Yankee Candle Scents & Nonsense

Not too long ago my family and I visited the home of Ben & Jerry's ice cream in Vermont. In their typical tongue-in-cheek fashion, the Ben & Jerry's marketers have decided to acknowledge the flavors that did not quite make the grade by displaying them on tombstones in a faux flavor graveyard. This got me to thinking about the Yankee Candle hits and misses over the years. What products and fragrances had real glow and which were no more than a pool of melted wax? In no one’s opinion but my own, here are the top 3 hits and misses in my Yankee Candle history:

Wax On

MacIntosh & Sage & Citrus – When introduced in 1998, MacIntosh and Sage & Citrus were enormously popular right from the first sniff. We’d had other scents that struck chords with our fans over the years, but these two were so uniquely wonderful that they led the way for other signature scents like Midsummer’s Night®, Clean Cotton®, and Mistletoe™.

Car Jars® - It’s been a decade since the launch of our candle-shaped auto fragrancers and boy has the Yankee Candle fan’s life changed since. This was our first non-candle product and since then fragrance fanatics the world over have been able to enjoy Yankee Candle scents in room sprays, potpourri, reeds, and even lip balm and anti-bac soap!

Fan Feedback – If there is one thing that changes the dynamic of everything we do, it’s hearing from and listening to all of the people who use our products. Whether we’re talking to customers face-to-face in our stores, reading what they write on facebook, or analyzing sales, our fans speak to us loud and clear!

Wax Off

Rhubarb Plum & Gooseberry Jam – These are two recent examples of when some scents can be a little too true-to-life!

Fragrant Shades of White – This out-of-the-box concept was developed on the notion that people may buy a candle if only its color didn’t clash with home décor. We poured all our best-selling fragrances in colorless wax so that if you wanted MacIntosh but detest the color red you could still enjoy the scent. Interest in these Fragrant Shades quickly faded away!

Discontinuing Storm Watch® & Fireside™ – And, I could add such other fan favorites as Eucalyptus and Patchouli. You all spoke loud and clear when these scents went away and we certainly learned an important lesson. We welcomed these favorites back into the line and you’ve welcomed them back into your homes!

Yankee Candle Fragrance Mixology

Like the best celebrity chefs, Yankee Candle fans love to mix their own recipes. They may take a little fruit, add some spice, and perhaps a touch of sweetness and voila! They get a scent unlike any other - their own custom home fragrance. At Yankee Candle we call it Fragrance Mixology, but you can call it the finishing touch that makes an ordinary event extraordinary!

To create your custom scent, think of it in terms of taste - what flavors go well together? If you have a little sour, you probably need a little sweet to balance it. The headiness of a floral might be tempered nicely by a fresh scent. Once you've thought about what might make a nice blend, it's time to shop for the fragrances! Narrow down your choice to 2 or 3 scents that sound like they’ll go well together and you can have fun experimenting. If you use Tarts® wax potpourri, you can break them into pieces and add a little of each into the bowl of the warmer until you get the aroma that you like. (Be careful not to add too many pieces, you don’t want melted wax to drip out of the warmer!) If you use Samplers® votive candles, you can either use several holders throughout your entertaining space or you can buy a unique clover shaped holder at www.yankeecandle.com that will allow you to burn 3 votives together. Once you're a master mixologist, you could even try blending scents with non-candle forms such as warming oils, or even using a candle in one fragrance and a reed in another. The scents will mix as they waft through the air.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Spiced Orange + Cranberry Chutney + Vineyard® = Autumn Harvest
• Creamy Caramel + Buttercream® + Fireside™ = Campfire Marshmallow
• Patchouli + Spiced Pumpkin = Witches' Parlor

You can see that the possibilities are endless – truly limited only by your own imagination. Have fun and let me know what custom scent you create!

New From Yankee Candle: Fragranced Figurines

I have a new way to add round-the-clock fragrance to my home and boy is it cute! No, I haven't given up on candles - not by a long shot. But there are times that I want to add scent without lighting a candle. Of course I use electric fragrancers but in my old home I don't always have a convenient outlet. That's why I was delighted to find these new fragrance diffusers from Yankee Candle®. They're pleasant to look at and pleasantly scented, adding seasonal charm wherever they are. The key is in the unglazed porcelain stem and leaf at the top of the pumpkin and apple. When you fill the vessel with MacIntosh or Spiced Pumpkin fragrance, the oil wicks up the porcelain and wafts through the room.
My home feels so warm and inviting even when the house has been empty because these darling little figurines are working overtime!

At Yankee Candle It's the Season for Leaf Peeping & Fall Festivals

All of a sudden it's fall. Saturday was one of those remarkably beautiful September days where you could feel that the change of season is coming. The air temperature was just cool enough for a sweater and yet the sun still felt warm on my face. Here in Western Massachusetts, it's the time of year when the hills are really alive. The leaves are just starting to turn and the farm stands are filled to overflowing with big round pumpkins, cornstalks and delightful scarecrows. It's no wonder that so many of our favorite Yankee Candle fragrances are inspired by this time of year! My favorite (as mentioned in previous blog posts) is Spiced Pumpkin, but other scents such as Autumn Leaves™ and our signature MacIntosh really strike a chord as well.
Whether you are in a cooler climate or whether your seasonality is a bit more subtle, Yankee Candle helps to transform your home to a quaint New England autumn inn just by lighting a candle!

Savor The Last Days of Summer with Fireside™ by Yankee Candle

I just finished reading an article posted to Seacoastonline about the tradition of signaling summer's end with a bonfire on the beach. The article brought forth a flood of memories. As a transplant to Massachusetts, I quickly learned that you really can't consider yourself a citizen of the Bay State unless you've spent some time on The Cape (Cape Cod to the rest of the world). Although getting on and off the Cape can be a daunting task - many a weekend is extended in an attempt to avoid the ever-present traffic - the rewards of spending time in one of the quaint towns or on the National Seashore are as fulfilling as the drive is frustrating. I remember on our first trip to Truro, my husband and I were enchanted by the collections of people who remained on the beach long after the sun had set, each group encircling a glowing and crackling campfire in the sand. The simplicity of enjoying a day so much that you don't want it to ever end and the comfort of good friends and warm firelight illuminating a starry night, are images I won't forget. This weekend, as Labor Day signifies the last of the carefree summer days and Hurricane Earl is setting his sites on the eastern seaboard, I'll be inland in Western Massachusetts. But I'll light my Yankee Fireside™ candle, and have my own salute to the summer that was, imagining that crackling wood fire in the salt mist air. Happy Labor Day Weekend, everyone!