Jo Malone is everywhere. I see this brand everywhere I go. In any country, in every major city. I have never bought even one single candle from them. I do have one Jo Malone candle in my bathroom and I didn’t buy it. It was a gift from Oyen’s apartment-mate and Fordham school mate, Jo. He gave it to me when he visited Manila and he stayed here at our house.
I am scared to light candles after I almost burned down our house. From then on I light battery-operated candles only.
While Oyen and I were walking by the Jo Malone kiosk in Podium, I said, “That’s everywhere. They look expensive.”
O—–‘Oh yeah”
I pointed at the votives. “One thousand?”
O—–Oh no, more”.
A—–“Really?”
To satisfy my curiosity and correct my ignorance, I told Oyen “itanong mo nga anak magkano yan..yung isang candle, yan..”
O—–“Miss, how much is this?”
Sales lady—- “Four thousand five hundred…”.
OMG! One candle with votive. Four thousand plus. I didn’t get the exact price basta parang 4,500 kasi as soon as I heard the four thousand, nabingi na ako. Nagshut down na tenga ko. Grabe I was so shocked. Siguro the votive is made of crystal and not just ordinary glass. Maybe that’s the one that pulled the price up.
The sales lady justified the stiff price by adding that it’s good for 42 hours. Anoooo? 42 hours only? Aba dapat tipirin ang gamit. Bihira lang sindihan.
42 hours x 60 minutes = 2,520 minutes.
P4,500 divided by 2,520 minutes = P1.78 cost of lighting the candle / minute.
P107 amortization cost / hour
If you light the candle for one hour / day, your P4,500 will last for 42 days. Still expensive. Stretch your budget by lighting it only for 5 minutes a day. It will last for sixteen and a half months.
The Jo Malone candle given to me by another Jo is still in my bathroom. It will last until I am 80 years old because I am not lighting it yet. I will light it on my 80th birthday and let it burn continuously for 42 straight hours.
