I am very house proud and like my home to look as neat as possible. I have four dogs and so make sure that as well as looking clean and tidy, my home also smells pleasant. As a dog owner, I don't really pick up that much on the smell of dog anymore but am concious that it may smell strongly or unpleasant to visitors, so I make sure that there is some kind of fragrance burning most of the time, and I prefer candles oppose to air fresheners as I have a baby and don't like the idea of her breathing in air freshener due to the various chemicals that are in them.

Yankee candles are a long time favourite of mine and I am always treating myself to new ones. Yankee candles come in a variety of sizes and can be purchased either in jar, votive or tea light form. Yankee candle also do wax 'tarts' which I first tried around a year ago now and I have been regulary buying them since as they're such good value and I love the huge variety of choice. Wax tarts are round wax discs with scalloped edges designed to be melted rather than burnt. Using the tart was a little confusing the first time I purchased one as I had no idea how to burn it due to there been no wick, but I realised after looking online how to use it.

To use a wax tart you will need an oil burner and a tea light. Place the tart onto the top of the oil burner - the tarts are just the right size for both of my oil burners, one is a yankee burner and one is a cheap one from B&M. Then place your lit tea light (unscented is best) insisde your oil burner. The heat from the tea light will soon begin melting the tart and the fragrance is released quickly.

There are a range of different scents ranging from food to floral and my current favourite is sweet strawberry. This comes as a red wax tart and it is wrapped in cellophane with the usual label on the front stating what flavour it is and there is a simply picture of strawberries. I love this particular fragrance as it's such a fresh and summery scent. It really does smell like fresh, juicy strawberries - it doesn't smell artificial or chemical at all, and makes my mouth almost water! Yankee describe the scent as 'perfectly ripe strawberries sprinkled with sugar' and they are spot on. It's a very fruity, sweet scent and although it's sweet I don't think it's overlly sweet or too feminine. The smell is rich and fills the room quickly, it's not a subtle smell however it's not too overpowering either.

Although I personally find it to be quite a summery scent, it would match any season including winter, as it has a warm and comforting kind of feel to it due to the mouth waterring foody scent. The candle can be burnt over and over again by simply placing a tea light inside the oil burner but after a couple of days there is no scent left and the hard wax needs to be scraped out into the bin. We normally light our candles during the evening and this usually lasts for two nights of 4-5 hours burning before the smell isn't as strong and after 3 days the candle no longer releases a scent. I think is a decent amount of time considering that the smell does linger even when the candle is no longer burning, and also the price of these candles are really affordable at £1-£1.50ish each, they're good value. They are available from a range of shops or alternatively can be purchased from a huge variety of online retailers.

Overall, I love this scent. It's nice and strong and masks any household scents, eg the smell of cooking or the 'dog' type of smell that lingers when the dogs come back dirty from their walk. The smell is gorgeous and I really reccomend the sweet strawberry scent!