeous visuals and interesting insights.
FOOTNOTE
* Mata Hari was a person of great fascination to the young me. Brought up by my grandparents, I had a set of cultural references that were those of the older generations. Granny’s friends would say I looked like Carmen Miranda, Cyd Charisse or Leslie Caron. No one told me I looked like Mata Hari.
However, my Grandfather – the storyteller in my family, who thrilled me with tales of Rob Roy, Mary Stuart and Bonnie Prince Charlie – had a wonderful story about Mara Hari. A woman so stunningly attractive, said he, ‘almost as lovely as your Granny’ that she chose to meet her firing squad wearing only her jewels and a fur coat, which she slung open as the soldiers were given the order to fire, (wrongly) confident that they would be unable to execute the command in the face of her beauty.
I loved that story so much that I would play-act it in the garden (wearing my nightgown or dress under my coat, as I was a modest child) , facing the firing squad (my rabbit, Scamp), dying bravely and beautifully again and again.
This story is clearly absolute rubbish, from start to finish. Closer interrogation suggests that Grandad was inspired to mix the glamour of Mata Hari with the comedy genius of Dave Allen and his firing squad sketches. I aspire to one day be as skilled at sparking the imagination of children as my Grandad was.
