Seasonal Candle Fun!

While not an “official” Halloween Scream post, unless Friday the 13th or Dawn of the Dead get officially licensed scented candles (and for all I know, maybe they already have), the fact that in August I started stocking up on seasonal candles again to set the proper autumn mood is blog-worthy.

I’m a big fan of PartyLite candles. I am a candle addict and they are my dealer. We meet in dark alleys. PartyLite candles don’t produce smoke like some cheap wicks do and they aren’t crazy expensive like Yankee Candle is. Now, I’m hearing a lot of talk about Scentsy but I haven’t tried them out yet. Not really into the whole melting thing. The truth is I’m a votive man but I dabble in hurricane jars every now and then (I’m a dabbler from way back).

In addition to PartyLite, I’m not above picking up a cheap jar candle (but not too cheap) and have recently found some really good ones at Walgreens. Basically anything at Walmart is terrible. They have a couple of different lines of candles (including Paula Deen) but I think most of them are a front and fall under the Walmart brand. They don’t smell pleasant at all. I can never bring myself to buy any of them, even when I’ve run out of candles at home. Now, Target on the other hand is a pretty good place to shop for candles. Unlike Walmart, they carry the Yankee Candle line. Expensive, but still really good stuff and they sell Yankee votives which aren’t a bad deal. Target also has their own line of candles which is pretty good and vastly superior to anything Walmart offers.

Back to Walgreens, they’ve recently started to put out some autumn-themed 15 oz. candles priced at $4. One of them was a red apple candle but I’ve never been a fan of red apple scents. Why can’t we get a GREEN apple candle? They also have a mango candle but I don’t see the connection between mangoes and autumn at all. The one I cared most about was the pumpkin spice scent and for $4, I can’t complain. I’ve enjoyed it a lot.

I also recently picked up a few candles there priced for clearance: a 9 0z. Sugared Pecan Pie shaker jar from the Kathy Ireland line of candles, a  12.5 oz “Fireplace” scented square jar candle from Walgreen’s own Patriot Candles line and three 8 0z. jars of “Welcome Home” (also from Patriot Candles). I actually bought one Welcome Home jar about 2 weeks ago but I loved it so much I picked up two more. I don’t think Welcome Home is necessarily a seasonal candle but it smells that way to me. It really does smell like someone’s home, possibly during the fall. Brings to mind a roaring fireplace, cookies baking, cinnamon and pumpkin spice. Its does NOT smell like cookies ‘n’ cream as one of my co-workers crazily said. It’s definitely a holiday candle in my mind with autumn seemingly a more appropriate time to burn it rather than winter.

As for PartyLite, I ordered a 16-count votive seasonal sampler (along with a 6 ct. order of both Orange Zest and Tamboti Safari). The aromas featured are: Iced Snowberries, Peppermint Snow, Holiday Spices, Spruce In the Snow, Silver Birch & Fig, Leaves of Fun (burning now), White Oak & Sandalwood, Cinnamon & Bayberry, Amber Wood & Vanilla, Apricot & Fig, Ginger Pumpkin, Pomegranate & Cassis, Clementine & Clove, Spiced Cider, Sugar Plum Fairies and Mulberry. PartyLite also offers two Halloween specific scents (“Halloween Night” & “Hocus Pocus”) which I have not tried yet but intend to do so shortly.

So there you have it. New candles. I’ll probably blog about them even more before the year is up.

By the way, in case you’re wondering, a Friday the 13th collection of scented candles would include the standard fireplace scent & a bright red pomegranate while anything based off Romero’s Living Dead series should include some woodsy, musk and leather aromas. If you were going to create a line based on the Halloween movies — the top choice is obvious: a pumpkin spice candle!

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