Ikea has collaborated with Byredo on an affordable candle collection with prices starting at £5

Swedish candlemaker Byredo normally sells its products for around £57

Sophie Gallagher
Monday 19 October 2020 14:36 BST
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(Byredo)

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Ikea and Byredo have launched a candle collaboration, named Osynlig, with products starting from as little as £5.

Candle lovers will know that luxury Swedish candlemaker Byredo normally sells its products for around £57, but their latest project with fellow Scandi-brand Ikea, is much more accessible.

The Osynlig collection, which means “invisible” in Swedish, is a limited-edition range of candles designed to “provoke emotions that are hard to put into words”.

Ben Gorham, founder of Byredo, was the driving force behind the new line, which comprises 13 scents; including pomegranate and amber, basil and mint, peach blossom and bamboo, swedish birch and juniper and tobacco and honey. 

The scents are divided into three different bases - fresh, floral, and woody - and use the same raw ingredients as other Byredo candles.

The candles vary in price from £5 for a fig and cypress candle (measuring 7 by 8cm) up to £25 for a 11 by 21cm style. There are other sizes retailing for a more affordable £9.

Byredo candles normally come in monochrome black glass pots, with white labels, but the Ikea collaboration uses colourful hand-formed ceramic pots that “represent [the] ingredients”.

The pots can be reused once the candle is finished, to store small things or decorate your home.

The collaboration, which will be available to buy in Ikea stores from November, also incorporates the work of students from the Royal College of Art in London.

Ben Gorham, founder of Byredo, said: “The way your home smells is very emotional and plays a huge part in how you feel being there. It isn’t just about things being functional and practical, it’s the place where you come together with family and friends and make memories.

“We’ve developed an array of smells highlighting the idea that everyone has a different relationship to scents, and nothing is right or wrong.” 

James Futcher, creative leader at Ikea, said: “We hope people might buy two or three of the candles and light them together at the same time to make their own personal scent – we made 13 that work on their own, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t mix and match them if that creates a good feeling for you.”

Ikea’s Life at Home report show that smell is the sense that we most associate with home, with over 40 per cent of people surveyed claiming that their homes have their own, recognisable scent.

Earlier this year, Gwyneth Paltrow launched a follow-up to the infamous ‘This Smells Like My Vagina’ Goop candle.

The actor said in June that the £60 candle was a “feminist statement”.

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