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Candles, do you like it dislike them

(122 Posts)
rafichagran Wed 16-Feb-22 15:10:33

I love candles, the smell and the ambience, cheers my house up on a day like today, very overcast.
I love going round the charity shops and buying known brands. I do not pay more than £3.00 for the named brands. I have noticed the best time to buy them is now, as people seem to donate them as unwanted Christmas presents. I am burning a Oliver Bonus one now a bargain at £2.99. I also like Yankee and Neom.
If you like them, what are your favourites?

welbeck Wed 16-Feb-22 16:28:43

i hate them. i keep a few torches, including wind-up, for cuts.
see no point in adding another source of unnecessary pollution.
also the fire risk is real. since the decline in smoking and chip pans, the fire brigade say candles are a major cause of fires.

rafichagran Wed 16-Feb-22 16:30:24

travelnan

rafichagran I am surprised that you can buy candles from a charity shop. My daughter is the manager of a charity shop and says they are not allowed to sell them as it is illegal.

I have bought one today for £2.99, we have 4 charity shops in our town and they all sell them.
I dont understand why her charity shop takes that stance as most reputable stores sell candles.
I would also add that one that I went to, were selling a set of carving knives, they are dangerous too in the wrong hands. I really do not understand why her charity shop wont sell them to adults. PC gone mad perhaps.

Kim19 Wed 16-Feb-22 16:30:59

Too much of a fire hazard for me.

rafichagran Wed 16-Feb-22 16:32:51

FannyCornforth

Wood wick, the crackling ones, especially Spiced Blackberry

Lovely. I love the crackle.

Germanshepherdsmum Wed 16-Feb-22 16:33:16

I love them, have them burning every evening during the darker months. I buy plain unscented ones from Tesco, £1 each, and treat myself to a White Company Winter one at Christmas.

AreWeThereYet Wed 16-Feb-22 16:48:52

The fire risk is very real - we nearly set fire to our mantelpiece one Christmas. We put the candles out (we thought) and went to bed. A couple of hours later we were woken by our security alarm going off - the detectors had picked up a heat source and the alarms were blaring. Very fortunate for us, we were in bed above it! Very bewildering as well when we had just woken up, we thought we had burglars and came downstairs to a fire. The fire was still only on one corner of the mantelpiece and we managed to put it out, but we're very, very grateful we had the alarm installed.

Patsy70 Wed 16-Feb-22 16:51:52

I love candles, particularly Neom, although I also burn the unscented ones to give a warm glow on these dull days. We sell candles in the charity shop where I volunteer.

SachaMac Wed 16-Feb-22 16:54:44

I love my candies, the scent, the warm glow, it just makes the house seem cosy on days like this. I tend to buy Yankee when they’re on offer but also buy other brands including the Woodwick crackle ones and the Habitat ones from Sainsburys. I always have a cinnamon Yankee at Christmas. The Yankees do seem to produce quite a lot of soot though, I’m always wiping it from the top of the jar. I have heard soy candles are supposedly better in that respect.
I have picked some good candies up in local charity shops too. I know quite a few people who hate them because they say they give off chemicals which we then breath in. I suppose that makes sense but I still like to light one of an evening.

lixy Wed 16-Feb-22 17:03:34

Not for me thanks, though I do have a packet in the cupboard along with a box of matches 'just in case'.
I stopped having candles when I found myself unable to sleep thinking they weren't out properly, despite running them under the tap!
I do have some beeswax ones in cupboards as I really like the smell but they are not for lighting.

Sara1954 Wed 16-Feb-22 17:20:11

I love scented candles, I always light one or two every evening.
My current favourite is sweet vanilla cinnamon, which I have been buying from Anthropologie.
I do like Yankee, but only the spicy ones, not the floral ones.

Redhead56 Wed 16-Feb-22 17:36:23

My very favourite WoodWick cinnamon chai in the living room. I have tall soft pink candles in the dining room in pink glass candlesticks to match the decor.

