I absolutely love scented candles and Yankee candles are by far the best scented candles I have ever come across. The large jars can be expensive and if you aren't sure of the scent I find it's always best to try either a sampler size candle or a wax "tart". Not many shops near where I lie sell Yankee so I usually buy mine online and I can only go by the description of the smell and reviews and after buying a 22oz full size jar for £17 in their Clean Cotton scent and hating it I now like to by tarts for 99p to try new scents out and any I really like I'll buy in their full sized jars.

A wax tart is basically just a round piece of wax with scalloped edges, it has no wick and is burned by placing it in the top of a tart burner and lighting a tea light underneath to melt the tart which releases it's fragrance. You can use a normal oil burner but I prefer to use a proper tart burner made by Yankee. I did once burn a tart in a glass oil burner I had and because the tart takes a little bit to heat up and melt the heat from the candle underneath actually cracked the glass burner! Each tart comes individually wrapped in plastic which can be a little difficult to remove as it's so tightly wrapped so I just take some scissors to it to cut it off. Like I said all you do is simply place the tart in the top of the burner and light an unscented underneath. After a little while the tart starts to melt from the heat of the tea light and turns into a pool of liquid which is highly scented and the smell wafts around the room and depending on the scent in some cases you can smell it through the whole house! I do find the tarts are more scented than their jar candles in the same scents.

I bought a load of Christmas scented tarts on eBay last December and the seller threw Lilac Blossoms in free with my order. I keep loads of tarts in a box and like to pick out a different one every 3 days or so. It was just the other night when I decided to burn Lilac Blossoms. It's described by Yankee as capturing "the beautiful fragrance of a shady woodland glade, carpeted in deep purple lilacs. Light it for blissful and complete relaxation." It was the evening and I turned off the lights and popped this into my burner and lit the tea light. The tart started to warm up and melt and release a very strong smell of most headache inducing scent I've ever smelt. I don't mean to offend but it's like a really old lady's perfume. I had a good think about how else to describe it and to me it smells like strong pollen and set honey. Two smells I hate! I blew the tea light out before the tart had even finished melting and took the burner to scrape it out into the bin. My other half asked what I was doing as I'd been upstairs as I lit it in the bedroom and I asked him to smell it and tell me what he thought. His first words were "oh that smells like a charity shop!" It may suit an older persons taste but definitely is not for me.

Yankee Candle Wax Tarts are available priced 99p per tart. I mainly buy mine online on eBay or www.yankeedoodle.co.uk because I don't see them in many shops where I live. They do sell a limited range in Homebase.