Secret Sale on Yankee Candle's Conceal®!

Did you know that from 100 feet away mosquitoes can smell your scent, especially the carbon dioxide you exhale? If you talk or even breathe, there’s no hiding from these pesky bugs! Conceal® by Yankee Candle® is fabulous because it blocks your scent leaving you free to have fun, eat great summer food, and be bite free. Here's how it works: mosquitoes are blocked by the inhibitor plume produced by the candle. If you can smell the Garden Fresh Scent produced by the lit candle, you are in the inhibitor plume and hidden from any mosquitoes looking for a tasty meal!

Have you tried Conceal® our mosquito repellent candle? It really helps you enjoy being outside in the summer! And a fantastic Conceal­® promotion was announced by Tory Johnson during Secret Sales on Eyewitness News First at Four PM. Check it out here (details highlighted on 2:11 of video). The promotion is available through 7/31/11 only at all Yankee Candle Company retail stores in the US and on our website when you use the promo code provided in the video.

Yankee Candle's Top 5 Scents for Dad's Day

While some think scented candles are appreciated only by women, I know differently. Growing up, my sisters and I knew that our Dad was waxing nostalgic when he would light all the candles on the porch and turn on the radio to the oldies station. We fondly remember stopping by the Pottery Factory in Virginia and loading the trunk with candles in as many sizes, styles, and scents as we could fit. For our family, candles signified relaxing at the end of a busy week and we delighted in fun summer evenings lit by fireflies and the warm glow of candles. It's no surprise then that while others may think of candles for Mother’s Day, I turn to them just as often for my Dad. So, what is an appropriate candle for a man? Of course it depends on the person and his taste in scents but here are my personal Top 5 Scents for Dad:

1. Fireside™- the scent of a warm, crackling wood fire brings back a flood of backyard cookout memories.
2. Storm Watch®- a classic scent for a classic dad; reminiscent of the ocean air before a storm.
3. Midsummer's Night®- the ultimate in masculinity, this is my pick for a new Dad.
4. Let Freedom Ring™ - part of our 2011 patriotic collection this makes a nice gift for a Navy veteran like my Dad.
5. Conceal® - Our mosquito-blocking candle is great for anyone who spends time outside.

Evening Picnics by the Light of Yankee Candles

Summer seems to begin with a flurry of activity: the end of the school year, graduations, dance recitals, parades, weddings, travel and vacation. Beginning in August, there are a few precious weeks that end up being some of my favorite moments. Those days when summer is waning and the days are growing shorter, but the sun is still strong and the evenings still warm. The farm stands are bursting with late harvest crops and no meal is complete without freshly picked sweet corn and plump, juicy tomatoes. Because I know that these nights won't last and cold weather bringing busy schedules is just around the bend, my goal is to enjoy every moment outside. Tonight, I'll set the patio table, light Conceal® candles, and dine on sliced freshly ripened beefsteak tomatoes with mozzarella, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and served with a baguette. As the evening stars begin to twinkle we'll sip a glass of chilled Riesling and listen to the carefree play of children acting as if back to school is a long, long time from now!

A Scented Memory

Some people remember their first day on the job because they were excited or nervous or overwhelmed. I remember my first day on the job because of the way it smelled. February 16 1993 I arrived to my new job at the Yankee Candle Company and the air was filled with a mix of whatever they were making that day. I remember it being a strong floral - maybe Country Heather - with a sweet French Vanilla twist. To this day that scent will return and it will carry me back to that moment in time. The sense of smell is amazing that way. I remember in those early years when candles were poured where our store's Candle Emporium is today, I went home smelling like the fragrance that was being made. It was a good day if the scent was something like Sage & Citrus or the refreshing MacIntosh. Look out when an overpowering citronella was being made (thank goodness we now have Conceal® to ward off mosquitoes in a much more pleasant way)! On a Midsummer's Night® day, people at the local grocery store assumed I was wearing my boyfriend's clothes. When Spiced Pumpkin was on the menu I always felt like there would be something yummy waiting for me when I got home. Our factory is just down the road apiece from where it was back then and new technology allows us to keep much more of that precious scent in the wax rather than allowing it to waft away in the air. When the atmosphere is just right, though, and our candlemakers are crafting certain scents, I get a whiff of something wonderfully familiar and I feel that same first day of work excitement again. Yankee Candle, thanks for the memories!

Candles for Dads

Working with candles everyday, I am often reminded that the first person to ever share with me his love for scented candles was my father. Growing up it was often a joke that when we went to Virginia's Pottery Factory as a family, my mother would browse for pots while my father loaded the trunk with candles of varying shapes and forms to bring back home. (This was, of course, in the 70's before Yankee Candle® came into my life!) In fact, my sisters and I knew that Dad was waxing nostalgic when he would light all the candles on the porch and turn on the radio to the oldies station. It's no surprise then that while others may think of candles for the women in their lives, I turn to them just as often for my Dad. So, what is an appropriate candle for a man? Of course it depends on the person and his taste in scents. Several weeks ago my father celebrated his birthday and I gave him a Conceal® mosquito blocking candle to use when he's outside gardening. As a retired Naval officer, he loved the Stars & Stripes™ candle I gave him for Memorial Day. And with Father's Day quickly approaching I'm looking to something like Sea Harbor™ or Sun & Sand® so that we can reminisce about our fun days at the beach!

Mosquito Season? Not For Me!

There’s nothing I like better than eating outside on a warm summer evening. There’s nothing I like less than having my meal ruined by either nasty mosquitoes or foul-smelling bug repellent! Thank goodness for Conceal®! Did you know that from 100 feet away mosquitoes can smell your scent, especially the carbon dioxide you exhale? If you talk or even breathe, there’s no hiding from these pesky bugs! Conceal® is fabulous because it blocks your scent leaving you free to have fun, eat great summer food, and be bite free.

No more slapping and scratching - no more buzzing and biting – Conceal® saves the day for me!