Diptyque Brooklyn — Local services in New York

If I could rate Diptyque Brooklyn solely based on their customer service, I would give them an "absolument incroyable" 5-stars. Every member at Diptyque was kind and helpful. Their smiles brought the sunshine in on a cold rainy day. The store was clean and crisp and lovely fragrances wafted like butterflies from burning candles. So why do I give Diptyque 2 stars? Because Diptyque is highway robbery.

Here's why...

This from Diptyque: "In addition to natural fragrances, Diptyque candles can also boast a high quality that is hard to match." Read between the lines. Natural fragrance does not mean essential oils. If Diptyque used essential oils they would say so. Diptyque uses synthetic oils, which almost all high-end perfumers use. There's an argument too that pure essential oils don't have a strong throw but that's another discussion. My main critique with Diptyque is that their candles are dry and very little oil is used, whether synthetic or natural. Many candles have little to no smell at all.

Diptyque was once a small company making small batch artisanal candles. The amount of oil in their candles used to bead up on the wax surface. When lit, their candles filled the room with extraordinary fragrance. When unlit, their candles had a strong cold throw. No more. Diptyque's quality is gone but it's no surprise. Diptyque expanded to some 100 stores all over the world and with expansion comes compromise. Diptyque candles are mass produced, of poor quality, and sold for exorbitant prices.

Then there's this. "Diptyque candles are all hand-poured and made of high-quality paraffin wax." This is crazy. You're paying $80 for a candle made with petroleum based paraffin wax. Is this paraffin wax from China or from France? Does it matter and how do we know? Oh, and thank you Diptyque for not using "poor-quality" paraffin wax. I can't make this stuff up if I tried. Of course, Diptyque couldn't use soy wax or beeswax because this would be too costly for them and they'd have to have to raise the price beyond what is already extraordinary. Better to pinch pennies at the factory and maximize profits. Sounds like something something, wink-wink, a private equity firm would do, not an artisanal French candlemaker.

It goes on. "Each candle is carefully prepared individually and hand poured to ensure that a qualified person can spot any problems and flaws." Does it matter if a candle is hand poured or poured from a machine? Again, with 100 stores and candles being made en masse, all that matters is precision. Great candles must use high quality wax, high quality oils and fragrances, and high quality wicks centered on their bases. This is marketing gobbledygook and Diptyque knows it.

It gets worse. Sure enough, in 2005, Diptyque was bought by... you guessed it... a private equity firm, Manzanita Capital. Their CEO, William S. Fisher's worth is $1.85 billion. He worked at the Gap and he's a hedge fund manager. It's Fisher's job to maximize profits at all costs, definitely not what I would associate with an artisanal, high quality candlemaker.

There are salaries to be paid. I'm not talking about the pittance that Diptyque's staff are paid, though they're the heart of the company and should be well compensated. The real money is made at the top of the food chain. It explains why Diptyque's candles cost $80 and if you want to buy a lid for the candle, that's an extra $30 - $60 for a cheap piece of... whatever. If you're not careful, you can spend up to $140 for a 190g paraffin wax candle. Like I said, highway robbery.

Diptique is no longer a French candle company. They are owned by a London-based conglomerate. Diptyque's gorgeous looking products and their extraordinary history keeps them from being a 1-star company, but their candles suck purple Twinkies.

There are many better alternatives at all price points. Here are a few high-end candlemakers that use quality ingredients:

Cire Trudon, Mad et Len, Maitre Gantier, Christian Tortu, & Carrière Frères

...and many...

I visited this location while visiting New York on January 20. This was one of the most disappointing service experiences in recent memory, to the point where seeing a Diptyque bottle on my dresser triggers me. I’m not quite sure I can continue to be a customer of the brand. I stopped in because I left all my fragrances at home and wanted to pick up a small tube. When I walked in with my friend, all but one associates were standing around and it took a moment for them to acknowledge and assist us. The sales associate that eventually approached was a Black potentially non-binary or male person. They informed me that the only travel sizes they had were a rollerball gift set- not what I was looking for, but fine. I was baffled by the amount of times I was scolded by this individual while in the store. First, they scolded me for attempting to set my iced coffee down on the plastic table. Plastic! I didn’t have a free hand to sample fragrances. I wanted to find a Rose fragrance, and, more-so thinking out loud, mentioned that I liked the Eau Rose but wasn’t sure if it was too feminine for me. I was then scolded again for attaching the word feminine to a fragrance and told that all their scents are “gender free”. The way this person was speaking to me was so demeaning and off putting, I was made to feel uneducated because I used the word feminine to describe a floral fragrance. Lastly, I was scolded for “rubbing” the scent on my wrists instead of dabbing. I understand as an expert in fragrance that you want to show your guests the right way to apply, but saying “no no- we don’t rub, we dab” to them is not the way. I expected more from a luxury boutique selling high-end products in a desirable neighborhood. Do better and don’t hire folks that simply don’t want...

Don't go if you're BLACK. I visited the store looking for a new scent, but had nothing particular in mind. I was dressed casually and immediately felt judged by one short woman with dark hair of non color. She smirked whence I chose to smell each Parfum to find one that resonated with my scent vibes. As I shopped, she proceeded to take pictures on her cell phone in every area I searched.... as if she was not profiling. It got to the point that I asked if my potential purchase was in the way of her taking pictures, as she purposefully blocked me, like stood in my way, as I smelled each bottle. I generally expect customer service workers not to get in the way of potential customers who are spending money in an establishment, rather service them and give them space. Nevertheless, Jordan, who was obviously new and whom her coworkers probably thought would not get a sale from me, was sent over. Though she needs more work on her scent descriptors of head, heart and base, she was readily available. Overall, my visit was uncomfortable. I did find what I wanted and spent $200+ on one bottle of what suited my taste, but I will never return. When you're black, and store workers are white, they treat you weird, follow you and assume you can't afford anything, when really, you just want a decent shopping experience. I would have spent more time and money there if the environment was more welcoming, but it was not. If I had done business with the short dark haired woman who profiled me, I would NOT have bought the bottle. Jordan was as helpful as she could have been and I actually liked the scent. But...