The search for summer scents continues!

Hey folks, 

how are you all doing? I'm sure enjoying this blast of early summer weather! I sure am - it's 22 degrees here as I write this, which is insane for April. 

This week I've been continuing my testing for some new summery scents. So far I have two strong contenders - a third scent had been in the running but I've since dropped it. It was a floral rose/ylang-ylang combo that in theory should have ticked all my boxes.

However, I just couldn't get over some association I had with it - it reminded me of some indeterminate product from my deep childhood, perhaps a baby powder or something like that. In any case it put me way off - not that it smelled bad in any way, I just couldn't stop thinking and mulling over what it resembled and couldn't enjoy it for what it was. 

That about sums up the joys of testing candles for me. Scent is so strongly tied to memory and emotion. You'd be surprised how you can recall stuff from your long ago past with ease through the medium of scent. I'm sure you've had that happen - you catch a brief scent on the wind and all of a sudden you're hit with a memory you'd forgotten even existed. 

But back to my two PROMISING! scents left in the running.

The first is one I've needed in my collection for ages. A coconut!!!!!!! based tropical burst of summery sunshine. I adore coconut with all my heart, and there's also some nutty almondy notes and a little vanilla to tie it together. An ideal daytime scent. It's a hit for me for sure, and I'm at the fine tuning stages fiddling with percentages. 

The fragrance load of a candle can be a tricky balancing act, I'm always toeing the line between getting the most scent projection, while not overloading it, or causing the candle to burn too fast. My aim is at a minimum to get 30 hours out of the amber jars, and thankfully my tests are hitting above that which is a huge positive. 

The second candle I'm excited about is a little more grown up - by which I mean it's got some depth and spiciness. Mandarin tea, orange blossom, hints of jasmine and green notes too - bringing to mind a warm summer evening in Morocco.

I guess with these summer candles I'm trying to create the right scent for two different atmospheres - the first, being for the day and early evening, bright sunny mornings, an ideal candle for bringing a calm energy and vibrancy to your space. Whereas the second one will be perfect for setting the evening mood, a richer, indulgent, slightly more balanced scent (ie not so girly pop as the first one, haha).

Right now, I'm nearing the final stages of my testing (for everything, how it burns, safety, longevity etc). The next step will be to send out some testers to my discerning candle testers! That way they can pick it apart and tell me what works and what they'd like more or less of.

It allows me to check many things. Everyone has different preferences in a candle, some prefer a lighter aroma, others want a bold hitter. My aim is to strike a balance there, but to be honest I always err a tad on the lighter side, because I don't believe a scent should ever take over a space (it's meant to add to the atmosphere, not overwhelm!!). This doesn't mean I use less fragrance necessarily, more that I'll only pick scents that don't make your eyes widen. In a bad way.

I'll more than likely be looking for some help naming these candles when I have them ready - hopefully in the next 2 weeks I'll have some name suggestions to throw your way over on Instagram, maybe a vote would work?

Naming candles is one of the trickier things for me. I'm not someone who can name a candle by its scent notes and move on. Where's the drama?! The intrigue! Not saying my names are anything majorly special, I did name a candle 'Autumn' for Christ's sake.

But you get my drift. 

Can't wait to have some finished summery candles to release to you all!

P.S. The chicken picture on the blog cover has entirely no relevance to this blog post. It's there because ISN'T SHE SO DARN CUTE!!!!!!