Love Yankee Candle Silver Bells But Can't Buy It Anywhere? I've Found a Dupe.

Christmas time smells a certain way in your household, and when I first got married and had my own family home, I wanted to create a scent for us that would always remind us of holiday times. So that when Smix is a grown up, just smelling that scent would make him happy for the days of waiting for Santa. 

I picked a certain Yankee Candle that reminded me of my own childhood, not that Yankee was around at the time, but because the classic, realistic scent I chose smelt like the real Christmas trees we would have year after year. The dark green, festive jar candle I picked was Silver Bells, but then, something really annoying happened. 

Yankee discontinued the scent. So no matter where I went, garden centres, cute little homeware stockists, I couldn't find any Silver Bells jars, votives or tarts. For the next few years I would buy Silver Bells on eBay when I could, but as the years passed the rare remaining candles people found increased higher and higher in price. 

Yankee would bring out a couple of new Christmas range scents a year, but nothing matched Silver Bells. They even had a Christmas Tree smell candle, but it wasn't quite right, and Apple & Pine Tree didn't make the grade either. 

But today, today's found Silver Bells again. I was browsing the range of Yankee Candles in Ballyholme Post Office, as they had great prices (£15 for a large jar). I decided to smell some of the dark green candles, just in case they were similar, and that's when I found out that Christmas Garland is Silver Bells reincarnated! 

I'm not sure if it's a new scent for 2016, or if it was available last year too, but I'm so pleased to have my home smelling of Silver Bells again. So if you loved that discontinued range, you know what to do! Get shopping! 

A Bouquet of Devine Scents for Valentines' Day, from Yankee Candle

A dozen red roses is the Valentines' cliche that no woman really minds. It might not be inventive, but it does always feel special. But what if you'd like to give your partner something a little more, or maybe your girlfriend is allergic to real bouquets of flowers, in that case Yankee Candle's True Rose collection of home fragrance can swoop in to the rescue.

True Rose and Wedding Day are 'Fragrances of the Month' which means you'll get 25% off purchases of those scents. It's a beautiful looking jar, with the bright red to brighten up a room during the tail end of winter. 

The scent is accurate and nostalgic for me. My Gran used to grow roses outside her little house, so there was a welcoming scent when you walked the path to her door. 

If you prefer reed diffusers, then True Rose is available in that format too. Reed diffusers are lovely to place in a bathroom for a long time aroma in a smaller space. 

Pink Carnation makes a special appearance this month, and a trip to your local Yankee store will prove that you can put together a bouquet of floral scents, if you feel like being adventurous with your home fragrance. Perhaps use a tart burner with half of a True Rose tart, and half of a pink carnation tart and see how it smells. 

So if you're stuck for present ideas, why not visit Yankee Candle and pick from their cutely packaged romantically themed sets.  

A Scent Summer Getaway, YankeeCandle.co.uk

I've picked a selection of scents from www.yankeecandle.co.uk that I think would make your home smell like a sweet, summer beach holiday. Whether it be natural, salty sea air fragrances, or sugary, delicious scents from a June fête, Yankee Candle's official online store stocks rare and hard to find candles to bring your home  to life.

I received the special appearance candle, Cotton Candy, and like all Yankee scents it's true to life and not artificial smelling. We love burning it in our home in the evenings. 

Here are my other picks for a fragrant home filled with summer smells. 

All available from www.yankeecandle.co.uk

I've had the wax tart of Orange Splash before and it smells like an orange Starburst sweet tastes. 

Two evening scents, campfire inspired, marshmallow Fireside Treats, and rich Cappucino Truffle. 

Don't forget to visit the accessories page for summer themed tart burners, votive holders and hurricane jars. 

What's New For Spring 2015 at YankeeCandle.co.uk? Easter Bunny Scented Candle, Anyone?

