Stop saving things for ‘special occasions’. Now is the time to light that fancy candle

If self-isolation isn’t the time to light the fancy candle, when is?

I’ve lit the good Jo Loves Pomelo candle to write this and I’m breathing deeper to get the full effects of it.

What are you currently hoarding “for good” in your life?

Things I’m saving “for good” are all around me, a permanent sign that I’ve not allowed myself a moment of celebration since their procurement. Based on my bathroom cabinet alone, there’s the Image Skincare face mask I’m waiting to wear on a lazy day, the fancy Jasmine and Sun Rose Molton Brown shower gel for when I decide I am special enough for a fancy shower and the Emma Hardie cleansing balm and muslin cloth that was so luxurious and wonderful to use the first time I tried it that I have defied myself another go of its rich lemon fragrance and velvety skin until “I deserve it”. Had I the ability, I would like to write lengthy, romantic poetry to Emma Hardie’s Moringa Cleansing Balm.

While there are too many fragrances to remain monogamous to a signature scent, I deny myself the bottle of Chanel on my bedroom vanity every day. I’ve worn it on two important occasions. If you catch a whiff of Chanel Gabrielle off me, run for cover. My home is a shrine to candles too costly for me to light of an ordinary Tuesday. I’ve never worn my Louboutin So Kate’s. I am mortified to admit that. I’ve saved them for an occasion when I felt special enough to be the kind of woman to wear So Kate’s. I haven’t granted myself that opportunity in four years of weddings, nights out with the girls or IMAGE events.

Aside from this being completely wasteful, every time you deny yourself the use of the good cutlery, a wear of your best jumper and go for the cheap bottle instead of the posh stuff that you’re waiting to open for “when you have guests over”, you are sending yourself a signal that you are not enough. You are telling yourself you are not deserving of the pleasure of something lovely, that there is a better, more deserving, refined version of you waiting to use the Anne Semonin’s Express Radiance Eye Cream Ice Cubes that have been in the freezer for two years.

You are alive today, and stuck at home for who knows how long. Try out pink hair if you want to. Wear the face mask tonight while you make the dinner. Don’t let the good pyjamas gather dust. Don’t let the €50 Diptyque Baies go off.

In the words of William Saroyan, “try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.”

Candle scents and fragrances expire, you know. Things are bad enough without finding out the bloody Jo Malone candle has gone off. Light the good candles tonight, spray the Chanel, eat the banana bread you made to kill time off of the good plates with the fancy cutlery, open the fancy bottle you’ve been hoarding and breathe deep. You deserve to enjoy them.

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