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!