YankeeCandle.co.uk is the official store of the world's favourite scented candle brand here in the UK. They sent me this super sweet red rasperberry candle, which smells like melted ice pops, delicious.  

http://www.yankeecandle.co.uk/en/uk/red-raspberry/red-raspberry/invt/1323186

The clever little jar lid is Yankee's own official Illumalids. They cast a relaxing shadow on your wall to set a romantic mood. 

http://www.yankeecandle.co.uk/en/uk/illumalids/metal-hearts/invt/1331911

There are a few other interesting ranges recently launched. The Grand Bazaar is an exotic, spicy, rich collection with matching opulent accessories. 

There is also some less heavily scented new candles, like this Shea Butter spa candle.

Other fruity scents too. 

See all the new releases at www.YankeeCandle.co.uk

With Easter just around the corner, why not buy a candle rather than an egg for someone this year? Or a little accessory, like this simple perching bird. 

But here's the candle for me. I'll be spoiling myself and getting the largest version of this next week.  

The Top Eight Yankee Scents for Beating the Autumn Blues

Well, autumn fairly caught up with itself last night, didn't it? I don't know about you, but I was out in the back garden at 4am trying to get our gate to stop banging, so I didn't get much sleep. I was cheered up by the arrival of my Apple Pumpkin, large Yankee Candle jar today. This new fragrance is the perfect autumn pick-me-up. It's sweet with hints of apple pie and cinnamon, but without an overpowering Christmas edge. 

The official UK Yankee Candle website has dozens of great autumn scents as well as the core Harvest collection and Halloween range. My top pick from the latter is still Witches' Brew, but here are some others I'd love to try.

As always the official UK Yankee store has dozens of special appearances from candles I've never spotted in store anywhere before.

How delicately beautiful is the crackle glass, fiery autumn range? There are only two pieces left from the whole range, so get a move on if you love it as much as I do!

Yankee Candle Halloween Exclusives Available in UK This Year. Snap Them Up.

I wrote last month about how much of a Yankee fanatic I am. I would trawl the US site enviously every September, admiring their Halloween themed special releases. They celebrate Halloween as more of a big deal in the States, but we are catching up with the house decoration, trick or treating and going all out for October. Yankee Candle have answered our pleas and brought the Halloween exclusives to the UK site this autumn.

I managed to get hold of some Witches' Brew votives from the US on eBay the past couple of Halloween seasons, for silly money, so I'm thrilled I can now fill my boots for £16.99 per medium jar candle, with votives and tartlets being a lot less.

Witches' Brew is our 'September smell', which is why I always returned to search for it on eBay each August previously. It smells like bonfires, crisp leaves, spices and sparklers. We love it.

The other two scents are Candy Corn, a sweet, trick or treat candy scented candle, and Ghostly Treats which I'm going to order for myself as it sounds amazing, with sticky, melting marshmallow scents. 

Which would you like to try? And if you're as big a Yankee fan (nerd) as me, please feel free to chat rare and retired scents with me on Twitter @rudedoodle.

Secret Yankee Candle UK Scents On Sale Next Week

Shussssssh, you aren't supposed to know about these three scents which will adorn the online shelves of YankeeCandle.co.uk from the third week in August.  

Early Sunrise and Tahitian Tiaré Flower sound beautiful, but for my own home I chose to review the Napa Valley large jar candle, priced at £19.99

Napa Valley Sun, then. It's akin to walking into someone's house when they've just done a fresh wash of towels and everything smells clean and bright. It's a comforting scent, not overwhelming like an aerosol air freshener spray would be. It's soft and sunny. I really like it. It's great if you want to try scented candles but don't like the idea of your house smelling like a cake, or a mango, or strawberry. 

I am a massive Yankee Candle junkie. Like, huge. To the point where at one time I would hunt down imported American release tarts and then keep a scrap book of the labels. My favourite all time scents are both retired, so I struggle to find them any more, Green Apple and Silver Bells. If you have either of them yourself, I'll certainly buy them from you.

