A candle with its recipe on the label.

How to read the notes

A well-made scented candle is composed like a perfume, in three layers — the fragrance notes. Sharon writes them out on each candle so you know what you're choosing:

• Top notes — the first impression, the moment the flame catches. Bright and quick: citrus, green leaves, fresh-cut stems.
• Heart notes — the character of the candle, the part that fills the room once it's burning. This is where the flowers live: peony, rose, jasmine, tuberose, the smell of the garden she paints.
• Base notes — the depth that lingers, on the air and in the wax, after the candle is out. Woods, amber, musk, vanilla; the warmth underneath.

Read the three together and you can smell the candle before you light it. It's the same way she thinks about a painting — the bright thing that catches the eye, the color that holds the canvas, the ground that everything sits on.

Flowers, and the feeling of a room

Sharon Lynch paints flowers — peonies, roses, hydrangeas, tulips, wisteria — from a conviction that they do something to the people who live with them. Her paintings, she says, create "the vibration of Love and Beauty through the Language of Flowers." The candles come from the same place: each one is built around a flower or a garden from her work, so the scent in the room and the painting on the wall are telling the same story. Light one and the room changes; that's the whole intention.

Choosing one

• For a room you relax in, look for heart notes of soft florals and base notes of woods and amber.
• For a kitchen or an entry, brighter top notes — citrus, green — that greet people at the door.
• For a bedroom, the quieter florals with a warm, low base.
• For a gift, choose by the recipient's flower. Everyone has one.

Or come in, read the labels, and let your nose decide. The boutique keeps the whole line, and we'll tell you honestly which ones we burn at home.

Gifts, client gifts and standing orders

A candle with its notes on the label is a considered gift — it says you thought about the person, not just the occasion. Designers, realtors and attorneys use the line for closings, installations and thank-yous, and we'll set up a standing order so there's always a box ready. We ship anywhere in the country. Gifts · for the trade.

Burning it well

• Let the first burn go long enough for the melted wax to reach the edge of the vessel — it prevents tunneling for the life of the candle.
• Trim the wick short before each lighting, and keep it out of drafts.
• Two to three hours at a time is plenty; the fragrance carries further than you'd think.
• Keep the vessel afterwards. They tend to be worth keeping.