I Need A Little Yankee Candle Christmas!

One of my favorite times to think about the holiday season is just as the weather is starting to change. The days are just a bit shorter, the nights are just a bit cooler, and my mind starts to wander thinking about the days and weeks ahead. Will I have a theme to my decor or will my daughter's hand-made creations be the theme? In addition to our traditional holiday yummies, what new recipes can I try? Of course, on December 24th I'll be burning my personal favorite scent Christmas Eve®, but will I find a new scent to love and add to my family celebration this season?
Before my schedule gets crazy and the hurried pace of life accelerates, I can truly savor the anticipation of this magical time of year and take inspiration from favorite magazines, treasured memories, and this new video from Yankee Candle's fragrance expert Doreen Smith. Hmmm, Cherries on Snow™ sounds like it just might become this year's holiday scent-erpiece!

Yankee Candle Helps Make A House Smell Like a Home

I remember when I was house-hunting I would scour the weekend paper looking for Open Houses in neighborhoods I liked. Walking into someone else's house is always a bit strange and sometimes it can be difficult to imagine living there, but when the house smells like a home it can make all the difference in the world. The houses I really liked inevitably had a warm and comforting scent. Sometimes it was a baking aroma like someone just pulled a batch of cookies from the oven. Other times it was just a fresh, clean scent that made me feel like the house was well-maintained. Though the actual fragrance differed from home to home, I always found the source to be the same: a lit Yankee Candle® jar or Yankee Candle® Electric Air Freshener!

If you look at any "Top 10" list of tips for a successful real estate open house, you'll see that my experience isn't just happenstance. In fact when staging your house for a showing, giving it an appealing scent goes a long way in making it feel more like a home. This added element triggers happy thoughts and memories, ensuring that all senses are engaged in a warm and inviting way.

Yankee Candle products are available at all Yankee Candle Company retail stores, on our website, and at gift and home stores nationwide.

Yankee Candle Fragrance Boosts Your Scent Appeal!

I first realized the emotional appeal of Yankee Candle fragrances when I was house hunting. When my husband and I were newly married and living in a small apartment, one of our favorite pasttimes was scouring the neighborhood for real estate open houses. We loved visiting houses of all types and styles and dreaming about our "some day" home. In those days my favorite houses were the ones that not only looked pretty, but they smelled good too. There was something about a fragrant home that made it feel happy and loved. Inevitably I would find that the source of the scent was a lit Yankee® candle in the kitchen or living room. The warm, friendly aromas of Home Sweet Home® or MacIntosh would fill the air and the house would take on a completely different feel.

On their blog "Real Estate Advice, Answers, and More" Nothnagle Real Estate references the impact of a home's scent on its market value. They write, "there is a direct connection between smell and people's moods so light fragrances can help create 'scent appeal' when used properly in the home ... A light floral fragrance can put people in a more pleasant mood while citrus scents tend to have an energizing effect. Vanilla is often found to be comforting and relaxing." And they further recommend that, "a small reed diffuser in a bathroom can keep the room smelling clean while not overpowering the space."

It makes sense, doesn't it? To make a house a home, you add curb appeal to the outside so why not add scent appeal to the inside?

Yankee® Candles Glow With Style

Last week, super model and business woman Tyra Banks asked her Twitter followers if they light candles. She tweeted that although she loves candles she very rarely lights them and she wondered if there were others like her. Almost immediately many of her followers responded with their own tweets proclaiming their addiction not just to candles, but to Yankee® candles! And, just as strongly, they talked about their love for lighting candles. Yankee Candle fans know that the beauty of a scented candle is not just the cold fragrance that you get when you lift the lid of the jar, but it is also in the glow and the warming of the fragrance. When the scent is warmed, the fragrance will intensify and it will spread throughout the area. Beyond the fragrance, the glow from a lit candle adds ambiance like no other light can. A lit candle joins music and accessories in really defining your personal style. I say, don't hold back Tyra - let your candles glow!

Yankee Candle Helps You Show Your Stars & Stripes™ This Memorial Day!

The unofficial kick-off to the summer season is Memorial Day Weekend and if the weather is good, we'll drape the porch with bunting, hang out Ol' Glory, and light the up the grill. The great Memorial Day backyard barbecue is as American as, well, Yankee Candle!

This year, I will be proud to add a special edition Stars & Stripes™ Yankee® candle as part of my celebration. Appropriately fragranced with our famous Home Sweet Home® scent, the candle has a beautiful image of the waving flag.

