CLR Pink Collection

CLR is a beloved brand in the candle community, which is a corny opening sentence but also completely true. They’re inclusive and diverse, owned and operated by LGBTQIA+ people of color who donate a percentage of their profits back to the community, so this isn’t Big Candle, this is Cool Candle. Most importantly, their scents, throw, and burn are always top-notch, so I was excited when they offered to send me their new Pink collection to review.

Every time I smell these, I change my favorite. The main thing I love is that none of these are predictable sugary or bubblegum pink scents. They’re all deep and layered, and not what you’d expect from a Barbie-pink candle. CLR is so good about that with all their offerings. Their scent combinations are always elevated and unexpected, never trite.

Light Pink

Top notes: apple, grapefruit, coconut

Middle notes: jasmine, rose

Base notes: musk, amber

The fruit and floral combo here is pitch-perfect. So many gorgeous notes, beautifully balanced, nothing overpowering or cloying. This candle is the sweetest of the trio, but it’s a light, floaty sweet – think sparkling spa water, not grocery store frosted cookie. I keep coming back for another deep inhale. I want to drink it, I want to bathe in it, I want to dab it behind my ears. It’s the song of the summer from your happiest summer. If you like CLR Purple, I think you’ll like this one too.

Pink

Top notes: orange blossom, rose

Middle notes: black pepper, vanilla

Base note: white musk

The black pepper note here is everything. You’re just never expecting a candle this pink to smell like this. Pow! This one feels like the sister to CLR’s Grey. She’s a bit moody, dabbling in heavy eyeliner, journaling in her room, but still effervescent and uplifting. She’s a perky goth (which my friend and resident goth expert Jess assures me is “a recognized subcategory”). This candle would not let a breakup define her! I want her to teach me everything she knows, starting with all her playlists. Do you observe Beltane? Then you need this candle.

Hot Pink

Top notes: coriander seed, musk, vanilla

Middle note: vanilla

Base note: amber woods

There’s a quote from Sharon Stone about Gwyneth Paltrow that for some reason has stuck inside my head for years: “She lives in a rarefied air.” First of all, sick burn, and secondly, that’s what this smells like. This candle feels in turn confident, dreamy, and a little bit bratty, like a rich girl with a lollipop, staring out a car window. It’s Virgin Suicides meets Ariana Grande. I kind of want this candle to slap me? Maybe I want to slap this candle?? I can’t talk about this any longer without it getting weird, but I’m into it.

(A note: For decades now my friend Kate and I have said “I want it pink, hot pink, as hot as you got it” in a gum-snapping, fingernail-gesturing Long Island accent thanks to one of the made-for-TV movies about Amy Fisher and Joey Buttafuoco. This candle does not smell like any of those things but you have no idea how many times I rewrote this one trying to use this phrase.)