Monday, August 30, 2010

Foodie Scent 2



Yankee Candle Almond Cookie

I'm currently in love with this candle. I'm over summer scents and I'm not ready for fall yet so a bakery scent was a good transitional candle for me. I found this at a Yankee outlet store for $15 for the large jar. It's something you can burn year round and it's a real "feel good" scent, as most foodie scents are. But this one is different enough that I recommend going out and buying. It's not overly sweet, it's got a warm feeling without having those Christmasey notes like cinnamon or apple. Yankeecandle.com says, "Still warm from the oven ... rich almonds and buttery vanilla baked in an irresistibly luscious treat." Exactly right. Yum.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Casa di Francesca Diffusers

This collection is found on HSN - on tv or hsn.com. The brand is represented by Katie Borghese - the wife of Skip Borghese, one of the representatives of Perlier Italian Bath and Body.

I first purchased one of these diffusers for my mom for Mother's Day. There's a wide variety of scents and they have starter kits with oil, diffuser sticks, and a handblown Italian vase and they also have refill kits with just oil and sticks. I bought my mom the Honeysuckle & Night Blooming Jasmine. I thought it was a great scent even though I'm not a big fan of florals. It had a lot of scent for a diffuser and the smell was very authentic, unique, and high end - not cheap smelling at all (which is good because these are kind of expensive).

Then I purchased a set of mini diffusers on sale for myself during a recent event they had. I purchased the Eat, Pray, Love™ Casa di Francesca Mini Diffuser Set which is still available on hsn.com. (Both of the products that I purchased are also customer picks which means it has an average of 4-5 stars out of 5 based on customer reviews and ratings.)



I loved the idea of getting three small ones because I couldn't pick just one scent and I could put them in my bedroom without too much constant fragrance. HSN did a big "Eat, Pray, Love" event so this kit comes with a scent for each of the places that the character/author of the book/movie visited:



Italy - Lavender, Rosemary, and Thyme (herbal and fresh with a little bit of spice)



India - Cinnamon and Vanilla (not too potent of a cinnamon and is nice and sweet)



Bali - Frangipani, Ylang Ylang, and Jasmine (soft floral that reminded me of clouds)



Let me just say - GIFT GIFT GIFT!!! The packaging is impeccable for the whole line really but especially this set. It's twenty dollars which seems expensive but this is all made in Italy and will probably be the best diffusers you've ever smelled/used. The scents also come individually in their own set with more oil and really pretty vases - different for each one. The sticks they use absorb very well and the scent dissipates throughout a whole room if you keep flipping them over. These are by far the top of the line when it comes to diffusers and they have made me really enjoy this form of home fragrance. I will definitely come back to this line for gift giving again and for myself. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how lovely the packaging really is - even the inside of the box is printed with a map and there's gold foil accents on the outline of the box and a story of "Francesca" on the back. Give this set a try before it sells out!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Yankee Candle Fragrance Mixology

Yankee Candle is now advertising "Fragrance Mixology" by making it possible to burn multiple scents at one time with their new triple votive holder. They have a long list of "recipes" with scents to combine on their website. You can either burn two or three at a time, or even just one if you wanted. I like this new idea and it's fun and easy to come up with your own combinations as well. Votives don't last long but that allows you to keep trying new mixes and they are inexpensive to buy. Plus the scent throw ends up being stronger than with just one votive.

Here are Yankee's combinations that I have tried:


Toasted Marshmallows: Fireside™ and Vanilla Cupcake

Fireside overpowered this combination and I like that scent but if I were to burn this mix again, I would do two Vanilla Cupcakes and one Fireside and see if that made the scents more even.

Super Clean: Spiced Orange and Lemon Lavender



I love this. Spiced Orange is one of the new fall fragrances in the Yankee line and I think it's one of the best ones. It reminds me a little bit of Wick Hut's Mandarin Tiki. I was able to smell both scents and it created a wonderfully fresh scent that could be burned year round.

Warm Muffins: Cranberry Orange, Cinnamon & Sugar and French Vanilla



This is my favorite. This combination should be made into it's own candle. Cranberry Orange is also one of the new fall scents and it might be my favorite. This scent combination is just what you want your house to smell like all the time. It reminds me a little bit of fall but it's definitely a year round fragrance. It's a little spice and sweet and comforting. I know they already have a scent called "Home Sweet Home" but that's what comes to mind with this scent.

Bed & Breakfast: Cranberry Orange and Home Sweet Home®

I couldn't even really smell this one. Maybe since it's only two votives but you can smell the Super Clean combination a lot more. These would be 2 great scents to burn alone. If you're going for a "Bed & Breakfast" feel, I would go with the Warm Muffins combination.

I would recommend trying the mixology. The votive holder and votives are inexpensive and there's probably an endless combination of candles to mix. Once you burn them for awhile, the wax runs into the other candles so it creates a new color and it's own scent which is pretty cool (as pictured below with "Warm Muffins").



You can still find the list of scent combinations by searching for "mixology" on Yankee's website.

{Currently Burning - Island Nectar by Slatkin & Co}

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Yankee's August Scent



Evening Air

"The crisp breeze of a fall night warmed with notes of clove, geranium, basil, cedarwood and musk." This one just smells like soap. :) It sounds fantastic from the desription they give so I might go out and buy a tart to burn just to give it enough of a chance but from the sample on the calendar - men's soap.