Christmas Picks 2010

If you're like me, your place is already decorated for Christmas and you're already thinking about Christmas scented candles. I usually don't start this early with Christmas decorating but I'm really excited for all things Christmas to come. I've already said that word 4 times in this introduction.

This year I'm gonna give my picks for Christmas first, then my picks for winter in a later post. Some of them could be either, but in Pennsylvania, the snow doesn't hit really hard usually until after Christmas and when I think winter, I think snow and really cold temperatures. So I usually burn my winter scents after Christmas. Christmas scents I burn November and December when everywhere you look, places are decorated for the holiday and the christmas carols start to play.

Slatkin & Co. Fresh Balsam



I need to have a pine scent - pure pine to mimic the fresh cut pine tree we used to have in our living room when I was growing up. After trying several different types, this one is the perfect and purest one in my opinion. Bathandbodyworks.com describes it as "Crisp, clean balsam fir blends delightfully with fresh eucalyptus and sweet pine layered with notes of bright apple, cedarwood and musk."

Slatkin & Co. Spice



This is another must-have classic. A lot of people think of cinnamon when they think of Christmas scents. This is also a pure scent to me - cinnamon and clove, warm and cozy. Very holiday. "Spice is the perfect blend of red cinnamon, spiced orange peel and sweet vanilla cream."

Slatkin & Co. Winter Garland



This one is new this year along with a lot of other new holiday scents at Bath & Body Works. I smelled it in the single wick earlier in the year and hated it and now here I am listing it as one of my favorites. It's pine with other notes of cranberry and orange so it's a nice combination of scents. "A sparkling combination of cranberry champagne, blood orange and red berry mixed with the essence of evergreen moss, white cedar and toasted clove." I just realized the description on the website is different than the one on the bottom of the candle but they're similar enough to smell the same.

Slatkin & Co. Holly Wreath



This one is very unique. It smells like pine but it actually has no pine notes in it at all. I'll give their description first: "Fresh juniper and eucalyptus leaves combined with notes of spicy cinnamon bark and sparkling citrus." This one is very fresh and almost smells a little of mint. I can smell the notes of eucalyptus but no one note stands out more than the others.

Slatkin & Co. Mint Chocolate



This one isn't necessarily a Christmas scent or a winter scent but here's my logic - the cool mint reminds me of winter and the chocolate reminds me of holiday. This is more mint chocolate chip ice cream than a peppermint patty or peppermint bark. It's not fake smelling though. It's yummy and fresh. "Semi-sweet chocolate, dark cocoa and peppermint."

Honorable Mentions (with no pictures)

Yankee Candle Holiday Bayberry

"Pine, fir, and laurel are softened with the clean scent of bayberry, frankincense, and myrrh." Here's the story on why you should burn a bayberry candle on Christmas Eve (courtesy of Yankeecandle.com):

First made by early colonists who boiled real bayberries to get the wax, bayberry candles are considered by many to be the original scented candles in America. Because they were difficult and expensive to make, they were highly prized and reserved for special occasions. Traditional holds that when one receives a bayberry candle as a gift from a friend, then burns the candle on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve (allowing candle to burn itself out), they will receive good luck, good health, and much wealth. That translates into the popular saying that "burning a bayberry candle from tip to socket puts luck in the home and gold in the pocket."

Purchase Yankee Candle's Natural Bayberry Tapers to get the real thing with the story on the box!

Yankee Candle Christmas Cookie

If you're not baking constantly during the holiday season, just burn this candle and it smells just as good. It's one of the yummiest candle scents ever. "Buttery rich, vanilla scented, holiday sugar cookies."


Is Santa here yet?

{Currently Burning - Slatkin & Co. Cranberry Woods}

Yankee's November Scent

Be Thankful

"It's easy to appreciate nature's goodness in the warm, inviting aromas of a Thanksgiving kitchen." That really doesn't describe the scent at all so I'll do that. All I really smell from this sample is nutmeg. You'd think it smelled like apple pie from this picture but... no. It kind of smells like the Creamy Nutmeg scent from B&BW. Nothing special about this one though.

Slatkin & Co. Cranberry Woods

This is a great transitional scent from fall to winter. It can also be burned in both seasons. It's a nice change from the other fall scents I've been burning (Leaves, Pumpkin Patch, and Harvest). There's no cinnamon, apple, or pumpkin in this one. It's cranberry, maybe a little orange, and the warm woods scent of trees or firewood. It's a little sweeter when it burns than I imagined - I might like a little more of the "woods" but it's still nice. Bathandbodyworks.com describes it as "A mysterious blend of cranberry, rich black currant, and raspberry layered with notes of cinnamon bark, cedarwood and warm amber."

