I feel like I haven’t sat down and just talked to you on camera in forever, so this video is intentionally unfiltered and more “chatty.” I’m unboxing and smelling the rest of CandleScience’s Blending Elements line—eight scents that are marketed as “one note” fragrances. With my perfumery background (and my chemistry brain always running), I’ll be honest: most “one note” scents are still built as accords. But the concept is still super useful for blending because you don’t always want something overly complex when you’re building formulas. I go through Fig Leaf, Apple, Honey, Tomato Vine, Black Currant, Labdanum, Rose, and Arugula, and I rank them at the end. Fig Leaf is basically a Diptyque Figuier dupe—clean, earthy, upscale, and an exceptional blender. Apple is crisp and sweet like a mix of multiple apples. Honey is straight-up dark, rich honey. Tomato Vine leans a bit citronella/bug-spray to my nose (I prefer their Tomato Leaf), and Black Currant reads a little artificial black-cherry/kids-section to me (I’d pick Black Currant & Jasmine instead). My #1 by far is Labdanum—don’t sleep on it. It’s luxe, suede/leathery, complex, and honestly smells like something Le Labo or Tom Ford would put out. I also share a quick life update about recovering from surgery complications and trying to balance health, school, and running my business full-time.