A massage candle is a delight for all the senses. Enjoy the bright fresh scent of passionfruit while reveling in the sight of your lover's body in candlelight. Once enough soy-based wax has melted into a luxurious, body-temperature oil, drizzle some onto the shoulders of your lover and bask in the beautiful sensations of giving and receiving a sensual massage. Why would you ever be satisfied with a massage oil that didn't cast light and fragrance about your room? And why would you ever be satisfied with a candle that your lover couldn't massage your beautiful body with? Once you discover massage candles, these two-in-one products will never be far from your bedside.

The Burning Desires Pheromone Soy Oil Massage Candle is an excellent choice---the gender-neutral passionfruit fragrance means it stands out from most other massage candle options (which are often either feminine or masculine), and the low cost compared to big-name brands while not sacrificing oil quality combine to create a wonderful massage candle for any lover of candles, massages, or tropical fruits.

When unlit, the wax of this candle is a creamy white. When lit, it melts to a lightly clear oil which feels excellent when gliding up and down your partner's back. It is slightly thicker than the oil of Afterglow, and I've been dipping my cupped fingers into the tin (after the candle's been extinguished) to get oil for a massage, rather than just pouring it, as the container has no spout. The oil stays on my fingers as I move from candle to receiver. The oil has stayed slick (with perhaps a reapplication or two) for about 20 minutes' worth of leg massage (I was testing this with family instead of a partner, and we all wanted to keep our shirts on).

There was a light waxy feeling remaining on my legs after the massage, but it had all soaked in within an hour. No waxiness or scent remained when I woke up the next morning.

Passionfruit is one of the most exquisite fruits I've ever tasted, but at ~$4 for a single fruit for only a couple weeks each year in grocery stores near me, I haven't been fortunate enough to taste them very often. I jumped at the opportunity to light a passionfruit-scented candle, and the scent has held up to my expectations. Immediately when you open the lid, you'll smell the bright, tropical scent of passionfruit. If you're not familiar with passionfruit, you might call the scent tropical (but not the coconut / banana / pineapple tropical). To me, with my very sensitive nose, the light scent of the alcohols that the fragrances are bound in is noticeable, but it doesn't distract me from the candle.

I was really thrilled that the passionfruit scent of this candle was true to its name. I did cautiously dab the tip of my tongue against skin that had had the candle's massage oil applied, and found that there was no taste, pleasant or unpleasant.

The fragrance carries quite well, and when the lid of the tin is removed it can be smelled from ~5 feet away. Once lit, I was able to smell the candle throughout a 300 square foot area, and the smell lingered pleasantly for several hours after the candle was lit. The scent from the massage oil stays with skin slightly less long, but you will be able to walk around smelling like passionfruit for at least a couple of hours. Once the oil is applied to the skin, the alcohol volatilizes away, and can't be smelled on the body.

The Soy Wax Pheromone Massage Candle arrives in a four ounce tin, which should be enough for at least 20 massages. While soy wax melts at a temperature quite close to body temperature (so you'll feel warmth from the wax but never any burning), it shipped to me during the hottest week of the summer and arrived neat and clean, with no wax spilled or slopped. The candle burns quite nicely, but not terribly brightly---you would still need lights if you wanted to read your lover a bedtime story, but it's fine for foreplay under mood lighting.

Burning Desires will produce enough wax for a massage after being lit for only 20 minutes. In order to prevent tunneling, it's best to let a candle burn all the way to the edge before pouring out any wax or extinguishing the candle... but I let my passionfruit flame burn for two hours and there was still a 1/4" ring of unmelted wax around the edge of the tin. Trimming the wick should speed up the melting of the candle, though, and if you're not patient you can always pare the edges down with a knife as the candle burns.

Burning Desire's four ounce tin with a lid is nice while the candle's inside, and should be reusable when all the wax has been spent. The lid doubles as a match holder or snuffer during use, and keeps the scent fresh while your candle is waiting by your bedside. The tin looks like many candle tins, and its placid black and red design wouldn't draw a second glance from across a room. When you're two feet away, though, "Pheromone soy massage candle" is clearly visible in white letters, so you might want to peel the label off before leaving it in a guest room or shared bathroom. The tin is a nice container for the candle on the whole, though I wonder if it will be a bit hot to pick up and pour from when the candle is burned halfway through.

This massage candle is made from many skin-friendly oils, three pheromones, fragrance, and Vitamin E.

