I burn a lot of them around Christmas, but not so many the rest of the year unless it gets really cold.
I’m a candle freak, too. I love the scent, the colors, the warm, flickering light, the dancing shadows…I’m always happier with at least one burning somewhere nearby. I favor evergreen, herbal, and spicy scents, for the most part. My current favorite is the Henri Bendel Firewood scent, but the candles are pretty expensive, so I don’t burn them as much as I’d like.
Like Bellisima, I economize slightly by burning several unscented candles around a scented one. I also save wax remnants to scent drawers and to remake into jar candles. I also make my own–jar candles, votives, and occasionally tapers. I’ve been considering trying my hand at dipping some beeswax candles, but haven’t had time. I made some with a blend of rosemary and lemongrass recently that turned out well. I’m also trying to reconstruct the Firewood scent I mentioned above, but I haven’t quite got the proportions right yet–so far, the blend has come out with a bit sweeter than I want, which overwhelms the cedar scent.
We love the smell of candles but I’m having a hard time tolerating the black soot buildup.
We buy quality candles and trim the wicks but I can still see black soot on glass (mirrors, windows) so I know it’s all over the rest of the house too. I talked with a fire expert once who told me that the jar candles were the worst for soot because by the time the candle burns down to the bottom third of the jar, the flame can’t get enough oxygen to burn cleanly and will spew soot no matter what.
I understand that soy candles burn cleaner but my supplier is no longer in business so here I go again looking for the ultimate candle…long lasting scent and clean burning. Ugh.
I, too, just bought candle warmers and find that the scent isn’t as strong as when the candles were burned. I had to move the candles, though, to get to an outlet so maybe it’s just me.
Mmm, I love clean cotton/clean linen in most of its many incarnations. Some smell too much like cheap dryer sheets, but most are right on. It is even a mutually agreeable scent between Roomie and me. He finds most florals too girly, and we try to keep it pretty gender neutral in the common areas.
I think my roommate might even have gotten used to coming home to me sniffing candles trying to figure out which scent to burn. The first time it happened, I’m pretty sure he thought I was achieving some sort of blissed out candle-high from it.
The Clean Cotton from Bath and Body Works is one of my favorites. I can have it burning all day and it just never gets overwhelming.
AuntiePam, all I know is that it’s Yankee changing the prices, not the retailers - all of the tarts at my shop were individually priced and we had to change all the price tags when Yankee told us about the increase.
I love my candle sand garden (I think also from Pier One). It’s like a kit, with a big decorative plate with sand and rocks, and you can just plop your candles down in there and burn them without a candleholder.
About once a year, I go into Yankee Candles and buy a tray of eighteen votives in different scents. I have jar candles, too. My favorite new scent this year was Tea With Honey… yes, yes, okay, I DO like the food scents, mostly the baking scents. Tropical Vanilla was my all-time favorite.