If you're going to have candles sitting around, they might as well be black. Baxter of California, in partnership with Joya, has just launched a new series of man-targeted soy wax-based candles called Flammable ($45). Each (black) candle — Cassis Noir, Jasmin Noir, Tubereuse Noire — comes with a custom designed matchbox and a burn time of about 70 hours. As expected, the scents are decidedly masculine.
Hotwicks ($9) definitely aren't your typical candles. With scents like beer, campfire, grass (as in lawn), new car, pancake, pigskin, stripper, popcorn, and the rather scrumptious sounding urinal cake, your place can smell exactly how you want it to. Just be careful with combinations. While beer + grass + pigskin = great gameday memories, beer + hippie + stripper + urinal cake + dryer sheet = that time when you and that weird guy at the airport used your layover in Chicago to get plastered at a strip club, passed out in the bathroom, missed your flight, drove 9 hours home, then tried to cover up the incriminating smell with dryer sheets you bought at the 7-Eleven two blocks from home. Good times.
Celebrate your youth with this Gold Toy Lamp ($7,780) by Ryan McElhinney. Hand crafted at McElhinney's London studio, the lamp is made from recycled toys which are bonded together, and then coated in a high-gloss polyurethane lacquer. Made to order, the lamp requires six weeks of lead time. It's worth the wait.
If you live in a brownout-prone area, or if you're just gearing up for the apocalypse, Energizer's new Light On Demand ($TBA) line will keep your home lit with or without power. The line, which features a desk lamp, nightlights, a cordless motion light, and a cordless wall sconce, is designed to provide normal lighting throughout the day and emergency lighting when the power is off. Each model is powered by a removable LED light stick, which is equipped with internal, rechargeable batteries and can be detached to serve as an area light/flashlight when the power goes out.
Despite all the books on enlightenment, only this one can actually provide light. The Enlightenment Book Lamp ($130) is a book-shaped lamp made from white plexiglass, lit with a 9-watt energy-saving lamp, and with the words "The Enlightenment" on the binding and front cover. Plus, ten percent of the proceeds goes to fund education projects run by the Edukans Foundation. Now that's enlightenment. [via]
What are you eating for dinner tonight? If that question stumps you each night because you don't have time to stock your fridge or need some coaching in the kitchen, give Blue Apron a try. This handy service ships you all the fresh ingredients you need for three delicious meals for two people, per week. Ingredients are perfectly portioned for each recipe, take about 35 minutes to prepare, and come with step-by-step recipe cards to make cooking gourmet meals at home a cinch. There are options for most dietary preferences, so whether you're a carnivore, pescatarian, vegetarian, etc - there's an option to match.![](https://blueapron.sp1.convertro.com/view/vt/v1/blueapron/1/cvo.gif?cvosrc=content-paid.uncrate.july14"width=1){kind=small}
One of our favorite lamps is getting a color update. The Amber Block Lamp ($160; May 2008) is a new version of Harri Koskinen's Block Lamp, featuring amber-colored glass that has not been sand-blasted, along with a matching brown textile cord. The lamp gives off ambient light by using a low-wattage bulb encased between two pieces of solid glass, and has been featured in museums worldwide.
Add some flash and color to your next get together with this Multi-color LED Lightbulb w/Remote ($50). Compatible with standard lightbulb sockets, the 5 watt LED bulb is super bright, and with the included remote can be set to any of 16 specific colors, or can be set to transition through them using one of four effects: flash, strobe, fade, or smooth. The remote also lets you turn the LED on and off and adjust the brightness level, so you get just the right amount of the color you want.
Turn any wall in your home into an organic backdrop with the 2nd Shadow Lamp ($170). Designed by Tord Boontje, the lamp features natural images of leaves, vines, and blooms painted on a Mylar interior, which is projected by the interior lamp through stretched gauze filters to create soft, inviting, and intricate patterns on your walls. Available in a subtle cream hue (Morning Garden) or a vibrant green (Spring Garden), it's an easy, stylish way to help decorate your dwelling.
Science meets home decor in the Airswitch 1 Lamp ($85). Designed to look like a laboratory flask, the lamp lets users move their hand over the top to turn the light on and off, and raising or lowering of the hand lets you adjust the brightness, from very dim to mighty bright. In case you forget, the instructions are printed on one side in iconographic form. Air switch, indeed.
Using a Smart Clapper to control your lighting is like using a rock to control your computer. If you want superior control over your lighting, check out the Lutron Maestro IR Dimmer w/Remote ($38). This in-wall wonder lets you customize all sorts of settings, including a delayed fade so you can leave the room before the lights go out, and is compatible with most learning remotes, meaning it'll easily integrate into your home theater setup.
We love adjustable lighting, but it's not often you find it in such a nice-looking package. The Cubix Lamp ($75) is a 10.6-inch tall lamp that has wooden frames, which function as both the frame of the lamp and as lampshades, that are connected along one axis, allowing you to position them individually to suit your lighting needs, mood, and decor.
Taking the traditional pop-up book to a whole new level, the Book of Lights ($95; pre-order) is a linen-bound book with a functional, pop-up lamp inside. Available with a traditional Lampshade or Parisian Streetlamp inside, this is one book that's guaranteed to be illuminating.
In one of the more original ideas we've heard in a while, Greenlight Concepts takes reclaimed lenses from upgraded traffic lights and creates awesome lighting fixtures out of them. We're loving this Stoplight Pendant Lamp ($240), which features an 8-inch lens and an anodized aluminum lamp housing. Of course, yellow and green lamps are also available.
With 15 different styles available, you're sure to find an Inhabit lamp to match your indoor landscape. The company's boxy Builtby Lamp ($170-$232) comes in a variety of color schemes, with unique names like Chump Change, Even Steven, Mack Daddy, Road Dog, and Shoot The Breeze.
It may not have have had a collision with an iceberg, but the Titanic Lamp ($630) will definitely bring a sinking feeling to your living room. The lamp sports a high-gloss white lacquer finish and a diagonal slice that gives it a submerged style.
Designer Jeremy Pyles has created an elegant lamp in the Pharos Modern Pendant Light ($325). The light, which takes its name from ancient texts where "Pharos" meant something akin to a lighthouse, is a tall, slender pendant with a tubular bulb running down the center. Available in seven different colors, you should have no trouble finding one to suit your decor. [via]
Not every UFO is out for destruction. The Don't Run We Are Your Friends Light ($100) is a hanging lamp with variable height to control the type of light emanating from the "craft." Place it higher in the air for more direct light from the clear bottom, or place it low for a glowing, ambient light from the colored top of the shade. A fun way to add some extra-terrestrial flair to your pad. [via]
For as long as it's been around, people have tried to cover the light bulb up with shades. No more, thanks to the LampLamp ($28). This 30-watt bulb will fit in most sockets, providing an interesting conversation piece as it appears to be glued in place at first glance, with the connector sticking out. This is one bulb you won't want to leave hidden behind a shade.
The Blow Table Lamp ($1,363) by Studio Italia Design is a dramatic low-voltage lamp set in a chrome and brushed aluminum finish encased in an outer, clear-crystal globe. If this isn't enough of a conversation starter then you can get party guests interested by using an included decorative magnet to control the direction of the lamp by placing the magnet on any part of the globe so the light will follow.
