Soft lighting makes the world itself seem softer. There are a number of ways to achieve this with lightbulbsâPhilips Hue color-changing bulbs (and their cheaper knockoff substitutes) may be known as the scourge of Bushwick apartments, but they are also the best investment Iâve ever made. But there is another simpler way: filling your place with candles and using them as a lighting source whenever possible. âI have vintage candle sconces all over my apartment,â Newman. âTurning off the lights and lighting my tapers is my version of turning my phone off before bed. You just need to remember to blow them out.â
La Roche, who spoke to me while lounging in bed, waiting for her Italian boyfriend to bring her a croissant (from the nearest bakery that uses good butter), likes to wake up well before work and begin her day with bathing by candlelight. âIf it is still dark, I light beeswax taper candles and skip electric lights in those hours before the sun is fully up,â she says. âIt is such a gentle way to start. I do this in the evening, too, if I can.â
âYou need a variety of candle holders, both portable and stationary, for this lifestyle,â she continues. âA candelabra on the dinner table, a few iron holders around the house, some antique wall sconces, a âchamberstickâ to walk around with while in a nightgown looking for your ghost lover, and a set of church altar candle holders about three-feet high are enough to skip bulbs entirely. A single taper stuck in a pretty vase filled with sand is an excellent gateway. Oh, and be safe, of course.â
Making scents
I have a perfume and home scent addiction, as do the experts listed here. Nothing screams âI am lying naked on a divan being fed grapesâ quite like fragrance, whether itâs a costly candle from Le Feu de LâEau or Cire Trudon or accessible essential oils and sandalwood.
âI light incense in all the rooms,â says Lina Sun Park, the playful Brooklyn-based artist behind the monograph A Mouse in Her House. âLately my favorite has been Binu Binu Cypress Incense. It smells like the most luxurious bonfire and creates an instantly comforting, romantic feel, like itâs winter and youâre on a brisk walk in nature, with chimney smoke wafting into the airâexcept youâre warm and cozy at home.â She also sprays her pillow with lavender mist before bed, a natural sleep aid. Newman is âaddicted to Officine Universelle Bulyâs Sumi Hinoki scented matches.â She continues, âThey make me feel something. Same goes for my Cire Trudon scented wax cameos that I adoringly line up on my bedside table.â
Soaps should smell nice, too. If you want to shell out a bit, the most romantic versions come from Oriza L. Legrand and Santa Maria Novella, which all come in beautiful boxes that I save to store ugly things like Bic lighters.