'Tis the Season

All day long frazzled shoppers enter our store not knowing where to begin to find the right gift. With so many scents and candle lines to choose from, the selection process can be overwhelming. Given a price range and a one sentence description of the gift recipient or a preferred fragrance, we can generally find a gift in less than 5 minutes in the shop. (You're welcome to send us an email and we can help you find a gift on our website!) Since many of you will, unfortunately, not be able to make it to our candle shop in Annapolis, Maryland, we created a list of our top 5 gifts for under $50. Click here for complete details.

If you're fortunate enough to be able to splurge on something over $50, my favorite picks would be either the Le Cherche Midi CT01 Balsam Candle or the classic Rigaud Cypres Demi candle. Both are absolutely stunning and well worth the indulgence.

At the end of the day, be sure to take some time to slow down and enjoy the fragrance of your favorite holiday candle.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Candles Off Main!

In the Spotlight

Check out Traci Arntsen from Voluspa on Good Day LA as she shows how fantastic the new Seasons Collection can compliment your holiday home.

Mood Swings

It's been a rough day. One of those days when you can't wait for it to end. As soon as I return home, I gravitate towards my Lighten Up candle by Aromatherapy Interventions. It assures me that somebody, somewhere is has it far crappier than me. According to their fragrance blend, essences of winter mint and crisp woodland pine counteract obsessing on the unimportant. This is all from their box, but I need to see for myself, so I give it a whirl. It burns beautifully, and the sheer color and ambient flame are enough to improve my day. For me, aromatherapy is more about what fragrances mean to each of us individually. I like amber and vanilla scents when I need comforting and relaxing. Woody fragrances are grounding to me if I need to de-stress and settle. When I need something energizing and invigorating I turn to citrus scents. Right now I'm trying to concoct a spa-like fragrance using my eucalyptus and lavender fragrances by Lampe Berger. There's nothing like the scent at a spa to instantly sooth. What does aromatherapy mean to you? Do scents change your mood? My day is already smelling better.

Forest for the Trees

It's a cool fall night and I'm sitting by the fire surrounded with tree-fragrance candles. I don't know if it's that the earthy scent grounds me or if it reminds me of the woods in New England where I grew up, but tree fragrances sooth and comfort me, and I need a little of that right now. (Are you seeing a pattern?) I love to layer tree fragrances to be able to distinguish the differences. Tonight it's Le Cherche Midi's Balsam (a new favorite!), Voluspa's Sawara Cypress and red flower's Himalayan larch. They are each unique and completely fantastic. Le Cherche Midi's Balsam candle is a clean, watery-like balsam. Very honest and fresh. A little subtle in scent but definitely gorgeous! I give this a 2-3 on the flower scale. Voluspa's Sawara Cypress stands it's ground. "I am Cypress, here me roar" type scent. Very distinct, no muss about it. For me it's moderately fragrant (a 3-4 on the flower scale). I can definitely smell it but it's not overwhelming. red flower's Himalayan larch is the most soft. red flower candles are beautiful because they liquefy when they are burning to highlight the color of the natural wax. The small size is misleading since even the little ones last 15 hours! I like this scent but it's best in a small room or in a place where their isn't any competition for your nose. A mere 1-2 on the flower scale. This is a delicate and delightful scent. I love all of these tree-fragrance candles because they are all clearly woodsy and not at all Christmas-y.

Help Blogs with Great Content but No Readers

Thanks to Chris Brogan from Twitter for helping us join Chuck Westerbrook's mission to help websites with great content but few readers. We're hoping to increase the number of readers for our blog. If you'd like to join the mission to help under-appreciated blogs receive more attention, please click the link above.

Candle for Health and Prosperity

Back in the early days, candles were rendered from animal fat (tallow). The candles produced a foul odor and did not burn cleanly. In Colonial times, bayberry wax was discovered by boiling the berries from the bayberry bushes in New England. These candles were clean burning and had a pleasant, sweet smell. Since it takes 1 1/2 quarts of berries to make one taper candle, bayberry candles became a precious luxury saved for special gatherings. Thus began the New England tradition of burning bayberry candles on Christmas and New Years Eve for heath and prosperity in the year to come.

