Like many people on Dooyoo it would seem, I like burning wax melts - or melting them at any rate! - and so I can go through quite a lot of tealights. I also like to use them for ambient lighting during special dinners or evenings in infront of a good film. I much prefer to have several tealights (all in suitable containers for safety reasons, obviously!) scattered around than a light on. As a result I've tried many different brands of the little white candles, some cheap, some not so cheap and have reached the conclusion that the expensive ones aren't really worth the extra money for what you want and get out of a tealight, but likewise, the very cheap ones also aren't worth the monety either.

Lately I've taken to sending my husband to Asda when we've run out as it's near where he works and we don't have many other choices around us for things like that. There he can pick up a bag of 100 unscented tealights for a mere £2.00 which, given that they have a stated burn time of around 3.5 hours each, is fantastic value for money. Particularly when you take into account that a box of 12 unscented tealights from the Yankee Candle brand will set you back around £4!

The Asda tealights come packaged in a clear plastic bag (which sadly, as I write, cannot be recycled but they do use the word "currently" making me think they're making inroads into this) with an information box on the front telling us what they are, how many you get and how long they burn for. There is additional information on the reverse telling us how to use them safely. The candles themselves look much like any other tealight in that they're plain white wax with a central white wick, the whole being encased in a small silver container approximately 3.5 cm across. The only way they differ slightly from other makes I've used is that the container is a bit shallower than others at just over 1cm in depth.

Using these tealights is easy. You simply lift the wick to an upright position (these can sometimes end up squashed in the bag), place the candle into a suitable container or into the bottom of a burner and light - I always use the long gas lighters to avoid burning my fingers. Then you just leave them to work their magic.

As they have a burn time of 3.5 hours I tend to view these as one use tealights and never expect to reuse them for a second evening, however, on the one occasion I did try to relight a few it wasn't very successful and although the wick did relight, it only burnt for a minute or so before extinguishing itself. But as they work out at 2p a candle I really don't expect much more from them. I consider the burn time given on the packaging to be quite accurate. Obviously you get the odd one that doesn't burn for quite that long, but on average if I light them at 7pm they'll last until we go to bed or will blow themselves out just before then.

If I have to be picky and find a fault with these tealights it would be the packaging. They just come loose and able to rattle around freely in a big plastic bag, unlike other makes such as Colony where they're packaged tightly in rows to prevent them moving around. This isn't a major concern for me though, just an afterthought really. For £2 a pack I'm not going to complain too much about that and the wax is secure in the metal casing so I've never had any insides fall out in the bag and have to fit them back inot their casing, and the casings seem to be sturdy enough to withstand any bangs they might receive from rattling around in the bag so all in all the packaging doesn't seem to have any detrimental affect on the quality of the product, it's more of an aesthetics thing I suppose.

Also in regards to the packaging, there is no opening in it, so you have to either rip a hole in it or cut one which means you have to be careful when storing the opened bag that the rest of them don't fall out. I've now started keeping the rest of them in a glass vase and use them as an ornament now rather than trying to keep the bag upright and hidden in a cupboard somewhere!

In conclusion then, for £2 for a bag of 100 I am extremely satisfied with these tealights and will continue to re-purchase them in future. If you want something that will last for hours on end then these aren't for you but if you're after something to melt your tarts or give some atmospheric lighting to a room for a few hours on an evening then these are spot on. They burn for the length of time stated, they don't give off any smoke and they, basically, do everything I expect from a tealight. I can't even knock a star off for the packaging as it doesn't seem to affect the quality of the candles and for a budget option it is more than adequate really. A mighty 5 stars from me :)