Delicious Scents Part 2

Colonial's Fresh Strawberry Rhubarb

This candle is very reminiscent of strawberry rhubarb jam. I preferred this particular scent over Yankee's Sweet Strawberry because Colonial's smelled more authentic. Sweet Strawberry is good, don't get me wrong, but it was more like a flavor than a scent; like Bonne Bell Lip Smackers. Fresh Strawberry Rhubarb is very faint when it burns, so if you are looking for something strong, check out Sweet Strawberry instead.

~lisa*

Delicious Scents

Yankee's Black Cherry

Wow, from the instant I popped open the lid the black cherry fragrance came screaming out. I know many friends and family members who have raved to me about this candle, so once I finally gave it a whirl I discovered just how right they all were. If you, like me, are into fruit scents, this is one of the best.

~lisa*

Friend Favourites

I recently asked two of my bestest gal pals what candles they liked the most. Noel's pick was Yankee's Vanilla Cupcake and I absolutely love it. It is exactly like a lemon cake with ton of delectable homemade vanilla icing. It's definitely one of the most edible tasting candles ever made. Nice choice, Noel.

Rebecca, on the other hand, likes Yankee's Lemon Lavender. It's more lemon than lavender which means it is tangy and refreshing which equals totally fabulous. Superb selection, Rebecca. Definitely check these two scents out, pronto!

~lisa*

Cashmere & Leather

Two nice alternatives to the usual fruit and floral scents are WoodWick's Cashmere and Colonial's Leather. Cashmere's sweet scent smells, to me, like orchids blooming in a botanical garden; it's really refreshing. Leather, on the other hand, burns with a comforting woodsy aroma and reminds me of the smooth leather interior of my Grandad's Cadillac. Both truly sensationally scents.

~lisa*

Thirsty?

Colonial Candle's Café au lait
For nearly five years I worked in a café as a barista, so clearly I have a great affinity for the smell of freshly brewed coffee. This candle took me back to those days of waking at the crack of dawn and preparing the day's Hazelnut blend for my customers. This is another new scent from Colonial and most definitely receives my absolute highest recommendation. It's utterly delicious.

Yankee Candle's Eggnog
Yankee managed to successfully capture the taste of eggnog with this excellent holiday candle. The nutmeg is subtle and the rum is strong, as should be when enjoying a fine eggnog. It's the perfect scent for a party consisting primarily of those struck down with lactose intolerance. (Y'know, cause if they can't actually drink it, they can at least enjoy the aroma.)

WoodWick's Cider
When the weather gets cold, it's definitely time for some hot cider. WoodWick has brought us a terrifically fragrant new candle that is chock full of sweet apples, fresh nutmeg, maybe an orange peel and a couple cinnamon sticks thrown in. I've taken to burning it alongside of Cranberry Fig and am incredibly pleased with the combination of the two.

Beanpod's Champagne
This soy candle smells like ginger ale and the tasty zip of bubbling champagne. It's so uniquely different from any other candle I've tried and I think mixing the soy beads of Champagne and maybe Strawberry Cream or Tangerine would make a fabulous blend fit for a New Year's Eve shin-dig.

~lisa*

Yankee Scents for Your Automobile

Car Gel - Mango Peach Salsa
I was really impressed with the Car Gel as an alternative to the long reigning Car Jar and I found the Mango Peach Salsa to be juicy and totally delicious. As a Car Gel it was strong, but not to the point where it becomes overwhelming and gives you a headache. The mango and peach are served up in equal amounts but I did detect a pinch of lemon juice. All in all, it goes nicely in my little Saturn as I bebop around town to Victor Manuelle's "Travesía."

Car Jar - Sparkling Cinnamon
This scent rocks! It's exactly like freshly ground cinnamon and also, reminds me a bit of the clove cigarettes a friend of mine used to smoke - they always smelled so divine. I've decided to place the Car Jar back in it's plastic cover and am going to save this for late December. My niece and I have a tradition of taking long drives through the Pine Barrens as we listen to "Have a Very Merry Chrismukkah!" This scent will add the perfect ambiance as we sip hot cocoa and sing along. Yes, I am a huge dork.

Pump and Go - Coconut Bay
When I first picked this up, I stopped with it to my parents' house. I showed my father the Pump and Go and said, "This Coconut one smells like naked Hawaiian girls on a beach." To which he replied, "Well, there's absolutely nothin' wrong with that, now is there?" Clearly my Irish Mama wasn't home to hear this or he would have certainly been in the doghouse. But honestly, it really smells like Hawaiian Tropic Suntan Oil and that is definitely a good thing!

The Pump and Go is an ingenious little device that allows the owner to decide how much of the fragrance they want released. Once the A/C or heat kicks on, you will get some serious fragrance from that lil' Pump & Go. I recommend this over the Car Gel or Car Jar for those that smoke, because this is, I feel, the best of the three for getting rid of strong scents.

And by the way, all three of these choices come in a bunch of different fragrances, so get on over there and pick your favourite!!

~lisa*

Votivo - Red Currant

Prior to writing this post, I had only heard of Votivo in passing while flipping through InStyle or O magazine. In fact, back in 2002, Votivo was actually included on The O List, and that's saying something. I mean clearly Oprah is used to the finer things and would only recommend the best of the best. Anyway, Red Currant supposedly is Votivo's most popular scent and after trying it, I say rightly so. It's an outstanding candle. However, the description tells of tart currants and vanilla ice cream with sugar cookies, so I was expecting something sweet and fruity. This is not so. I found Red Currant to smell of an intoxicating perfume from another era; like crushed English rose petals from an enchanted garden.

In researching Votivo, a company whose product I had never before had the pleasure of testing, I discovered just what it is that sets them into a class all their own. The fragrances are developed by perfumers and that is what truly makes all the difference. "A perfumer, however, needs more than a passably fine nose. He needs an incorruptible, hard working organ that has been trained to smell for many decades, enabling him to decipher even the most complicated odours by composition and proportion, as well as to create new, unknown mixtures of scent."1 It is this difference that makes Votivo so unique in a market so often plagued by mediocrity. Votivo's candles are created using high quality soy wax which enables the candle to burn slowly thus giving the consumer a long lasting product. Their fragrances, I read, were apparently famous for their ability to quickly fill a room. I put that theory to the test and I found that to be an understatement of gargantuan proportions. They actually engulf a room in what feels like the blink of an eye. But do not be mistaken by my phrasing, Red Currant was not overwhelming. It simply filled my home completely with the most beautiful aroma and lingered well after it had been snuffed out. It left a sillage, as the French would say. It felt as if it had become the natural smell of my home. That is why I can say without question that these candles are nothing short of totally spectacular.

From the design of the charming little box, to the strong glass candle that is wrapped delicately in tissue paper, everything about my first experience with Votivo was wonderful. I've already purchased two as gifts for the upcoming holidays, just in case CandlesToMyDoor should sell out. Next I look forward to testing the Vanilla Grapefruit. It smelled so delicious that I almost passed out in the aisle. I must admit that of all the candles I've had the pleasure to review, this is now by far my absolute favourite (sorry Olive and Patchouli, I've found another love.)

~lisa*


1 taken from Patrick Süskind's novel "Perfume" as translated by John E. Woods (In perfumery, the wake of lingering notes that follow a woman wearing scent are known as sillage. - inthenews.co.uk)