Celebrating America is nothing new for our Massachusetts-based company. From annual gifts within our community, helping schools and non-profits raise needed funds through Yankee Candle® Fund-raising, and supporting our troops with exclusive products sold in all military exchanges including the Coast Guard, Marines and Veterans Canteen Services, Yankee Candle believes in being good corporate citizens. In 2009 we joined forces with AAFES in an event that touched many of our hearts. To commemorate the opening of bases in Germany and Korea we created “Send Me Home For the Holidays”, a campaign during which we were able to reunite two soldiers with their families at Christmas. It was deeply moving and we are eager to duplicate our efforts again this year.

Whether you plan to watch a parade, gather with family, or shop ‘til you drop, I hope your Memorial Day Weekend kicks off a summer filled with scent-sational memories!

Fragrance Layering

Fragrance layering is a term that has been used by beauty and fragrance companies for years. Women and men alike have been educated in applying their personal scents in multiple layers: bath and shower gels, shaving and body lotions, powders and colognes. What many people don't know is that you can layer your home fragrance, too! Start by deciding whether you want to layer a single fragrance, or create your home's custom scent by introducing complimentary fragrances. Once you've determined that, you can mix both passive and active fragrance forms until you find the strength you desire.

Here's what I do. I start with the season and select a fragrance that matches my seasonal decor. Right now I'm yearning for summer so my scents are Beach Walk™ and Sun & Sand™. I use an Electric fragrancer in an outlet near my door so that I get a whiff of my favorite scent as soon as I come home. Then I put a bowl of Sun & Sand™ potpourri in my foyer and a Beach Walk™ fragranced reed - in that beautiful Signature bottle - in my living room. All of these are products that fragrance the home around the clock so they add a great base layer of scent. Then, when I know I'll be home for a while I light candles to add that powerful punch and beautiful ambient glow. Fragrance layering - it's my favorite way to make a statement in my home!

Don’t Forget – Easter’s Early!

“Don’t Forget – Easter’s Early So Book Your Reservations Now!” That’s what the sign read when I drove past a restaurant this weekend and boy did it wake me up! I don’t need reservations because my sister Patty will be doing the honors for the family this year. I do, however, need Easter gifts and décor! No worries, a quick trip to Yankee Candle did the trick and now my house is fully outfitted and smelling spring-y just in time for the Easter Bunny’s arrival.

Scent-i-mental Journey

More than any other sense, the sense of smell evokes the most lucid memories. A quick whiff of an unexpected yet familiar smell will immediately transport you to another place and time. There’s an aroma to my daughter’s school that is in some way similar to what I remembered smelling whenever I visited my Grandmom’s house. I don’t know if it’s because the buildings are the same age, or because they’re both brick, or perhaps it’s the familiar smell of the heat as it is drawn through the old radiators. The source of the scent is really insignificant – what’s noteworthy is how it makes me feel. My daughter’s school immediately feels like it’s a safe, warm, and nurturing environment because it reminds me of that special place. Similarly, when I’m burning a Spiced Pumpkin candle I’m filled with happy memories of being newly married and in my own home for the very first time. We couldn’t afford living room furniture so Evan and I made our vacant home feel cozy with our favorite Yankee Candle scent. Whenever that scent is in the air now, I’m overcome with the same warm and happy feelings. It’s an amazing thing when one sense is so powerful that it can change your whole perspective! It's also a key element to keep in mind when you want to make a moment even more memorable.

Think of fragrance as important as music when you are planning your next occasion. You pay attention to what your guests see when they walk in the room and you script the music like it's a movie score, but its the scent that will linger in their memories for a long, long time!

Top Candle Safety Tips - Part 2

As beautiful and fragrant as they are, candles have become an "e-scential" part of today's lifestyle. A lit candle adds ambiance and can serve as a mood enhancer so it's easy to overlook important safety concerns when our favorite scent fills the room. Here is the second part of my Top Candle Safety Tips:

• Discontinue use when 1/2” of wax remains. When the wax is low in the jar the flame is very close to the glass, making it very hot to the touch and increasing the possibility of cracking or shattering.


• Don’t re-use jar glass for another candle. As tempting as this may be, during the first use of the jar candle the glass may have developed hidden stress fractures that would make it unsafe for reuse as a candle.


• Use in an appropriate holder. If you are using a different candle style such as a tea light, votive or taper, be sure to use the right kind of holder for that style.


• Keep away from flammable objects such as fabric curtains, decorative trim, etc. Flowing curtains and festive evergreen boughs will ignite very quickly and without warning. Keep them separated from lit candles.


• Do not burn on or near another heat source. It is not a safe practice for a candle to be warmed on the outside of the glass, especially while it is also being heated inside. Don’t use your valuable television or lit stove as a candle stand and don’t use a candle warmer with a Yankee Candle!