I do love scented candles and diffusers but I only like the expensive ones. I can't abide cheap perfumes and I have no desire for my house to smell like a pecan waffle/buttered popcorn/candy cane or whatever the latest seasonal scent offering from Yankee Candle happens to be.
I have an expensive habit when it comes to home fragrances (I even have a Diptyque Room Spray) with one little exception - Papier d'Armenie. If you are French you will know what I am talking about, if not you will most likely not have heard of these. Paper d'Armenie has been in production since 1885 and one of the people who helped develop the product was Francis Kurkdjian whose name, nowadays, is best known for a range of luxury perfumes (Maison Francis Kurkdjian).
Papier d'Armenie is simply a little booklet of paper strips that you pull out, fold up like a fan, (on the packet it says to fold them like an accordion - see, so French!) place in an ashtray and burn. You can find them in almost any French pharmacy or hard wear store and a packet of 36 costs just a couple of euros. Oh, and can I just take a moment to bring your attention to the design of the packet - so retro, I think it's fabulous!
The strips of paper are infused with benzoin, a tree resin that is used in perfume manufacture as a fixative. When they burn they have a light, almost vanilla like scent but they also miraculously get rid of stale scents and bad odors, they are almost a 'deodorant' for a room. They are great to use in the winter when it's too chilly to open windows up for long enough to air a room. I also like to use them when I have been cooking something which has a smell that tends to linger - fish or fried food for example.
I've never seen them for sale here except for on Amazon but you can buy them direct from www.papierdarmenie.fr. or if you have French friends you could sweet talk them to send you some!
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