Gloriously Good Candles

When I was a teenager at home with my parents, candles were the symbol of Easter. Everyone would go to church in the evening with candles lit and bring them back home after the midnight mass with their flames still burning. One Easter Sunday I kept a candle lit in the house for the entire day. It wasn't the exact candle from the church, but I loved how it created that atmosphere of peace and serenity in the home.

However it wasn't until 5 years later, when I met my partner that I remembered about the power of candles to create an ambiance and set the mood. It was before one of the first date nights I had with my partner (now my husband) that I decided to go shopping for treats. I popped into Clinton's and a set of 12 Yankee Candle tea lights caught my eye. They were an investment that time for my student budget (that could only stretch across essentials), but so worth it. I remember lighting them up that evening and the entire room being lit up with the indulging fragrance of Yankee Candles. I had never heard of Yankee Candles before, but I soon realised their fragrances were room-filling.

I then re-discovered the delight and the sense of well-being I get from candles whilst studying for my masters degree. I cannot remember exactly how I acquired some red tea lights (perhaps I had brought the from home), but every day during my exam period I would light a tealight candle next to the cup of tea on my desk and would find this experience so blissful. It was like my ritual to immerse myself into deep study. Whenever I would feel anxious, I would look at the candle and feel relaxed again. However, the flame of the candle would also enable me to acknowledge the passage of time, through the realisation that the candle would soon stop burning. This would instill in me the intention to be grateful for the time I had it burning in front of me and become keen to make the most of that time.

When I started my second job after university, the first few weeks were quite stressful as I was a new starter with not much experience. I still remember coming back from work with my mind overloaded with the information and tasks accumulated throughout the day. One day, I reverted to lighting a candle in the evening after work and I was amazed by how it wiped the stress away with its flame and brought to me such a sense of serenity. So, I started repeating that evening ritual every day until I ran out of candles to burn. I was still living a frugal life back then, so investing in candles was not my top priority, even though they would bring me so much happiness.

A few years later, I was asked by my partner’s family what I would like for Christmas. I couldn’t wish for anything more than some Yankee Candles, to recreate that room-filling experience I remembered from when I started dating my partner.

They say when you truly wish for something from the bottom of your heart, the destiny makes it happen. It must’ve been destiny when I got contacted by Newell Brands with a job offer in their home fragrance division, managing ecommerce for my beloved candle brand, Yankee Candle. There I got to learn about the different scents, fragrance layering and how they are developed. A fascinating affair!

Lighting a fragrant candle is such a delight for me. Especially in the winter or when I feel cold in the house, I always light a candle and instantly immerse myself in a comfortable sense of cozyness. This is the only reason why I like the cold winter months with short days and long dark evenings. They are the perfect environment to light candles and create a relaxing atmosphere in the home.

Also, whenever I am not in the mood for doing household chores like cleaning, lighting a candle puts me into a domestic-bliss mindset, that entices me to bring peace and order into my house, which is exactly the motivation I need.

For my wedding, I was inspired by the Jo Malone Scent Your Wedding experience to curate candles to create a romantic atmosphere and scent my wedding venue with a nice fragrance that would create a multi-sensorial experience and create a lasting memory for me and the guests. I decided to get the Yankee Candle “Wedding Day” pillar candles and get them arranged in the foyer that was leading into the main dining room at my wedding venue. It created such a dreamy and enchanted experience.

Candles are such powerful items. With their burning flames and scents, they can lift your mood up, relax you, invigorate you and create an enchanting and a memorable atmosphere. They set the scene for a positive state of mind. For this reason, they are gloriously good artefacts for me and true bringers of happiness.