Fall Picks 2010

It's my favorite time of year and the best time for fragrance, in my opinion. Here are my picks for fall candles this year:

Leaves by Slatkin & Co.



A must-have every autumn. They've had this scent for a couple years now and I think it's everyone's favorite at B&BW. My sister descibes this scent as a fall dessert. It's apple cider, cinnamon, and other spices like clove/nutmeg etc. Bathandbodyworks.com describes it as "Autumnal notes of golden nectar, juicy mandarin and red delicious apple are paired with toasted cinnamon stick, mulled cider spices and freshly harvested red berries."

Pumpkin Patch by Slatkin & Co.



This isn't a new scent; it's a returning favorite of mine. It used to be part of the collection called "The Perfect Autumn" like the collection during the holiday season called "The Perfect Christmas". This one was called The Perfect Autumn - Pumpkin then a couple years ago they changed the name to Pumpkin Patch. I think a pumpkin scent is a necessity during fall. You have to have an apple scent and a pumpkin scent. And my first two candles cover those bases. "Pumpkin Patch is an invitingly warm blend of fresh pumpkin, spicy cinnamon, creamy nutmeg, whipped butter, and rich brown sugar."

By the way, if you know Slatkin as well as I do you'll notice that the labels on these two candles are different and nicer - the pictures are larger and more artistic I guess you could say. This year it seems they made these new labels and the old ones. I've seen both in stores and they're the same price so you might not care about that but it's just an observation.

Caramel Apple by Slatkin & Co.




My fellow candle-obsessed friend doesn't like this one. I would say give it a chance. The first time I smelled it I didn't think I liked it either but now I love it because it stands out. You can smell both the caramel AND the apple. I think they blended the two perfectly. The more I smelled this one, the more I liked it. I might go back and get the oil for my Scentbug. This was a new scent for Slatkin this year, along with Creamy Pumpkin (too ordinary and P. Patch is the better pumpkin scent) and Autumn (which I'll review in the next post probably). It can smell a little like maple oatmeal at first but burn it and you might love it like me. "Golden apple, brown sugar and creamy caramel are blended with Anjou pear, nutmeg and vanilla cream to create this fall favorite."

Harvest by Yankee

A fall classic. I spent so much money on Slatkin this year, I haven't even bought this yet (hence no picture) but I probably still will. This combines all the great scents of fall into one candle - apple, cinnamon, pumpkin, etc. If you're only gonna get one fall candle, then it might as well be Harvest. This is probably my all time favorite Yankee scent. Yankeecandle.com says "A blend of cinnamon, cloves, and musk with a hint of sweet apples and pumpkin."

Honorable Mentions - Ginger Vanilla by Slatkin & Co. (They didn't make this scent this year but they were still selling some on QVC.com. I love and miss this scent.) and Cranberry Orange by Yankee (one of their new ones this year; "Fresh-baked muffins with tart cranberries, sweet orange zest and spicy cloves.")

{Currently Burning - Autumn by Slatkin & Co.}

Yankee's September Scent

Macintosh

"So vividly real you can almost taste the unmistakable crunch." I don't know about all that but this is a great apple scent - very true. It reminds me of Soergel's Orchards in the fall when they're making fresh apple cider and selling all sorts of fresh apples.

Great Labor Day Weekend Sale

All Slatkin 3 wick candles are 2 for $20 this weekend! Visit bathandbodyworks.com for more information. I already stocked up. This sale doesn't happen very often and it's the best deal they do on these candles (that are the best money can buy in my opinion.) So stock up or try new fall scents...and then some!

{Currently Burning- Slatkin & Co. Caramel Apple}

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.

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!

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}

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.