Elegant glass bottle with sticks that scents your home (PartyLite Reed Diffusers)

Member Name: liss_e

Product:	PartyLite Reed Diffusers
Date:	10/07/09 (88 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Worth the money, great quality, pretty and long lasting

Disadvantages: Only available via a rep or at a party

Partylite is an American company that has self-employed demonstrators who are pretty much like Ann Summers reps but whom sell candles instead of naughty things that probably shouldn't be talked about on this review. However much I want to start rambling on about them.

They have a website at partylite.co.uk where you can request to book a show with a rep local to you. There's a huge variety of candles, from tealights and melts (you put them in an oil burner type thing, they're little dishes of wax), pillar candles, huge 3-wick candles, even handsoap and these home diffusers.

I was lucky enough to win on a 'lottery' game from a friend's candle party. I actually made purchases at the party, but also paid £2 to pick a number that the rep then threw into a hat and randomly selected a number. I got the amount of money paid into the lottery to spend in the catalogue as a prize and this was what I chose with that.

I've not been disappointed by Partylite candles at any time, although the holders tend to be slightly overpriced, and I was curious about the diffusers. As someone who has a really poor sense of smell I am pretty paranoid about if the house smells bad (all homes smell, some not so nice, others homely) - yes this means I am constantly sniffing at myself as well, and get very worried if I can smell anything at all as if I can notice it then it means it's offensive. So naturally I tend to buy things that will make my house smell pleasant and usually wonder if it actually works until someone mentions that they can smell something, is it coming from that weird looking white thing hooked on the wall above the kitchen arch?

The diffuser I bought is a slightly different bottle to the one shown in the picture, but the website didn't have it on there as it was in the slim summer leaflet that was an add-on to the main catalogue. There's quite a few different scents you can buy, and different looking bottles too - but they all use the same premise, you pour the oil into the pretty glass bottle and then try to artfully arrange the reeds which soak up the oil and distribute it gradually over time.

The oil lasts forever, a regular sized bottle lasts for around six months according to the catalogue, it's not cheap, but nor is it incredibly expensive as I consider some of their stuff to be (and I used to be a Partylite rep myself so that's saying something). However I got a half sized bottle, as I ordered a mini version vase and reeds. I've had it in my living room for two months now and it's not quite a third used up yet - so I can see this lasting me six months. Really good value when you compare that to Glade plug-in refills and suchlike over the same period of time.

Of course if it didn't work it wouldn't be such good value for whatit is, even though it is much prettier than any other kind of home fragrancing item I've purchased over the years. The bare bones of the matter is that it does work. I can't smell it all the time, but hey that's normal for me, I do however get lovely whiffs the French Vanilla scent I chose when I walk by, or when I first walk into the room. The French vanilla is one of their best selling candle scents, it's warm, delicious and not overly floral and offensive like some air fresheners I've bought and hated. Mulberry, Raspberry & Thyme, and French Lavendar are also very popular choices.

Visitors often ask me where that lovely smell is coming from, and are almost as often surprised when I indicate the simple but classy glass bottle in the corner with the decorative sticks coming out of it. It makes me feel all grown up and elegant, and it looks so much better than the AirWick spray thing above the arch to the kitchen I can tell you! Not to mention it lasts longer, smells a hell of a lot better and doesn't make unsuspecting guests jump off the sofa when it squirts the fragrance out of a can. No batteries in this either, making it more eco friendly my friends ;)

Nope, still not going into the battery operated toys sold by Ms. Summers' reps.

So there you have it, the fullsize diffusers costs around £25, depending on which style you chose. Mine was around £18 for the mini one. It was something I was sceptical about, until I'd actually had it a while and realised I could really smell it.

My friend who hosted the party also has one, but the full size, and she only keeps two of the reeds in hers as although it's the same scent, she has a sensitive sense of smell and finds putting all of them in to be too much for her. So you can adjust the scent until you get it to a level that you are happy with, unless you're like me and bung the lot in and try to keep little fingers away from them after you've spent ten minutes trying to make them appear as good as they look in the catalogue.

I will be investing in a refill when mine gets almost used up, and that should say it all.

Summary: I'd recommend trying it if you're into home fragrance and spend a lot of money on air fresheners.