Its components are soybean oil, coconut oil, hemp seed oil, apricot oil, jojoba oil (each of these are fatty acids derived from pressing the seeds of the respective plants), fragrance (including essential oils) (this is a hard ingredient to get a handle on---the fragrance does not trigger my allergies but can cause my eyes to water a bit with extended use. I'm very sensitive, and this scent was very pleasant to each of the four other people I asked to smell it), Vitamin E (also known as tocopherol, Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant commonly acclaimed for its skin-softening properties) copulandrone, copulin-alike, and reconstituted andronone (all three of these appear to be synthetically produced to mimic copulins, naturally-occurring hormones present in vaginal secretions).

Apart from the fragrances and perhaps some oils for those with sensitivities to soy or nuts, the Burning Desire Passionfruit Massage Candle should not spark any allergies. The wick is hemp, the entire product is lead-free, and it has not been tested on animals. It should not be used as a vaginal lubricant, especially if latex condoms are being relied upon.

I'm a proud skeptic, and while mention of pheromones won't cause my heart to skip a beat the way mention of homeopathic remedies might, I would usually be willing to pay less for a product with pheromones than an identical product without them. Nevertheless, I figured I would do some research in order to present a thorough review.

The packaging of the candle doesn't specify whether the pheromones are supposed to act on (straight?) women or on (straight?) men, but as this is marketed as a couples' product perhaps Classic Erotica assumes you're using it to amp up the partner you've got, rather than to catch a new one. My instincts tell me that copulandrone, copulin-alike, and reconstituted andronone are synthetic chemicals which were named by someone saying "let's take "copulation" and make it sound like a hormone!" Basic research of literature and forums tell me that they are indeed synthetic hormones produced to mimic hormones which are a natural part of vaginal secretions. Theoretically, the candle should arouse the male in a heterosexual coupling, then---though whether it's pheromones from the candle wax or the sight of his partner's slick body is up for debate.

Deeper research shows that the three pheromones were bundled together by their manufacturer, an Italian company. They are sold as OSMOPHERONE-H, which their maker describes them as an " attractive smelling pheromonic substance for male perfumes for re-establishing of human interrelationships (subliminal perception; it is removed by washing and deodorisation)". The prescribed uses include "additives for cosmetics, perfumes and personal hygiene deodorants: from 0.1%" You can read about this and other products at the Products Catalogue linked from the manufacturer's website.

While no peer-reviewed publications seem to be available, I did my best to conduct a single-blind test of the pheromones in this candle wax. I wore a skirt and shirt through a moderately crowded store one evening, and then I applied oil from this candle to my legs and wore a similar skirt and shirt through the same store at the same time the next evening. There was not a statistically significant difference in male heads turned in my direction with a=0.05. Fair enough---the maker only promises re-establishing of already existing human interrelationships. I'm not in a position to test this. Simply burning this candle did not make me hornier than my rest state (but that's pretty horny to begin with). It also did not ruin my base level of arousal. Receiving and giving a massage with this candle did not seem to have any greater or any less effect than receiving and giving a massage with an Afterglow massage candle (a similar product without advertised pheromone action) when partner-swapping corrections were applied.

Don't let the pheromones turn you on to the Burning Desire candle, but don't let them turn you off, either. For roughly half the price of Jimmyjane's Afterglow, you receive 4.0 ounces instead of 4.5, a tin that's not quite as elegant but still reusable, and a fragrance that's not as complex but will still make your room and your skin smell nice. The main drawback of the Burning Desire candle when compared with Jimmyjane's is that for about an hour after a massage, there'll be a light, almost waxy residue on your skin. This does soak in over time. Compared with the Afterglow (which many would consider to be the massage candle apotheosis), if they were the same price the Burning Desires candle should receive 3.5 stars to Afterglow's 4. Because the price is half that of Jimmyjane's, though, this makes Burning Desire the perfect choice for someone who's interested in a massage candle without paying a premium for a ceramic cup---and Burning Desire will get 4 stars.

Passionfruit is a delightful tropically fruity scent, and the body-temperature wax feels lovely under your partner's hand or under a massage implement. The slightly waxy feeling that remains about an hour after a massage might cool your mood once the candlelight fades, but perhaps that's just a sexy excuse to shower with your lover. The scent will linger in your room for a while, reminding you of pleasant time spent acting on your Burning Desires.