When it comes to all the little decorative knick knacks that can help to transform a house into a home, I always think you can't beat the Americans. I use a lot of country-style designs for my own crafts projects - think little gingham hearts, patchwork cushions and Amish country cross stitch samplers. (If you like cross stitch, you have to check out Jeremiah Junction - I love all of their designs and have several that I have sewn hanging around the house.) "Americana" is one of my favourite things to search on ebay.
I also love candles, especially pretty ones with beautiful fragrances, so I was really excited when Yankee Candle said they'd send me some of their products to review. As you can see in the photo, they sent me three candles to try out - all in their iconic jars, which look great on the sideboard and smell fantastic, even when they're not burning.
Yankee Candle have a huge array of different fragrances available, so you're bound to find one (or several !) to suit your tastes and to perfectly complement each room and mood. The fragrances are grouped into a number of families : fruit, floral, fresh, food & spice, festive. Each family contains some amazingly original and delicious-sounding candle fragrances to discover : Christmas Cupcake, Strawberry Buttercream, Pomegranate Cider, Midnight Jasmine, Wedding Day, Baby Powder, Sun & Sand, to name just a few that leapt out at me. There are fragrances to mentally transport you to exotic locations, remind you of key moments in your life, evoke nostalgic memories of cakes and cookies that you used to make with your granny ... Aromatherapy is now well accepted as an efficient way of enhancing your mood and these candles have fragrances to suit every emotion you could ever want to feel !
The first two fragrances that I sampled are variations on vanilla - Vanilla Cupcake and French Vanilla. They both smell of actual natural vanilla rather than the sometimes sickly artificial vanilla fragrance you get in cheap alternatives. (This makes sense, as the write-up for French Vanilla explains : "Sweet and traditional, the source of the vanilla fragrance is oil extracted from tropical orchids".) The smell of both candles is warming, uplifting, relaxing and perfect for creating a sense of cosiness and welcome in a living room or bedroom. The fragrance is really potent, which I think is great as I love big "in your face" fragrances for my beauty products and candles. I get a real sense of well-being and contentedness with these ones.
The final fragrance I discovered is the evocatively-named Bahama Breeze. It smells exotic, fruity, invigorating and makes me think of faraway places (although that could be down to the name and the picture on the jar !). The fragrance - a zesty mix of mango, pineapple and grapefruit - actually reminds me of the smell you get when you walk past the door of The Body Shop and you get that incredible, heady mix of all the fruity perfumes inside ! I love this one when I'm feeling tired or sad and need a quick burst of energy and happiness. It's guaranteed to lift my mood every time.
Yankee Candle have more than just candles though - the range of fragrances is also available as room sprays, car jars, scented sachets, reeds and warming oils. They are beautiful to look at, smell absolutely gorgeous and have such a wide range of fragrances that you could find a lovely gift absolutely tailored to the person you're buying for which would be perfect for housewarming, Christmas, Mothers Day, Valentines Day, birthdays or just a romantic or friendly surprise present. Every time I light one of the candles, I have to pause and breathe in the lovely scent to really appreciate the moment of relaxation and well-being so they're absolutely perfect for a bit of well-earned me-time.
star rating : 5/5
RRP : small jars £7.75, medium jars £15.45, large jars £18.45
for more information : http://www.yankeecandle.co.uk/
Other reviews you may be interested in :
Synthetic fragrances and mass produced in a factory - there are plenty of artisan candle makers in the UK manufacturing hand poured, fine fragrance candles. Check out Neom and Melt candles, far superior.
ReplyDeleteI like the Vanilla Cupcake one. THe only thing that refrains me from trying those is that they are so expensive here in the UK! Can't belive they sell it for £8! In Canada they are priced $6, which is about £4.50!
ReplyDeleteI love the smell of some of these! Bahama Breeze and Strawberry Buttercream are my fav's at the moment!!
ReplyDeletei love yankee candles they smell so great! Although they are more expensive than other candles they are definately worth the extra i think!
ReplyDeleteThese are brilliant as presents at Xmas, and they smell gorgeous! Worth keeping in mind as stocking fillers for parents too. (I do a stocking for me mam and dad, lol! ) :O)
ReplyDeleteHey! a 5/5 score! quite a rare score on Madhouse Family Review!
ReplyDeleteI am not sure about the packaging though (esp. the label) and indeed they are quite expensive
Heyy, I am in LOVE with these candles. I think they are perfect! Love your review. Please check out my blog. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat are perfectly sized for fitting in the ambulance, as well as a hospital playset. Juliette is quite happy to use all sorts of pigtails crewcuts
ReplyDeletePeople people and small dolls as injured parties though.