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.

Scenting The Way To College Life

'Tis the season for graduations! We went to one graduation party last weekend and have two others to attend this weekend! It seems like just yesterday that they graduated from kindergarten and now they're packing their bags heading to the halls of higher learning. One of my favorite ways to prepare someone for life in a dorm is to give them a box of lifesavers. Not the fruity candy kind, but the kind that you can really turn to when the road gets kind of rough. I buy a plastic tote and fill it with things like microwave popcorn for late-night studies, breakfast bars for early morning classes, a dictionary because spellcheck doesn't catch everything, ear plugs for snoring roommates, a roll of quarters for the laundry, and a gift card to a local grocery store. And, of course, I include the e-scentials for dorm life: flameless fragrance! Things like Yankee Candle® Electric fragrancers and reed diffusers in a favorite scent really turn a stale dorm room into a little home away from home. Add in Good Air™ room sprays to eliminate the stench of overcooked microwave popcorn (among other unpleasant odors) and your co-ed will be the envy of the floor! I finish the box with personal care products for young people who like to light the candle at both ends: vitamins and anti-bacterial hand sanitizer. While life will always take an unexpected turn, at least you know your student can open a little box of love and care and think of you!

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!

SET THE MOOD WITH A CUSTOM SCENT!

Want to know a secret to the success of all those red carpet events and lavish Hollywood parties? Celebrity party planners create the mood with custom scents developed especially for the occasion. The real secret is that you can do the same thing in your own home just by blending different candle scents.

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, you’ll first need to think about the theme for your occasion and then shop for fragrances that reinforce that theme. Once you’ve narrowed down your choice to 2 or 3 scents that sound like they’ll go well together 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 http://www.yankeecandle.com/ that will allow you to burn 3 votives together. You could even try blending scents with non-candle forms such as using a candle in one fragrance and an electric plug-in in another. The scents will mix as they waft through the air.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• For a Girl's Night, try an Appletini: Pineapple Cilantro + MacIntosh
• For a Baby Shower, try the scent of a New Born: Tahitian Tiare Flower + Baby Powder
• For a Sunday Brunch, try Wake Me Up: Café Au Lait + Cinnamon & Sugar + Hazelnut Coffee
  

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!