Tuesday of California Candles

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a fan of Tuesday of California (originally Tuesday Bassen, after the owner). I like their range of sizes and their commitment to ethical resources and the environment, but mostly I like their style. For their clothing releases, they tend to do short seasonal runs with pre-orders, and I appreciate that it costs a little more and I have to wait a little longer to support all of these practices. I was really excited to see they were releasing candles, and even more excited when I saw the scents were more than just your usual boring “a floral one, a musky one.” Their range features Steakhouse, Garden Cocktails, and Smoking Weed in Grandma’s Basement. I ordered all three and have no regrets. Let’s break it down.

From the descriptions and scent listings, I was fully expecting Cocktails on Sunset to be my fave. With its notes listed as “Green Hedges, evening air, champagne, elderflower, citrus, and a touch of smog,” there was no way I wasn’t going to buy this candle. It is a truth universally acknowledged that I will try any fucking thing that claims to smell or taste like elderflower, so this was a no-brainer. And I like this candle, but it’s not my favorite – I actually think it’s the weakest link. It’s not bad at all; it’s just the one you could find anywhere else. I don’t really get elderflower or champagne, although to be fair, I think it’s very difficult for anything to actually smell like champagne (see: my review of Jonathan Adler’s Champagne candle), and evening air and smog are pretty elusive. This is a light, green floral and it’s nice and I will light it in the bathroom, but it’s not the star here.

In terms of ambition and creativity, the most triumphant candle here is Smoking Weed in Grandma’s Basement. I’m such a sucker for a very specific themed candle, and it’s so rare that they actually deliver. So many try to capture a distinct setting or moment and just fail spectacularly, like D.S. Durga’s Concrete After Lightning (Claim: barometric pressure change and steaming asphalt. Reality: bug spray) or Tom Dixon’s Royalty (Claim: “Royalty is a reminiscence of tea time with a pot of Earl Grey, scones, strawberry jam and the drive home in a ’52 Bentley with tatty leather seats.” Reality: it smells like Lemon Pledge). Or all of those shady Instagram ads I get for candles with Cricut fonts that are named “Haunted Graveyard” or whatever — I guarantee every single one of those smells like a one-note $8 purple candle from Target. And there’s nothing wrong with a Target candle, but not when you make big claims about smelling like a spooky castle or a sex dungeon. (Is this the new “library”, horny virgins? Take it from me: those both just smell like damp.)

ANYWAY: Smoking Weed in Grandma’s Basement is “our quintessential brand scent. Influenced by Tuesday’s midwestern roots, this summer aroma will bring you back to being a teenage delinquent, but ~*refined*~. Notes: Summer sweat, olive green shag carpet, lumpy tweed sofa, wood panelling, apple pipe, and ditch weed.” This is their flagship and they nailed it. I’ve never smoked weed in Tuesday Bassen’s grandma’s basement in Nebraska, but I have in my friend Josh’s grandma’s rec room in Oklahoma, and this is it. Do some decades for you only exist in a certain season? For me the 50s were always winter, the 60s were forever spring, and the 70s were eternally summer. I may have been a teenager in a basement in the 90s, but that basement was still parked squarely in the 70s. This smells like a summer afternoon in a wood-paneled basement and denim cutoffs and shag carpeting and an oak-encased TV with an old brown cable box. Upstairs may be doilies and Bibles and La-Z-Boys but down here, this is our time. There’s also a tang to this candle that reads a bit industrial/building to me, and I’m into it. I was born in 1977 and this candle gives me intense scent memories, like walking into the Sears automotive department with my dad on a Saturday morning after riding in a car with pleather seats, or the first day of elementary school when it was still 80 degrees outside and I had knee socks and new shoes. It’s nostalgic and fuzzy and evocative, kind of like being high.

For me, the crowd-pleasing favorite here is Steakhouse. I bought it with the other two because I’m a completist and it sounded fun but deep down, I hoped it didn’t smell too much like steak rub. Good news: it doesn’t! It smells warm and spicy and sexy (sorry). Its claim: “Influenced by LA classic Taylor’s Steakhouse in Ktown, a dark and moody haunt with oil paintings and excellent cocktails. Notes: Leather booths, steak rub, smoke, gin martinis.” Less steak rub and more dark leather ambiance, but yes! I want to walk into a room that smells like this and nuzzle whoever is inside. I want to smell it, I want to eat, I want to hump it, I want to live inside it for a bit. I need to order another one of these already because I know it’ll be in heavy rotation this fall.

I really hope Tuesday of California does another venture into scents, because these are so fun and different and layered, not your typical candle lineup. You can tell a lot of work and thought went into these, from the names to the scents to the packaging, not just “how about a candle that smells like autumn” and then all of the budget thrown into design and advertising (looking at you, Otherland). It was so refreshing to buy something that doesn’t look or smell like everything already out there and made by someone who clearly had some fun opinions about every step. (Please god no more candles that are white and just say L I N E N.) Give me your Korean Spa or your Middle School Dance candles and I will happily give you my $40.