I'd wanted some Yankee products for some time but they are quite expensive in comparison to other scented candles on the market so I had always put off buying them and opted for something a little cheaper. However, as I have wanted to try them for in excess of 4 or 5 years now when I saw that Very were offering some for free when you spent £50 I jumped at the chance to try them. The promotion offered a box of tealights in a choice of three scents but the one I received was Clean Cotton.

==About Yankee Candles==
Yankee Candles began in 1969 in America when a 17 year old boy didn't have enough money to buy his Mum a Christmas present so he melted some candles, a neighbour asked him to make her one and with that he had enough money to produce two more...the story continues. Today they have over 150 fragrances and their aim is to provide homes with a passion for fragrance. The majority of their candles are produced in Massachusetts .

==Varieties, Price and Availability==
Yankee Candles are available in a number of sizes and variations. They range from a wax tart to go in a burner with the tart costing around £1.15 in most places, a sampler candle which is a small candle which weighs 50g and burns between 5 and 15 hours, as I have you can also buy the box of tealights which contains 12 and these usually retail for around £6.50. You then have the choice between all of the larger candles and there are many different sizes and styles to choose from including jars, pillars and tumblers. Jars seem to be one of the most popular options so I will give you a rough pricing of these then if you are interested but would prefer a different style then you can take a look online to see the price ranges:
Small Jar: 104g, 25-40 hours burn time. Cost: around £7.49
Medium Jar: 411g, 65-90 hours burn time: Cost: around £11.99
Large Jar: 523g, 110-150 hours burn time: Cost: around £13.99
The tumblers seem to be bigger in size but have a lower burning time and are about 25% more expensive than the jars.
Then of course there is the air freshener range which you can buy air fresheners for your car from or even plug in fresheners for your home! To give a rough idea, the plug ins retail for around £8.50.
All of these prices are sourced from yankeedirect.com

You can buy Yankee Candles in a variety of places but the majority of people tend to order theirs online. There are a few good websites in the UK which you can order from and trust they are an official seller, to name a couple - Yankee Direct and Yankee Doodle. You can also buy these on the high street, in some Debenhams they stock them and you quite often see shops devoted to Yankee in shopping centres, for example there is one in Festival Place, Basingstoke. Finally, of course ebay have thousands available from both private sellers and business sellers.

==The Tealights==
The tealights come presented in a nice cardboard box with a clear plastic window which you can see the product through. Inside are twelve tealights stacked in a neat and tidy manner, with 4 stacks of 3.

The fragrance is described as "Sun-dried cotton combined with green notes, white flowers, and a hint of lemon."

Upon opening the box I wasn't greeted with an inviting smell because of course, cotton is a fairly delicate smell. However, upon having a sniff I could smell the fragrance of fresh washing and well, clean cotton really! Initially I did think that this fragrance wouldn't be one of my favourites but I do find it quite a comforting fragrance and it does make me feel a bit more relaxed if I am particularly stressed.

The tealights come in a little plastic casing which you light the tealight in and keep it in here until the tealight is all used. The wick was white in colour which matched the candle giving it a very clean and polished look, it was easy to light and provided a nicely sized flame, enough to burn away happily but not one that was too high or that you kept having to check it wasn't going to catch on anything!

When burning, the smell of the clean cotton becomes more apparent though it is still a fairly delicate smell. I personally cannot detect the hint of lemon that is meant to be there but I imagine most other people can! A lot of people aren't a big fan of really strong aroma candles so this would be good for them as it provides a lovely smell that does give the home a slight aroma but it is not strong and certainly not overpowering. The aroma is pleasant and very relaxing which I find lovely for an evening in front of the TV.

I am really impressed with the burning time of these tealights. They are recommended to burn for around 4 to 6 hours but I've had my most recent one burning for over four hours now and its still well over half full so an excellent burn time for tea lights.

==What did I think?==
As I said, this was my first experience with Yankee Candles and although the fragrance certainly wouldn't have been one of my first choices, it is a nice softer fragrance which is nice if your not looking for strong aromas around the house. It provides a warm and comforting fragrance which has the ability to make you feel a lot calmer and more relaxed so its fab for anyone who does suffer from stress.

I very rarely choose to buy tea lights over a candle but these are of an extremely high quality. I liked the way they were in a plastic casing rather than the thin metal ones that most tea lights come in because I find that these often look a bit battered, especially after use and it just ruins the look of some tea lights. The plastic casing has remained clean and shiny throughout so looking at my current tealight, the only evidence its ever been used really is the burned wick.

==Summary==
I did like this fragrance despite it being one that I wouldn't have picked myself as a first try. It is quite a mellow aroma which is nice but not overpowering. The quality of the tea lights is very high and they also have a good longevity. Retailing at around 45p per tea light I do think they are very good value for money. I don't tend to buy tea lights a lot so I'm not sure if I would purchase the exact same product again but I am likely to buy another clean cotton fragrance when I am looking for something with a subtle and comforting aroma.