There’s a fabulous book out in the USA at the moment, entitled What Would Jackie Do?. OK, so it’s not a question many of us would ask ourselves on a daily or even yearly basis (the Jackie in question is the iconic Jackie O). Perhaps we should? Jackie O had a habit of making the smallest of gestures large and the most grandiose seem like nothing at all: when someone asked her, “How will you spend your £26 million divorce settlement?”, she replied, “That’s not something one talks about.”

I mention Jackie because were she still alive, I have no doubt that right about now she would begin lighting her beloved Rigaud candles to ward off the winter gloom. Visitors to the White House during the Kennedy years often remarked upon the delicious scent wafting throughout the public and private quarters emanating from vast numbers of distinctive green candles burning in silver-bottomed glass jars. This was Rigaud Cypres, the most classic of Rigaud’s candles.

Rigaud is one of the earliest perfumers, dating back to the early 19th century when King Louis XVIII signed a decree bestowing sole rights to the Rigaud family for the manufacture of a scented Macassar oil. In 1950, Madame Rigaud, desperate to fragrance the olfactory disaster that was her gift store on the Champs-Elysées, created the first Rigaud candle by hand, using a secret soft-wax formula, which is poured twice to eliminate air pockets (making it last longer). The real USP of a Rigaud candle,

though, aside from its divine scent, is the fact that the wax liquefies, which allows an even burn (eradicating that tunnelling effect). And then there’s the solid silver “snuff top” which prevents that annoying post-candle smokiness. I hate to drop names – oh, I already have – but Sir Elton John, Donatella Versace, Carly Simon, the Prince of Wales and the late Frank Sinatra are (or were) fans.

The world has moved on since Jackie and Jack were in the White House. Billions of scented candles are sold yearly. So prolific is the trend that many are predicting the candle’s demise. Does Jade Goody have a candle? If not, it is surely only a matter of time.

Good taste, as they say, never goes out of fashion and Jackie – a woman whose bons mots included the eternally relevant “I don’t think there are many men who don’t cheat on their wives” – recognised the value of making a scent one’s own. Hence no one can speak of Rigaud green without mentioning JBKO. Rather fortuitously, Rigaud has just come up with a new scent, Lavande Savage. So, if you have pretensions towards iconhood, purchase your Rigaud immediately. Just because you don’t live in the White House doesn’t mean you shouldn’t live like you do.

www.whatwouldjackiedo.com

Rigaud: www.roullierwhite.co.uk

coolhunter@thetimes.co.uk

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