If you read enough lady fashion magazines you start to get clued into what is the fancy thing you're supposed to want in various categories. La Mer is insanely expensive face lotion that celebrities slather on their faces like so much butter, so you should aspire to have some of that. Christian Loboutins have those red soles that everyone can see so you should want some of those. And Diptyque makes fancy little candles that celebrities like to mention by name as the thing they have to have with them in order to make their hotel rooms tolerable. Are these things good or are we just supposed to like them because magazines tell us to?
I tried a free sample of La Mer once and I couldn't tell any difference. I bought a pair of Christian Louboutins with the advance money from An Off Year and they're classic and I don't regret buying them but they're four inch heels and I'm just not about that life right now. I haven't worn them in at least two years probably. But I am currently living for these stupid little Diptyque candles I got for Christmas.
Diptyque candles, full-sized, can cost $70 apiece which is too much for me to justify in a candle--that's too much pressure to select a fragrance you know you love that much. But I saw that Diptyque now sells these little samplers and so I asked for one for Christmas--$150 for a box of 12 little candles, which breaks down to a more cost-efficient $12.50 per candle, so I asked for one for Christmas.
I'm not making money or candles off Diptyque for this post (I wish) but I have enjoyed this set so thoroughly since I got it. The candles really all smell good (although the scent of all of them together in the box will make you think twice.) They're great to light after I stink up the kitchen yet again with broccoli or garlic, and there are a few we've liked so much we're writing down the names for future reference, like "I could smell this the rest of my life and be happy" (hazelnut tree, to be precise.) And the box is pretty, too. I occasionally get ruthless about clutter in the kitchen but I like having it out on the counter because the metallic design is cool.
So if you need something to buy someone in your life whom you like enough to drop $150 of tiny fancy little candles on (even if it's yourself), treat yourself to the collection, the little occasional "Ooh, what will this one smell like?" surprise. It's really dumb, I know, but this feels like the time to embrace silly pleasures, and even for something that you burn, they're still more practical than four-inch heels.