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for_life – :
This fragrance is truly a masterpiece & I do not throw that word around often. For me, Captured By Candlelight transports me to an English stately home in the dead of winter. Secluded in the countryside & the house quite silent, apart from the murmur of conversation from the dining room and the flicker of an open fire. I can smell the oak panelling in the room, the Christmas pudding & boozy nuances from drinks on the dining table. Sarah McCartney did say that this was the scent of an English dining room at Christmas time & she created this absolutely perfectly.
I must also commend Team Tuesdays for their amazing customer service – both of my orders have been sorted quickly, with a personal note included and also an extra sample of a fragrance thrown in for free. Super, super impressed and will be buying a bottle of this soon.
Gushing over. Get your nose on this!
radar44 – :
Captured by Candlelight.
What can I say about this beauty? I’m wearing it now while at hospital and going through quite a lot. Its helping immensely. The sheer soothing quality of this is doing me wonders. Sweet toffee, dry vanilla, cassia bark and dried fruits for an alcoholic Christmas cake. I am in awe. I hate to gush, but I adore it ever so much. Soft enough not to overwhelm, but strong enough to love and keep me strong. Amazing.
kot bajn – :
I received a sample of CbC from 4160T last winter, when I bought a FB of another of their perfumes – and promptly fell passionately in love. One of my daughters bought me a bottle for my birthday recently and I am wearing it now. I always select my SOTD the night before, spritzing a little on me and my clothes and then topping up with a couple of extra sprays when I get to work the following morning.
CbC is a lightly spiced, warm and beautiful gourmand, reminding me of sticky toffee pudding, served with a rich and creamy vanilla custard. It opens with a sweet, powerful, boozy, caramel punch and dries down quite quickly to a lightly smoked woody base; much as I love the drydown, I wish that gorgeous opening would hang around longer, as it makes me very happy. Frankly, a large Cognac is the only thing that could make me happier on a cold evening… but perfume is far better for my health.
You owe it to yourself to try CbC if you love gourmands; I doubt you’ll be disappointed. It’s an exemplary example and shows off Sarah McCartney’s (who, incidentally, is a charming correspondent) talent beautifully. I am a huge fan of hers and now have 10 or 11 perfumes from 4160 Tuesdays (a house which is definitely worth exploring), some of which are limited editions and aren’t in the database.
ETA: Having owned my bottle for over a year now, either the perfume (or my interpretation of it) has altered slightly, as I am now picking up a very light but persistent smoky note, which smells exactly like an recently extinguished match. This is NOT a criticism, because I love that smell.
miracle18 – :
This is not just another perfume… This is pure poetry! So much more than a “Christmas” scent, this tells a story of love and passion, of sadness and joy, of bittersweet memories and feelings… It’s full of paradoxes and mysteries. Its sweet, boozy and spicy top notes intermingle so harmoniously with the somehow animalic heart, leading to a wonderful base of dark, caramelized woods. To paraphrase the first line of Sylvia Plath’s “By Candlelight” mesmerizing poem, “This is winter, this is night, big love”. It’s perfect and beautiful and addictive. It’s all I want from a perfume. I’d only wish it lasted longer and had a stronger sillage… Still, full bottle worthy. Love it so much!
9/10
vskvv2007 – :
Captured by Candlelight is a majestic scent, and marks another successful gourmand/sweet foray by Sarah McCartney and 4160 Tuesdays, though I confess I’ve mostly tried sweet scents from her thus far.
CBC is inarguably a gourmand, though, conjuring the sticky toffee pudding vibe, the holiday dessert laden with sweet, bready, and spicy elements.
CBC also has some sweet booziness from the cognac, in addition to the more solid food elements of cinnamon, toffee, fruits, hazelnuts, anchored with an inedible base of oak and candle wax.
Overall the experience is sweet cinnamon/toffee pudding with a cognac vibe and some underlying woods. Very pleasant, very sweet, and rewarding it its comfort.
I confess I don’t specifically get candle wax from this but it does have a slightly waxy attribute overall and one could easily consider it similar in overall scent to a food-like candle, though I ultimately do not: it’s far closer to actual food than to a candle imitating food, and in that respect, Sarah has created a superbly realistic and fun to wear gourmand.
CBC seems to me to be a versatile cold weather scent, as I could see myself wearing it just casually around the house all the same as I could see myself wearing it on a holiday.
It’s also not heavy or dark enough that I’d totally shy away from wearing it on a summer evening, even. And perhaps it goes without say but this very true gourmand is quite unisex.
