Cire Trudon: Waxing Lyrical

Each one of Ramdane Touhami’s new aromas for Cire Trudon is a passport. The earthy “Balmoral” candle, for example, with its notes of damp moss and peat, conjures up the misty romance of the Queen of England’s Scottish estate, while “Manon” brings to mind the clean, floral smells of French laundries. Having been called in to shake up the more than 300-year-old brand in 2003, Touhami now works with professional noses to recreate these fragrances, many of which reflect specific experiences tied to a place. Established in 1643 as Maison Trudon (named after its founder, Claude Trudon), the company was soon favored by royals and clergymen, who fell for the brand’s closely guarded wax recipe (a secret blend of palm oil, rice, soy and coprah). Touhami has reinvigorated the brand by taking it back to its roots, resurrecting the original name and logo (the company was renamed Cire in 1884) and revamping the brand’s Paris stores, which now evoke a 19th-century apothecary with bell jars, wood counters and antique wallpaper; New York gets its first Cire Trudon store this October. The latest additions to the Cire Trudon line are baroque in their ambition: intricate wax-bust candles based on watercolors by Thomas Gainsborough and drawings by Elizabeth Vigée le Brun, pillar candles embossed with cameos, and perfumed “stink bombs”—a fragrant take on every mischievous child’s weapon of choice.