It has now been full-blast winter for much of the eastern part of the country, with the snow storm Lexi blowing through part of New England and finally giving us several inches. It’s still winter, and because we haven’t had much snow so far, to be honest, I’d love a good nor’easter to blow through another time and let everyone settle down with their families, warm food, books, and of course, a choice of candles. Yankee Candle is one of my favorite companies because they are relatively inexpensive, yet a fun luxury, come in countless varieties. I like trying homemade candles at roadside shops, farmer's markets, and holiday mini malls, but they can often not be as safe to burn as the better known quality brands.
The candles
I have loved for the past couple of winters are Yankee Candle’s Vanilla Chai,
North Pole, Balsam and Cedar, and Sparkling Snow. These scents are particularly good to burn
together or alone.
I like
fresh, lightly piney scents all winter, and pull out the Balsam and Cedar and
Sparkling Snow at the end of November, and they last me until sometime into
March, when my lilac Slatkin and Co. candle makes its first appearance of the
year. Balsam and Cedar is a
quintessential pine tree Christmassy scent, but is woodsy enough to invoke a
winter forest, even in February.
Sparkling Snow is cleaner and brighter, with a little less pine, which
is mingled with the fresh air that reminds me of snowshoeing in the woods over
freshly fallen snow. Balsam and Cedar is
a classic pine green, with a picture of thick pine boughs laden with
pinecones. Sparkling Snow is winter
white with a picture of a snowflake, with snowy pine branches in the background,
decorated with glittering snowflakes around the sides of the image.
North Pole
is the one of the only sweetly-scented candles I go for, that isn’t mixed with
spice. It is the most Christmassy scent
of the lot, but I felt it should still be included because it mixes well with
any of the others I have all winter long, as they help cut the peppermint. North Pole is predominantly peppermint, but
it’s not overpowering. The mint is overlaid
with vanilla, which makes for a reminder of those peppermint pinwheel cookies
that are just as good during the holidays as later in the winter season. This candle is a creamy white, picturing a
bundle of red and green candy canes in the foreground of some warm white fairy
lights.
Vanilla Chai is characterized in the food and spice in Yankee Candle, and is good all year round, but that makes it appropriate for winter and a nice change from the holiday scents that we’ve all been bombarded with for the last couple months. It is warm and slightly spicy, but not in an overly-cinnamon way, perfect for autumn and winter nights (and dark days) curled up watching a program on the arctic. (I prefer the Wildest Arctic series to Frozen Planet, personally.) The light vanilla dose is again, not too sweet, but perfectly keeps the spice from becoming too much. This candle is a warm caramel brown, with cups of chai tea, surrounded by spices and vanilla beans.
There you are! As you can tell, I love both fresh and warm candle scents (well, that goes for perfume as well). I know many people are sticklers for keeping holiday candles for the holidays, but to be honest, only one mentioned above is truly festive (North Pole). I love these scents, and they do help a home feel more cozy. I'd love to do future posts on candles from Slatkin and Co., Diptyque, and The White Company, so I'll have to start testing!
(Note: I am not being sponsored, these are products I bought or received from friends and am doing an honest review.)
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