Globetrotting with Glasshouse: France & French Polynesia

Australian scent specialists Glasshouse Fragrances have been making the exotic for the everyday since 2006. Creating everything from candles and diffusers, to eau de parfum, hand, body & bath lotions, their collections are always beautifully packaged and proportioned to suit any room you wish to revitalise. 

And whilst travelling abroad is tempting (especially given the amount of time we’ve been hunkered down for over the past few years), it can also be expensive and exhausting. An alternative is to create the feeling of a holiday at home, which has many perks. Think of getting the glitz and glamour without the hustle and bustle, the fragrance of a foreign land without the long-haul flight.

From the stunning South of France coastline to the volcanic islands of French Polynesia, Glasshouse Fragrance’s range of city inspired scents are an alluring, aromatic insight into some of the world’s most popular and picturesque places. A sweet-smelling snapshot of France and the South Pacific, the below collection is sure to have you saying oui, oui, mon ami!

So, before you fly off into an overseas sunset for real, let your nose take you there first…

Marseille

France is best known for its cosmopolitan capital, Paris, but almost 900km away is an equally iconic area: The French Riviera. A privileged playground for the wealthy, it’s a stunning place to bake on the beach or sightsee aboard a superyacht in the hot Mediterranean sun. Located west and encircled by limestone hills, cliffs and coves, Marseille is France's second largest city and the biggest and busiest port for freight, commerce and cruise ships.

Once a central location for Greek colonisation and the French Revolution, Marseille is now a tourist town packed with boutiques, bars, and cafe culture, alongside ye olde village charm and religious monuments. From bocce and bouillabaisse, to the bell tower of the basilica - Notre Dame De La Garde - it’s a city famous for many much loved exports too, including tarot cards, soap and seafood. 

A compelling collision of these chic city streets and craggy coastlines, the Glasshouse Fragrance Marseille Memoir triple scented soy candle (60g or 380g) is like a warm, la bise welcome to the sun-kissed South of France. It’s fruity top notes of wrinkle-rind Casaba Melon and Apple Blossom flowers will give you European summer vibes, whilst herbal undercurrents of Cardamom, Carnation, Clove, Incense and Gardenia will ground you in some spicy Côte d'Azur grandeur and grit. 

If a candle alone is not enough, Glasshouse have extended the Marseille Memoir scent across a number of other products too, including a fragrance diffuser, an Aloe vera and Vitamin E enriched hand wash and gift set which contains the skin softening duo of 1 x 450ml hand wash and 1 x 100ml hand cream.

Taha’a

In the most picturesque part of French Polynesia, amongst the Society Islands archipelago, floats the flower-shaped island of Taha’a. A Pacific Ocean oasis with a population of just over 5,000, Taha’a is a tiny Tahitian territory that relies heavily on holidaymakers and local vanilla plantations, pearl farming and fishing enterprises.

The landscape is lush and beautiful, boasting white-sand beaches and coral reef gardens under aquamarine water. It’s the perfect place to snorkel and hike, or simply just to sit back and enjoy a South Pacific sunrise and sunset.

Glasshouse’s always in-demand Tahaa Affair candle (60g or 380g) has bottled the essence of island life with ease. A perfume strongly associated with pajama wear giant Peter Alexander because it’s burned in every store Australia wide, it’s a scent that balances a sense of luxury with laid-backness. Infused with unmistakably tart and tropical ingredients - juicy Pineapple, creamy Coconut and Caramel, and of course, Vanilla - it’s both decadent and tranquil, much like the island itself. 

You can also go down the longer lasting, slow release route with a diffuser if you’d prefer to bask in the ambrosian ambience (plus replacement stems) for up to three months.

Bora-Bora

A next-door neighbour to Taha’a, Bora-Bora is a living, breathing picture postcard. All palm tree lined with moss green peaks and thatched roof bungalows suspended above turquoise blue lagoons, this is the image you conjure up when you think of French Polynesia and the South Sea.

It gained popularity with westerners in the 1960s, most notably after being the setting for the famous Marlon Brando film ‘Mutiny on The Bounty’. Since then it’s become a fashionable honeymoon destination for newlyweds and a favoured spot for water sport enthusiasts and thrill-seekers, offering up everything from diving, paddle boarding and kitesurfing to jet skiing and shark & stingray feeding. 

The Bora Bora Bungalow candle (380g) from Glasshouse is bliss in a glass bottle. Just close your eyes and you’ll drift away to a sun-dappled, waterside daydream of paradise. It blends all the fragrant flavours of an apéritif or summer spritz, with the herb-like and citrus-y scent of Cilantro Leaves, Orange Zest, full-bodied Orange Blossom and tangy Tangerine (aka Clementine) as heavily featured top and middle notes. And base notes of gum-like Galbanum Resin and the subtle sweetness of Vanilla Bean really drive home the island gateway vibes.

Glasshouse have also made this signature Bora-Bora scent in reed diffuser form, so you can make the flavours and fragrances of French Polynesia linger for a lot longer.

Don’t forget to explore our full range of Glasshouse scented candles, diffusers and more, and give our other blogs about their Italy & Greece and The Americas inspired collections a read too.