"A bayberry candle, burned to the socket, puts luck in the home, food in the larder, and gold in the pocket." - a New England tradition

We burn bayberry candles regularly, especially on special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. Bayberry candles are our favorite hostess gift any time of year since they are thoughtful and natural in color and scent. When you shop for bayberry candles, be sure to look for bayberry candles that are made from true bayberry wax, not artificially scented bayberry candles made from generic wax. Most bayberry candles are blended with a touch of beeswax for added strength.

I don't know anyone who couldn't use a little prosperity right now!

American in Paris

Le Cherche Midi arrived today! The candles are absolutely gorgeous - beautiful wax (like Rigaud and Slatkin), incredible packaging and we love all of the fragrances. My favorite is the Limited Edition CT 01 candle. It has an amazing fresh balsam fragrance - perfect for the fall/holiday season. Now to get the candles online...

2008 Best Off Main Awards

I finally finished something I've wanted to do since we started - create "awards" for the Best Fragrance, the Best Candle Line... Hopefully it will grow and refine into a really fun and successful event to celebrate the best in home fragrance. Please vote now! We really appreciate your input and participation and we hope you have fun.

October 25, 2008: Click here to see the winners of the 2008 Best Off Main Awards!

Frozen in Time

It seems like everyone is frozen right now. Too afraid to do anything. Afraid the ceiling is going to fall in. It's not a fun time right now, especially in retail. It's times like these when value is King. At the risk of sounding like a Voluspa blog, I'm hesitant to say that value is one of the reasons why Voluspa is one of my favorite candle lines and the candle we burn most at home. The quality is outstanding, the fragrances are gorgeous, the packaging is beautiful and they last so long! And all at a great price. A staple in our shop is the 3-wick tin that lasts 80 hours for just $18! The new Seasons Collection has new nickel-plate jars that are so sophisticated and last 85 hours (same as the candlepot in the Creme & Black Collections). You can't beat it! And the scents are stellar - not too strong, not too subtle and very unique. My favorite fragrance is Makassar Ebony & Peach. Is so grounding and delicious. The other thing I love about Voluspa is that everything is hand-poured and made in the US. Including all the packaging. Go Voluspa!

The Count of Monte Cristo

It's a rainy, fall night. The type of night when you just want to curl up in a blanket, sack out on the couch and watch a movie. It's nights like these when I love, comforting, cozy fragrances like Voluspa's Baltic Amber. I also like their new French Bourbon fragrance. Still soothing but more delicate than Baltic Amber. Heavier fragrances work for me on days like these. I like the rain when it's rare. It's nice to slow down, light a candle and take time to relax. My favorite movie? Definitely The Count of Monte Cristo!

Back to School

My kids recently returned to school, so no surprise, the whole house is sick. I returned home from work today and instead of lighting a candle to relax and unwind, I decided to use our Lampe Berger lamp to kill the germs in the air. I wish I had the Eucalyptus scent, as I think that would be a perfect fragrance to clear our lungs. Instead I have the new Absinth fragrance at home. It's a great scent with star anise, rosemary, absinth, freesia, Virginia cedar, Tonka bean and white musk. To me it smells unisex, herby and neutral in scent. I feel better knowing it's cleaning the air. I usually use my Lampe Berger lamp to remove our cooking odors, but it definitely gets a lot of use in our house when we are sick. I'll be sure to have the Eucalyptus scent on hand next time!

A Glorious Day

Today is the first day of my blog. I'm new to this, so please bear with me. I've rarely read a blog, no nothing about blogs, but nonetheless, feel the need to blog. So here I am... It's been a long day ending with screaming kids. Not the best way to end the day, so after I tuck the little ones in bed, I resort to one of my favorite scents - Anthousa's Cypress candle. For some reason, and I know this sounds strange, but this fragrance just makes me happy. I don't know why it does, but I love that it does, and I need a little happy right now. I've surrounded myself in this wonderful fragrance, with 4 candles instead of my typical lone candle. They are beautiful to look at, gorgeous to smell, the scent has erased my day and I've finally created the blog that has taken me 2 years to get to! At the end of it all, it's been a glorious day.