As a London native, it is always great to find brands that are based in the centre of the universe (ie London). Jonathan Ward produce the candles in south London – a stones throw from where I live. Jonathan Ward have a small but exquisitely blended range of candles which draw their inspiration from nature, history and food. The attention to detail in every single part of the range from the outer packaging, the glass chosen for the candle and the fragrance itself position this brand as a artisan range. As much as I love the simple sophistication of the monochromatic packaging of some ranges, the fact that every fragrance has a different colour scheme to stimulate the visual impact of the candle in the room is appealing to me.
It is no surprise that I would be drawn to the purple of the Fig Ultimatum packaging but a quick whiff of the contents and I was absolutely hooked – and that was before I saw the purple Italian glass inside. It is a misrepresentation to call the blend a fruity floral. In the most basic terms it is, as there is iris with fig in the blend. There is sweetness from the honey that is not sickly sweet, cut slightly by the warmth and slight sharpness of the cognac note and peat amber and sandalwood in the base of the fragrance give it a robustness that takes it from being gender specific to just being an amazing home fragrance. I do not consider this to be a boudoir fragrance, although both The Mister and I loved it. It is definitely a living room fragrance and was a pretty good pampering bath time fragrance too.
This is a double wick candle and the throw of fragrance in amazing. Within about fifteen minutes the room is starting to gently pick up the fragrance and the yellow flame glows purple as the candle burns. The evenness of the burn is one of the best that I have seen even when placed in a draughty corner of a large room.
I love this candle and am looking forward to discovering other candles in this range and I have a feeling that Fig Ultimatum is the fig home fragrance that all other home fragrances will be required to live up to!