When I ordered a Mini Megapack from Yankee Doodle the other month one of the goodies I received was a lovely festive red & green glass wax tart burner. Even though it's very Christmassy looking I've been using it since I got it but now December is upon us I decided I would try out some of Yankee Candle's more festive scents and picked a selection which included "Christmas Cupcake".

The wax tart is a disc shaped piece of wax which looks like a little flat and wide candle but it does not have a wick to light it, instead you place it in a tart burner which looks like a an oil burner and is heated by tealight candles. The tart is just over 2" diameter and about 1" thick in an off white colour, it is wrapped in cellophane and you don't really appreciate the fragrance until it has been unwrapped.

The Christmas Cupcake scent is lovely and does smell like you have been baking when they are heated up over the burner. The main fragrance of the tart is vanilla but you can also smell a lovely warm spiciness too, which is what makes it a Christmassy fragrance. It is a very sweet smell but I wouldn't expect anything less from a cupcake scented product.

According to the information label on the wrapping the tart will give eight hours of continuous fragrance and in my opinion they have slightly underestimated this. I have probably had this heated for 1-2 hours a day for 6 days now and it is still giving off a delicious aroma. On Saturday morning I had a candle lit under the burning for less than an hour as we were going out for the day, when we got back over 12 hours later the lovely smell hit you as soon as we walked in the front door, so once it has been heated the smell does last for quite a while.

I like how the smell of the tart when warm is more subtle and in the background than one which overpowers the whole room, some of the wax tarts can give me a headache as the smell is too strong but this isn't the case with Christmas Cupcake.

You can also use the wax tart with an electric tart warmer if you'd prefer not to use one which needs candles. Alternatively you can unwrap the tart and place it in a drawer or cupboard to fragrance it, although I don't know how long the scent would last for if you did this.

When the tart has lost it's fragrance you should put the burner into a freezer for a few minutes and it should come out quite easily although it might need a little persuasion which should be done with something plastic which won't damage the burner.

The RRP for a Yankee Candle Wax Tart is £1.05, although I bought mine from yankeedoodle.co.uk for £1 which seems to be the average price for a Christmas wax tart. I would imagine that most Yankee Candle stockists would sell these in the run up to Christmas, and I have seen them on sale in my local garden centre and several online shops too.

I think these are a great alternative to scented candles as you can buy a few different scents instead of having to just choose one, which is great if you can't decide on which one you want to buy or want to try a fragrance before buying one of the more expensive housewarmer jars.

If you like sweet smelling things I would recommend trying this for a lovely wintery Christmas fragrance.

Other Christmas Fragrances available are:
Christmas Bayberry
Mountain Pine
Sparkling Cinnamon
Sparkling Snow
Welcome Christmas
Autumn Wreath
Eggnog
Red Apple Wreath
Red Berry and Cedar
Silver Bells
Balsam and Cedar
Christmas Cookie
Christmas Eve
Christmas Pudding
Christmas Punch
Christmas Wish
Christmas Wreath
Cranberry Chutney
Cranberry Peppermint
Frankincense and Myrrh
Gingerbread
Happy Christmas
Holiday Bayberry
Holiday Home Sweet Home
Holiday Sage
Holiday Twinkle
Hollyberry
Home for the Holidays
Jack Frost
Mistletoe
Mulled Wine
Peppermint Cocoa
Royal Frankincense
Siberian Silver Fir
Snow Angels
Sparkling Angel
White Chocolate Mint
Winterland


yankeedoodle.co.uk currently have 6 Christmas 2009 wax tarts (1 each of Christmas Bayberry, Christmas Cupcake, Mountain Pine, Sparkling Cinnamon, Sparkling Snow and Welcome Christmas) for £5 plus P&P.

As this is a Christmas fragrance it isn't available all year round and normally go on sale around mid October.

Thanks for reading.