Moonlit Woods | A Perfect Candle for Gifting

The guy at the counter packing my candle, opened the lid without my permission and took a whiff. "Great pick," he said with the kind of authenticity that punches through the usual veiled and perfunctory pleasantries one comes to associate with American customer service. He was right of course. This one was a beauty.

Moonlit Woods by Candle Studios, under the umbrella of the LeoBen company, is composed of Saffron, Heady Jasmine at the top. (Wait, Heady Jasmine, wasn't she in a Bond film from the 70s?) Amberwood and Ambergris in the middle, and Fir Resin and Cedarwood in the base.

The bottle has a pronounced cap, almost like a London postbox only in black. And much smaller of course.

It packs a herbaceous punch. A hangover of Spring. I wished I cracked it open in late April but we are where we are.

I want to know if Ambergris is illegal. I've seen the film Hannibal, I thought it was illegal. Well just did a check, the trade of ambergris is illegal under endangered species legislation in the United States, as sperm whales are a protected species, according to HowStuffWorks.

So not sure what these guys are doing, sticking or advertising Ambergris in this candle. Maybe that's why you can't find this candle anywhere online and only exclusively in Marshalls.

Or perhaps it's a pilot edition. A prototype that never made it to full production as there is a no #001 on the label. Could be worth some money someday.

Overall, this feels like an out-of-season candle. Perhaps a decent gift for a friend who knows nothing about candles. I'm convinced that Heady Jasmine would have been a better name than Moonlit Woods.

Moonlit Woods sounds like James Woods and Gyweneth Paltrow got together and crapped out a kid. Is that 300 words yet? Great.