Buying a candle jar online is quick, but there is one thing a photograph cannot tell: the scent once it has burned for fifteen minutes and the wax surface is evenly warm. Scent on a test strip and scent in a room are two different matters, and many of you notice that after opening your first jar.
If you are in Hanoi, the surest way is to come to our workshop at no. 31, DM6, Van Phuc craft village, in Ha Dong. Here you can light one and try it, sit a while to hear the scent come up, hold the cinnamon cup in your hand to know how its surface really is, and then take home what you chose the same day.
The way there, and a visit
Van Phuc is an old silk village of Ha Dong, about ten kilometres southwest of the centre of Hanoi. From Nga Tu So, follow Nguyen Trai street and then turn into Van Phuc, and once you are inside the village everything slows down. Narrow lanes, yellow walls, silk shops opening onto one another, and the sound of looms still going.
The DM6 quarter sits inside the village, and our workshop is at no. 31. It is best to message us a little in advance, so there is someone to receive you properly, especially on days when the whole workshop is in the middle of a pouring round. A visit usually takes about half an hour, and if you would like to sit longer we are very glad.
Many people combine a workshop visit with a walk around the silk market in the village, looking at fabric and having tea at the shop at the top of the lane. We like that, because it shows you the ground ZUNGZA stands on: a Vietnamese craft village with working hands right where the people live.
How to try a candle jar properly
Our way of trying is a little slow. Choose the two directions of scent you are most curious about, only two, because that is about as much as a nose can hear clearly at one time. We light them, then leave them for about fifteen minutes, and while waiting we talk about something else.
After fifteen minutes the wax surface is evenly warm, and the scent you hear then is the scent that jar will bring into your home. Step a few paces away and come back, because a scent at arm's span is different from a scent right at your face. That is also the real distance when you are sitting in your own room.
The two hundred gram glass jar and the two hundred and twenty gram version both burn about thirty-five to forty hours. Fifty millilitre perfume and fifteen millilitre bottles of essential oil are also there for you to try on the spot. If you are still unsure that day, just go home; whichever scent stays in your head until the next day is your scent.
A few questions you often send us
Where can I buy ZUNGZA scented candles in person in Hanoi
At no. 31, DM6, Van Phuc craft village, Ha Dong. This is the workshop and also where we sell in person.
Do I need to book ahead
A short message ahead is more convenient, so we can arrange someone to receive you and have ready the scents you would like to try.
How do I buy from another province
You order and we send: one single rate for all of Vietnam and free for large enough orders, with parcels arriving in about two to five days.
Read more a day at the workshop in the craft village, the four scents of the glass jar candle range, and the way we deliver.