Coastpath Wed 16-Feb-22 17:37:47

Another fan of StEval candles here. Love their Sea Mist and Sea Salt ones.

SpringyChicken Wed 16-Feb-22 18:07:47

I think they make rooms feel damp and don't buy them. I use up those I am given but am glad when they are gone. I'm also concerned about the carcinogens they may or may not give off. There doesn't seem to be any regulation over the ingredients of candles, some might be quite toxic - we've no way of knowing.
Someone mentioned only using expensive candles with natural ingredients - not chemicals. But all natural ingredients are chemicals too! It doesn't follow that they are safe to burn. Tobacco is a natural substance.

MayBeMaw Wed 16-Feb-22 18:41:39

I dislike Yankee Candles but find Aldi Jo Malone “ lookalikes”
a snip compared to the real,thing.

GrannyGravy13 Wed 16-Feb-22 18:42:01

Patsy70

I love candles, particularly Neom, although I also burn the unscented ones to give a warm glow on these dull days. We sell candles in the charity shop where I volunteer.

I forgot about Neom I have them in the bedroom and bathroom, the sleep one and another relaxing one.

3dognight Wed 16-Feb-22 18:54:18

The Aldi Jo Malone copies are really lovely. And affordable, for every winter night ?

Shinamae Wed 16-Feb-22 18:59:08

tanith

Can’t abide them, fills the house with sickly smelling fumes and chemicals. No thankyou.

Exactly this…

Esspee Wed 16-Feb-22 19:53:45

I agree tanith hate going to someone's home for dinner to find it smells of pollution. They might find it pleasant but I feel nauseous.
It's a bit like people being nose blind to their animals.
When you add in the fact that many candle fumes are carcinogenic I now tell the host that I am allergic to candle fumes. Not strictly accurate but a white lie to save feelings. (and get the windows open)

Jaxjacky Wed 16-Feb-22 20:22:37

With Esspee, tanith and others, we have some plain tea lights for power cuts.
I don’t like ‘smells’ in the house, particularly artificially scented.

Skydancer Wed 16-Feb-22 20:33:36

We had a major house fire some years ago. I’d never have a naked flame in the house. Believe me, fire can take hold in seconds.

rafichagran Wed 16-Feb-22 20:52:49

I love candles and will always burn them. Posters say they are a fire risk, but you just have to be careful. I dont have any pets or young children in the house now, so I do what I enjoy.
People enjoy wine our other drinks, it does not make them a alcoholic. I think we should do what we enjoy and not look for the worst possible scenario, we just need to be safety conscious.
I respect the fact that some people dont like them though, and in some cases it causes headaches. If people come to my house and told me about the affects on them, I would not light the candle.

TillyTrotter Wed 16-Feb-22 21:31:00

My husband doesn’t like a burning candle in the middle of a restaurant table as it can trigger a migraine.
I usually buy ones in glass jars - as I do feel they are safer - and put them on the windowsill. We have blinds - no curtains.

CanadianGran Wed 16-Feb-22 21:45:20

Yes and no...

There are a few good quality scented candles that are really nice. Thymes stands out, their Frasier Fir is the nicest candle at Christmas time. I haven't had a Jo Malone since I have limits on what I will pay for a candle.

I have been given some that are very strongly scented, and I can't handle the powerful scent. I worry about the chemicals wafting about as well on these cheaper ones.

BigBertha1 Wed 16-Feb-22 22:29:29

I used to have lots of candles but read that it's not good for the environment so I switched to reed diffusers. I have a White Company one in my bathroom and a Stoneglow one in the classroom but lovely gentle fragrances expensive but they last a long while.

Serendipity22 Wed 16-Feb-22 22:34:46

I love candles and wax melts. Every day i pop a new tee light under the wax melt or light a scented candle.

Haven't a particular favourite but i do have a particular smell i can't abide lavender, ughhh gross.

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