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!

Hamburger Scented Candles? Really?

When the hamburger chain White Castle debuted their hamburger-scented candles this week, it really piqued my interest. I remember when I was a child my family (lovingly) referred to me as Wimpy after Popeye's friend because I could smell hamburgers from miles around. However, a hamburger scented candle seems a bit of a novelty, don't you think? I mean food fragrances are my favorites bar none and I love when those warm and cozy spicy scents come back into season, but there are certain foods that don't lend themselves to the way in which you'd want your home to smell. Baking scents like Blueberry Scone and Vanilla Cupcake, sweet aromas like Buttercream®, and fruity fragrances like Fruit Salad™ and MacIntosh are so delicious when they fill the house. But, do you really want your home to smell like sauteed onions or fried fish? It is true, though, that over the years, Yankee Candle has fielded some unusual requests to make candles that smell like pizza or bacon or Indian food. Who knows, maybe there will be a barbecue sauce candle somewhere in our future!