Performance-wise, it’s very good, perhaps not quite as boastful as Eau My Soul or Maxed Out but comparable. And the price point is fair, at $100/$90 for 50ml via Indiescents and Olfactif, respectively.
I certainly intend to track down a bottle of this. Really delectable stuff.
8 out of 10
barsik1 – :
Captured by Candlelight slowly captured my heart and dragged me towards it. I say slowly, because it was for me – three wearings and half of a 2.25mL sample. I’m glad I discovered I loved it by the final wearing of the half full sample given to me by a friend because otherwise I would’ve moved on.
ONLY on last application did I finally get ‘Christmas’ from it. The bitter orange rind and the dusty, smoky cloves just lashed out at me but they didn’t have claws so it was a gentle sensation. I know these aren’t listed notes and that
I’m probably making this up, but it smells of a hard fruit stewed in a liquor. and of fruit cakes, spicy and alcoholic fruit cakes. I wore it first in cold weather and that did nothing for me. Wore it a second time in 35 degree heat – was magical. Granted, I do have much colder skin than other people, maybe this was the culprit? I was a bit sad that Christmas fell in Summer here in Australia but I apparently can join my fellows in the UK and US for a cold Christmas scent, just … in the heat?
I purchased a 9mL because I didn’t want to wear it in any other seasons but Christmas – this is definitely a steamed pudding with your family and a few cats type of scent. I truly adore it.
ALEXXXANDR – :
A boozy, gently spicy and incredibly juicy Christmas pudding! In fact, it is very much like my late grandmother’s old fashioned Xmas Pud (not the rich, dense black affair you get these days, but a golden, candied thing of festive beauty).
The dry down is toffee, juicy sultanas, a whiff of brandy and glacé cherries. Unexpectedly gorgeous sweet treat!
I am saving the rest of my sample for Christmas, of course 🙂
aleksandr2868 – :
All would be grand but here comes the mutant strawberry again… so, not a love.
cvp084elipseskism – :
Beautiful fairytale fragrance! sweet and spicy notes of cinnamon bring you a delightful accent, along with the cognac is the note that I sense more! This adorable perfume transports you to those days of celebration, Christmas… serenity,sweetness but also the warmth … this fragrance is all about. Can not miss in my list,it is quite extraordinary. Great job Sarah!♥
Sillage: 8./10
Longevity: 8./10
Scent: 9.5/10
Overall: 9.5/10
Dietkhing – :
I like the scent a lot but after trying it several times I can only say that on me it turns into a skinscent after 1 hour with only little projection.
It does seem to last longer on clothes.
I was hoping based on the notes this could be a wonderful winter fragrance, if this perfume lasted longer I would consider buying it but for winter I expect a better performing perfume. The dry cold already diminishes the performance of most perfumes, I won’t be buying a full bottle but I’ll treasure my 9ml!
juliaSmail89 – :
Brandy butter on Christmas pudding and mince pie on a polished dark wood. Soft and comforting with just a slight brandy sharpness. Really quite addictive. I wish I could make it stronger. It lasts well which is just as well as I keep wanting to smell it. Good for anyone who likes slightly more sophisticated sweet food scents. I do hope they will keep producing it. It’s a rare character in the post 2006 perfume world. IMHO :).
Shuffdach – :
Very much a sweet gourmand but not overly sweet. Gorgeous stuff! Yep, definitely christmas pud in there but its not heavy and overwhelming.
Dried fruit and a swig of brandy. I paint with oils sometimes and yes, they are there in the background. This is yummy. I don’t like Christmas pud myself but this is delicious so that’s saying something. I know I am a chocaholic but I swear there is some in this. Moderate sillage and longevity.
arepleHap – :
It’s most likely medicinal of wood fillings, cinnamon, and a splash of illusionist fruit cognac. It smells allot of a wet forest hut with that wood note somehow! as the caramel and strawberries (which is the stamp of Sarah) plays the hide and seek.
This one reminds me allot of Gretel & Hansel’s witch hut, and how their eyes deceived them, to me with “Captured By Candlelight” i can sense the sweetness but i can tell it’s wood. It could be pictured as a strawberry caramel mix is melting down from the ceiling on to the walls of that hut. Harsh sweet melts.
After 20 minutes, the smell turns into the Judi Dench “Lady Mcbeth” candle scene were she wears black, as i can smell the worm atmosphere of that scene with her holding the candle.
Quite interesting.