17/12/13 - It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas...

It's a huge cliche, particularly within the blogging community, but I love me a good scented candle.  They make a room feel cosier and smell delicious, which was particularly useful in a student house that was often pervaded by various slightly funky aromas.  Now that I'm back at home, it's not a habit I'm keen to break.  I just can't get enough of them!  And a new season welcomes a chance to mix it up a little.  Generally, I tend to lean towards fresh citrus scents (one of my favourites being Yankee Candle's Vanilla Lime) but they seem slightly inappropriate for this time of year.  So I thought I'd write a little bit about my little foray into festive candles.

On a slightly stressful Christmas shopping trip, I took a few moment's refuge in the little Yankee Candle shop on Liverpool's main shopping street and accidentally left with a couple of additions to my collection.  I often have trouble finding wintery scents that I really like as they tend to be overrun with cinnamon, which I'm not a huge fan of.  Much as I love Christmas spices, I prefer to be able to smell something other than just cinnamon.  Instead, I decided to experiment with some sweeter candles than I would normally opt for.  Christmas tends to be the only time of year that I can properly stomach my room smelling so strongly of baked goods - much as I appreciate them in small doses, all the cupcake and cookie scents around are just a bit too much for me.  But in a bit of a departure for me, I went for Honey & Spice and Salted Caramel as a nod to something a bit more festive.

Both are really nice scents, in my opinion.  The combination of honey and spices helps to balance out the two things I dislike about the individual scents (sickly sweetness vs. crazy cinnamon), and I find it a comforting one to light of an evening after a long day at work.  

There seems to be very little that is 'salted' about the caramel candle, but that doesn't stop it being divine.  It's much sweeter than I tend to opt for but it does smell exactly like a piece of millionaire's shortbread and that can never be a bad thing!

I also nipped into Primark and picked up a couple of an old festive favourite.  I still use the tin from last year's three-wick Firewood Fig as storage for my extensive collection of rings.  Unfortunately, this little jar was the largest size they were offering this year which is a shame as the tin just seemed to last so much longer than the jar does.  Oh well, maybe next year.

I've been having some serious candle envy after watching plenty of YouTube videos which feature Bath and Body Works Christmas candles.  I'm particularly intrigued by the Fresh Balsam scent as nothing smells more like Christmas than pine, but I'm always reluctant to buy things online without having a chance to sniff them first.  If I ever find myself on the other side of the Atlantic, I'll be making a beeline straight for the nearest store to stock up!


What are your favourite festive candle scents?  Let me know in the comments!

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