B&BW Vanilla Bean Noel

The time is upon us where the Holiday Traditions line at B&BW is available once again. When it comes to body care, this is my favorite line at B&BW. Every other line or scent they have, especially the signature collection, is way too strong and overpowering. The holiday traditions line is creamy and lightly scented. I stock up when it's available because it is only in stores and online during the holidays. The scents and products available along with the packaging change every year slightly. This year they have the returning favorites vanilla bean noel, winter candy apple (my sister's favorite), and twisted peppermint, and the new snow kissed berry.

My favorite scent in this line is Vanilla Bean Noel. Twisted Peppermint comes in a close second and I only use that scent in winter since the cool vanilla peppermint seems appropriate at that time. But VBN you can use all year round. My favorite product in this line is the body cream. Thick and creamy yet absorbed by the skin quickly. I do not like the lotion - I find it thin, not very moisturizing, yet greasy and sticky. The scent is yum yum yum. Vanilla, caramel, cream. Sometimes it has a cotton candy scent but it is not strong or overly sweet. Trust me on that. Bathandbodyworks.com says "Our exclusive Vanilla Bean Noel is a warm blend of fresh vanilla bean, warm caramel and rich, comforting cream." This year, the body mist is better than last year. It smells like alcohol in the bottle but you can smell the scent when you spray it on. It just doesn't last very long. They also came out with it in a "HandiBac" this year which is my answer to wanting it in travel sizes. It's a travel size hand lotion that is also antibacterial.



They always have good deals on these products making it easy to stock up. I bought them when they were buy three get three free. That's a darn good deal. I'm not sure if that deal is still on or not. VBN comes in other products available now like lotion, shower gel, and pocket bac. I just reviewed my favorite products in the line. Check it out at their website or in stores.

{Currently Burning - Harvest by Yankee Candle}

Fresh Citron de Vigne

I had the pleasure of going into a Fresh store for the first time while I was visiting New York City a couple weeks ago. I. Loved. It. It's heaven for a scent lover like me. They have a ton of different scents and they come in different products (some more than others) - perfume, candles, soap, lotion, shower gel, etc. The associate there helped me since it was my first time there and she recommended 4 different products - 2 of which I bought. I bought their Sugar Rose Lip Treatment but it's the Citron de Vigne perfume I wanna talk about.

The website www.fresh.com has a blurb about this fragrance that you can go there to read since I can't copy and paste it. They describe it as "a crisp, sparkling scent inspired by France's champagne region." It looks like this is their most popular scent currently, or just the featured one and comes in a wide variety of products.

It's like a more sophisticated and upscale version of Bigelow's Lemon perfume. It's fresh and a little sweet with citrus/lemon notes and you can definitely smell the champagne as well. It's a young sophisticated scent. I say that because usually when a scent is described as "sophisticated" it smells like a strong old lady perfume but this is nowhere near that. I bought it in the medium 1 oz size to try it first and thought it was a good value. This bottle has more perfume than the rollerball but you can still carry it in your purse. This has a good staying power on me too and you only need 1 or 2 sprays.

If you haven't been to one of these stores, I recommend going if you can find one. I think they sell a limited number of products at beauty stores like Sephora but going into their store is a great experience. You can sample all their unique perfumes (there's something for everyone) and when I went, there were large jars (almost vats) of retired perfume scents they brought back and mixed themselves in the store. Exciting.

{Currently Burning - Leaves by Slatkin & Co.}

Yankee's October Scent

Autumn Leaves

"A vibrant medley of birch and maple leaves with pomegranate, juniper berry, and orange blossom." This scent swatch smells like pine to me. It must be the juniper berry. It's nice but it seems more of a winter scent than a fall one. Then I smelled it in the store and it smelled like Robitussin so I'm gonna pass on this one.

Bath & Body Works Holiday Preview

If you're a fragrance lover like me, then you might be itching for some holiday scents already. You need to go to http://www.bbwsneakpeek.com/. At this webpage, you can sign up to be notified of holiday items that aren't yet available and click links to view items available now. As for candles and home fragrance, Slatkin has returning favorites and also new holiday scents - a lot of new holiday scents. Dare I say, Slatkin and B&BW went overboard with new holiday scents this year? Of course not. You can NEVER have enough of these candles. Yankee had a email coupon come out today that was buy one get one free ALL large jars and I still went to B&BW and bought 2 Slatkin 3-wick candles at 2 for 20. Oh yeah, did I mention the 2 for $20 sale is on again??

This is getting me excited for Christmas.

{Currently Burning - Leaves by Slatkin & Co.}