The official UK Yankee Store is heaven for me with an entire section devoted to special rare and imported candles. Plus they haven't cheekily inflated the prices just because they are harder to come by. I'm rather tickled by the Camouflage Candle, which I assume is part of the Man Candle range.

Finally I can't sign off without pointing out Yankee Candle UK's super competition to win a £5000 bespoke holiday. Worth clicking through to.

Big Yankee fan? Let's talk candles on Twitter, @rudedoodle . 

The Quest For Your Home's Signature Scent, With Help from ScentedCandleShop.com

My name is Claire Smyth and I'm a scented candle buying addict. It started when Yankee Candle started appearing in shops and garden centres. At last there was a brand of candle that actually filled a room with the smell it professed to be. Over the years I must have spent hundreds and hundreds of pound on the Yankee Candle range. Jars, votives, tea lights, always trying the three new released scents each season, and even buying rare, retired and US-only varieties off eBay. I can tell you my favourite, The House Scent of the Smyth household each Christmas, a retired scent called Silver Bells, which smells like Christmas tree.

To save money, I swapped from large jars to Yankee tarts. This allows me to try dozens of scents without having to burn through a whole jar before I can swap smells. The wax tarts are little discs of highly fragranced wax, which melt in specialised tart burners. 

So I've found my Christmas scent, but an all year round favourite candle smell still hasn't been found.  ScentedCandleShop.com decided to help me out by allowing me to try out twenty eight different wax tarts, mostly Yankee a Candle brand, but also Bridgewater and Colonial scents. Their easy to use store allows you to browse by candle colour too, great for toning in with your colour schemes. 

Here is what I tried, and what each of the tarts smell like. 

I began with Yankee Candle's Christmas varieties that I hadn't tried beforehand myself. Red Berry & Cedar - a little touch of berry against a rich Christmas tree scent. Spiced Orange- fruity cinnamon, like a delicious big scone. Red Apple Wreath- similar to red berry, but with a crisp apple smell. Snowflake Cookie- like sugary shortbread. Season of Peace- a soft freesia scent. Snow in Love- clean, soap-like, fresh. Merry Marshmallow- as you would think, fluffy, soft, sugary mallow scent. Christmas Memories- like a holiday season kitchen smell, baking sweet treats. 

On to the floral themed wax tarts, again all from Yankee Candle. Vanilla Satin- I always find pure vanilla too sickening, this is a clean, subtle vanilla, very nice. Turquoise Sky- this reminds me of a perfume I used to use, Ocean Dream. A pretty, floral, fresh scent. Under the Palms- I swear I can catch a hint of coconut in this natural, greenery smell. True Rose- a strong traditional Rose candle. Waikiki Melon- smells exactly like melon, but isn't sickeningly sweet. White Gardenia- smells of summer holidays abroad, heavy floral scent.

Champaca Blossom- I'm not sure I've ever smelt Champaca, but it's a beautiful, floral perfume that wouldn't over-power your room. Midnight Oasis- not for me, a bit too much like men's bubble bath. November Rain- an unusual one, I'm nearly sure I can smell liquorice and mint. Pink Hibiscus- a little like Rose, but more tropical and exotic. Lake Sunset- a sugary, floral, subtle scent.

Moving onto non-Yankee tarts. Holiday Keepsake- candy canes and Christmas dessert smells. Ripe Mango- not keen, smells like orange dilute juice. Chestnut & Nutmeg- very subtle, you can definitely tell these tarts are as high quality as Yankee. Lily of the Valley- smells accurate but very synthesised. Clean Caress- now this one is good, clean laundry. Sweet Magnolia- accurate but not strong, maybe Colony Candles are suited for those who like scented candle but not for their room to be overwhelmed by it burning. Midnight Iris- a tropical floral. Pineapple & Coconut- accurate, but lacking the natural quality of Yankee. Fruit Sorbet- I like this one, smells like frozen yoghurt.

So which will become my favourite, house signature smell? I think the answer will come from the burning. I'll keep you updated!