Nochebuena: The Christmas Eve I Carry with Me
For me, Nochebuena is everyone coming to the house. Mis tíos, mis primos, mis abuelos. The family together, sharing the same space for a night.
Sometimes there’s karaoke. Outside, you’ll find the primos with cuetitos y luces de bengala. Inside, we’re all dressed up, just to sit with our family in the living room.
That’s the part I hold closest. A night that feels formal and informal at the same time. You get ready like you’re going somewhere special, but the place you’re going is home. And the people you’re getting dressed up to see are your own family.
The memory behind Nochebuena
When I think about Nochebuena, that’s the image that stays with me. Not one big event, but all of us there together. The karaoke, the primos outside, and the simple feeling of sitting in the living room surrounded by people you love.
In the moment, you’re just spending Christmas Eve with your family. Later, you realize how much that picture means to you. It becomes one of those memories you carry deep inside, something you wish you could step back into, even for a little while.
That’s what I wanted to capture in this candle.
The scent of that night
Nochebuena brings together pine, fir, and blue spruce with orange peel, cranberry, apple, cinnamon, and clove. The fresh evergreen notes bring the arbolito de Navidad to mind, while the fruit and warm spices recall ponche warming in the kitchen.
For me, those scents belong to the same picture: the Christmas tree, the family gathered at home, and a night that doesn’t have to be fancy to feel special, even if we all dressed up for it.
I didn’t want to make just a candle that smells like Christmas. I wanted to make something that holds a little of what Nochebuena feels like to me.
A memory to carry forward
Maybe your Nochebuena looks a little like mine. Maybe it has different traditions, different music, or a different place everyone gathers. But perhaps you know that feeling of looking around a room and wishing you could keep the moment exactly as it is.
That’s the feeling behind Nochebuena. A little piece of home, and of the nights we keep coming back to in our memories.