Lilac, lavender, clean laundry, vanilla... Manic Panic hair dye. Some of these things don't belong in a list of scents you'd use to freshen up your home. Until now. Say hello to The Lights of New York, a new initiative from The OAK Candle Project, candles specifically tailored to smell like iconic time periods and places in our stinky but lovable city. While these may not be the most traditional scents, the team at OAK manages to somehow make it work, especially if you're into, say, leather and sex. For now, there are four different scents—
Christopher + West '76, St. Marks + First '85, McKibben + Bogart '03, and Prince + Mercer '97—that aim to conjure a specific era through your nose. If you yearn for Soho's 1997 aromas of sticky concrete and roasting honey peanuts, or flip for Bushwick's 2003 signature odor of tar, gasoline, booze, and paint thinner, look no further (and we're sure you've been looking for quite some time). Aesthetically too, the cylindrical shape is a call out to the recognizable stature of the bodega candle, found on every corner from Park Slope to Harlem. Oh, and they last for a hell of a long time, meaning your super might start to get concerned.
$68 each, available at OAK, 28 Bond Street (between Lafayette and Bowery); 212-677-1293.