Outdoor Fellow Candle Club subscription review
From packaging to scents, is this candle subscription worth it?
Credit:
Outdoor Fellow
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Candles are one of those small things that can instantly personalize a space. They can function as decoration, evoke fond memories of different seasons, or even lend your space a touch of luxury.
Personally, I adore candles. I usually have one burning while I'm working or while I'm writing—pretty much any time I'm spending a prolonged amount of time in my house. So, I was super excited to test out a candle subscription service from Outdoor Fellow, a company that offers candles that reflect the great outdoors.
The candle subscription—called the Outdoor Fellow Candle Club—sends one candle every month with a signature scent, and it can be scheduled out over the course of four months.
What is Outdoor Fellow?
Outdoor Fellow is an artisanal candle company that specializes in candles and reed diffusers. It's also home to candle bundles and candle subscriptions, like the monthly Candle Club.
The candles from Outdoor Fellow are all designed to replicate scents you might find in natural environments, from the coast to the mountains. In my subscription, I received the Rose Moschata and Coastal Forest scents.
Each candle in Outdoor Fellow Candle Club subscription is made with apricot and coconut wax, as well as small amounts of paraffin wax (which is food-grade, but petroleum-based). All Outdoor Fellow candles come in 16-ounce jars that are actually drinking glasses; if you enjoy saving your candle jars, you can actually use the Outdoor Fellow jars as cups, after you clean them out.
Individual candles from Outdoor Fellow all retail for $36, while a three-month subscription to the Candle Club will cost you $89.95. You can buy individual candles from external retailers, like Nordstrom and Walmart.
How did we test Outdoor Fellow candles?
I tested Outdoor Fellow candles by burning each one for up to 10 hours, long enough for the wax to melt to the boundary of the glass containers and to relight each of them twice. I burned each candle in my room, as well as in my living room, to see how far and wide the scents would carry.
What I like about Outdoor Fellow Candle Club
The 'Coastal Forest' scent was crisp, woodsy, and clean.
The candle burn time is extensive
Each candle I got from Outdoor Fellow lasted for a long time, which is something I look for in a candle. It took two hours of burning for each candle to melt away to the edges of the container, and each burn after that was smooth and didn't leave too much wax along the sides of the jar. On Outdoor Fellow's website, the candles are listed as having a burn time of 40-50 hours, which seems consistent with the level of candle wax remaining in each one I tested.
The outer packaging is compact and non-wasteful
Each Outdoor Fellow candle arrived in a small, secure package, with a minimal amount of trash, which I appreciate. The first candle I received had a bit of wax along the outside, which was disappointing, but ultimately neither candle was damaged and the packaging itself was barebones, but elegant.
What I dislike about Outdoor Fellow Candle Club
My first candle arrived with wax residue on the sides, as well as an inconsistent pour.
Candles' scent strengths vary
I was not at all anticipating how wildly different the two scents would be in terms of quality, and I had hugely varied experiences with each.
I was largely unimpressed with Rose Moschata. The smell from this candle was powdery and floral, with elements of bergamot, rose, and musk—not my usual preference for scents. Although I didn't love the cloying aroma, it did fill my entire apartment, which is impressive. And, it lingered in my space after I'd blown it out.
I couldn't wait to burn the second candle Coastal Forests, thinking it would do the same with its crisp, earthy notes of pine and eucalyptus. The second candle had a lovely, clean scent, but it barely had any reach and I did not get the same level of dispersal as the Rose Moschata. The smell traveled so little that I had to light it close to my desk in order to smell it at all during the day.
Candle pours are inconsistent and sloppy
Each candle I received from Outdoor Fellow had several issues with how the candle was poured into the jar. The Rose Moschata arrived smeared on the outside with residual wax that had stained the box, which seems to have been a manufacturing error. Neither candle's wax managed to reach down into the depths of the container or fill it completely. The clear glass vessel made small blemishes or inconsistencies like that hard to miss.
Should you buy Outdoor Fellow Candle Club?
No
I don't recommend subscribing Outdoor Fellow's Candle Club. You don't know what you're getting, and the candle scents can be wildly different in terms of their strength and notes, and some don't extend beyond a small radius.
If, like me, you know you like specific scents of Outdoor Fellow candles, it may be worth it to simply buy the candle that you like. For me, it's Coastal Forests. I will admit that some of my dislike of the Rose Moschata draws on the fact that I don't enjoy powdery scents. However, the huge variation in quality and the inconsistencies in the candles themselves make the subscription one I can't get behind.
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Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.