Your African-European fusion Father’s Day or any day gift and experience is on Bleeker Street with Baobab Collection’s decorative candles and more.
Each object is unique and takes you into an olfactory universe paying tribute to the imprint of the world’s cultures. -Baobab Collection motto
New York City is never late to the party. But for two decades, Europe enjoyed the Baobab Collection‘s one-of-a-kind candle creations while New Yorkers missed out. No more. In 2021, Baobab Collection flag shipped on the Upper East Side to distribute this scarce necessary addition to the luxury home goods scene. The landscape and foliage of the South of France inspired its latest fragrances as the Provence Collection, recently launched at an exclusive Secret Garden Soirée at Baobab’s newest store on Bleeker Street.
African Roots
A trip to Tanzania in the early aughts impressed the company’s founders to craft all-natural, remarkably packaged candles as art in homage to the resilient Baobab tree. The company quietly brewed a fanbase from its first stores in Belgium and across Europe, where the Baobab Collection is a household name among finer things enthusiasts. The collection is now found in 500 locations worldwide.
“It’s the luxury gift everyone wants where I’m from,” said longtime brand follower Sabine, from Belgium, at the garden party. I joined her and her friends at the good time had by all.
A Brilliant (And Charitable) Model
Baobab Collection is keen to support the Cœur Vert Foundation and its reforestation actions in Côte d’Ivoire. Until mass efforts to save them, these distinguished trees native to Africa, Australia and Madagascar were in danger of extinction due to pests and climates. To date the company, its customers and charitable proceeds have saved or planted 77,000 baobab trees.
The business’s master plan incorporated global connections and aesthetics to stand out in the crowded decorative candle market. Thus its creations depend on some mainstays: mineral wax from Germany, glass from Poland, leather from Italy, ceramics from Portugal and scents perfected in Grasse. However, the limited edition and special collections are where things get really interesting, with many vessels designed in homage to African heritage. Some vessels are hand woven by the Madagascar Collective in the country.
Now About These Candles…
Candle burn times range from 50 hours for a standard candle priced at $155 to 600 hours for a re-purposeful “Monument” size heirloom or statement art gift for $860. The 35-centimetre-tall vessels are showstoppers in all locations, waiting for you to turn them into your home or office’s statement pieces. All candles are hand-poured into glass that is hand-blown by master craftsmen, which the company calls a “statement of the soul.” This makes each vessel truly unique, the only one of its kind you can be proud to own or gift.
Current CEO Charlotte Croonenberg, a mother of four, led the transition to America through the Upper East Side store. A hit, a lower West Side location made sense to follow. You can order online, sure. However, a physical location is a certain tour stop if you don’t call the Big Apple home and a switch-up to museum or spa day if you do.
The elegance and precision of the 396 Bleeker Street boutique are unmatched, plus a quick sensory tour around the world right from Manhattan. First, expect store manager Renaud Valentine, also Head of U.S. Marketing, or another knowledgeable staff to give you a walk through the small but maximized space. You’ll blink to imagine you’ve flown to the Champs-Élysées or Morrocco Mall, epicenters of beautiful objects and unique creations unseen elsewhere in the world.
You’ll be tempted to touch and explore the offerings- candles everywhere, in vessels curated and displayed like untouchable art in a tucked away museum. They shine under tinker spotlights, catch your attention in dizzying details. Known accents and styles from all continents will strike you. You will wonder: is it Oriental, Nigerian, Turkish?
Now past the museum part, get on to the spa part. You must only lift each candle’s glass lid to smell a specialty sample patch on the underside to experience its scent. Children of a certain era will remember Willy Wonka’s promise to lucky winners into his chocolate factory: if the edible wallpaper features a raspberry, it will taste like a raspberry. Well, if the scent profile before each candle read ‘rose,’ you smell rose. If it says ‘sand,’ get ready to remember that beachfront vacation or hideaway. So on and so forth for sand, leather, plum, tonka bean and common or scarce aromas in our olfactory archives.
Tailored for You, Really
I told Renaud I’m a fan of rose, citrus and heavy perfumes for home and body. He wowed me to predict my favorite selection: the simple “Women” scent in the permanent collection. The “Gentlemen” counterpart rests on hearkens back to rum, saffron and labdanum. Another favorite we discovered was the warm, more unisex “Feathers.” Amber and spices, saffron, oud wood and black rose tickled me here. Like all, these custom blends are spread across home products such as decorative reed diffusers and in select body products including soaps. Croonenberg oversees the curation of all scents.
As I did, you will have a personalized card to note which options and scents made your mouth water or your memory jog. From it, you’ll be recommended new or classic candles and products from the collections. The “Icon” collection aligns nearly a whole wall of mainstay customer favorites in every boutique. The newest creations fall in the Provence line, including a partnership with the city of Morrocco to spotlight the city’s recognizable style and use its blown glass artists.
Clean, bright branded journals abound. So do home reed diffusers in all sizes. And rest assured, you can order scent refills to last the seasons. Nifty re-fillable candle lighters in durable leather holders are the most minimal and common items, though the sleek and discreet holder design makes them art. The store sells vessels in five sizes from sample, perfect for bathroom sink tops, to statement size, a floor model conversation piece.
The Value’s in the Vessel
“People keep the vessels for all kinds of uses and even pass them down,” said Renaud.
He pointed to what I didn’t even notice: I had plucked one of their branded pens from a candle vessel as the container for them.
“There is actual gold leaf in some designs,” Renaud continued. “So the vessel’s value goes further than the candle inside.”
This would be all for naught with most candles in a pinch from big box and drug stores. I have buried many nice, potentially re-usable candle holders in recycling bins. I switched to wax melts rather than chip remnant wax like concrete to avoid guilt to throw a cute candle vessel away. Baobab Collection’s are salvageable due to safer, non-toxic wax. The vessels clean easily because the wax melts evenly all around, staying soft enough to wipe clean.
I love heirloom gifts, things to remember and tell stories behind. You find that here.
If visiting for an event or occasion, you may wander through old New York West Village Style through the narrow hallways of the adjacent address. Go down discreet stairs to the backyard garden of the building. Fresh lavender, vivid lemon trees and more surround patio furniture for a peaceful chat or coffee break to follow your new find. Retail Director Rafael was a perfect guide into the lovely space where the Provence collection launch celebrants gathered. Fresh-baked bread, lavender trees and lemon put the Provençal countryside ambience in the Manhattan air. I’ll definitely be back and hope you visit soon.
Products retail from $50-$1000 with proceeds benefiting the Cœur Vert Foundation. The “Sacred Tree” loyalty program rewards repeat buyers in points and even birthday gifts. Follow Baobab Collection on Instagram and Pinterest @baobabcollection. Then locate a store near you.
