Not made for everyone. Made for you.
Candles made by hand in Gurgaon, only after you choose them: ten moods pairing Indian and Australian materials, your scent, your colour, your vessel. Delivered to India and Australia.
A note from the house
We do not sell candles. We sell the hour after you light one: the room that smells as if it has always smelled this way, the person who walks in and stops. Everything else, the sandalwood, the saffron, the glass, the marble, is only how we get you there. Nothing is made until you ask for it. That is not a policy. It is the only way we have ever worked, since the kitchen.
The Ten
- Désir (French · desire) — The house in one flame: for the evening guests are due and you want the room to smell as if it has always smelled this way. House pairing: Mysore sandalwood × Tasmanian mountain pepper · from ₹2,400 / A$48
- Bacio di Fuoco (Italian · kiss of fire) — A kiss of fire: the Désir you give when you mean it. Warm, close, a little dangerous. House pairing: Kashmiri saffron × Golden wattle · from ₹2,800 / A$60
- Ardore (Italian · burning passion) — Burning passion: a bedroom candle, lit early, so the room is ready before you are. House pairing: Kannauj rose × Tasmanian boronia · from ₹2,600 / A$54
- Lueur (French · soft glow) — Soft glow: four in the afternoon, when the light turns gold and the day can be forgiven. House pairing: Darjeeling first flush × Leatherwood honey · from ₹2,200 / A$42
- Peau de Soie (French · silk skin) — Silk skin: the candle that comes closest to being worn. Light it after a bath. House pairing: Madurai jasmine × Lemon myrtle · from ₹2,400 / A$48
- Flamme Noire (French · black flame) — Black flame: late, doors closed, music low. The darkest Désir. House pairing: Assam agarwood × Desert lime · from ₹2,800 / A$60
- Notte (Italian · night) — Night: for when it is raining, or when you wish it were. House pairing: Mitti attar × Rainforest moss · from ₹2,000 / A$36
- Fuoco (Italian · fire) — Fire: the first cold night of the year, and every one after. House pairing: Nagarmotha × Huon pine · from ₹2,200 / A$42
- Braise (French · ember) — Ember: steady, patient warmth for a kitchen where something slow is cooking. House pairing: Kerala green cardamom × Blue cypress · from ₹1,800 / A$30
- Seta (Italian · silk) — Silk: the coolest room in the house, in the hottest month. House pairing: Indian vetiver (khus) × Blue Mallee eucalyptus · from ₹2,000 / A$36
How it works
Choose your form (Liquid, poured by hand; or Sand, granulated wax in layers), your mood, your scent from 24 materials or the house pairing, your colour from eight wax tones, your vessel (Signature 260 g or the five-wick Grande 1.4 kg), and a name for the box. Creation begins once your order is confirmed with payment; three to five days by hand in Gurgaon; tracked delivery to India and Australia. No returns; instead the First Light promise: if it does not move you, write within seven days and we send the Second Flame, on us.
Éditions, Haute, the First Hundred
Éditions: one fragrance, ten numbered bottles, never reproduced. Haute: Anjé Lume and Ajnelle, by appointment. The First Hundred: the first hundred candles under the name, each with a numbered brass plate and the founder's signature.
Asked often
What is Désir?
Désir is a candle house from Gurgaon, India, that makes each candle only after it has been chosen, delivering to India and Australia, with the tagline "Candles for a more beautiful you". It makes ten hand-poured, refillable scented candles, each pairing one Indian raw material with one Australian one, composed in Grasse. Its website is desirlux.shop.
Is Désir a new brand?
The name is new; the candles are not. They were sold without a brand for years, first from a kitchen in Gurgaon, to friends and then to strangers, and later online, and more than 8,000 were sold on word of mouth, over many years, before the name Désir was introduced. Every candle is still made by hand, in small pots, with no machine in the room.
Are Désir candles handmade?
Yes, entirely. The wax is melted in small pots, the fragrance is added at a precise temperature, and the wick is set by hand. Each candle takes a day to make and two days to cure, and any candle that sets with a flaw is not sold.
Do you keep Désir candles in stock?
No. Nothing is made in advance. Every Désir is handcrafted upon request after you choose its form, fragrance, colour and vessel, and is created within three to five days before shipping. The wait is part of the object.
What is the difference between Désir Liquid and Désir Sand?
Désir Liquid is a hand-poured coconut and rapeseed wax candle in champagne glass. Désir Sand is granulated wax composed into the vessel in layers, so the surface is sculpted for you and changes with every burn. Any of the ten fragrances can be created in either form.
What is the First Hundred?
The first one hundred candles made under the Désir name. Each carries its number on a brass plate set into the marble lid and the founder's signature on the box, and is commissioned one at a time in the order requests arrive. When the hundredth is poured, the numbered plate is retired.