It’s time for a rotation of the summer candles, past time considering it’s July, but I didn’t want to change any out until I finished a few off. I’ve been making stellar progress (for me) on my candle depletion project. Okay, the empties below aren’t super impressive but I wasn’t home much to burn last month. To put it in perspective, my pre-candle depletion numbers totaled 5 empties for the entire year, in a good year. Considering those poor stats, I think I’m doing pretty well.
What these finished burns lack in quantity was made up in quality. Early Sunrise and Lake Sunset are two retired favorite Treasures. The Relaxing Rituals line was discontinued years ago. I still have the fragrance oils of this soothing combination of Cardamom, Rose and Cedarwood, but I was sad to say goodbye to the candle. I’ve even finished Black Tea Rose since this photo was taken, giving me a good jump on my next empties post, with my fall collection roll out.
Bath and Body Works’ Salted Vanilla seemed to take forever to get through for a 3-wick, but it was enjoyable. I’ve heard it reviewed as sour milk smelling, but I got nothing close to that. The vanilla was subtle with a golden brown butter essence and the briny tang of sea salt. Initially, the burn didn’t produce much throw, but by the third go, it threw respectably. Not a repurchase, but not awful.
Progress is all jolly-well, but I’m also on a wax and candle buying ban. Early June brought a minor setback when my good friend, who works for Yankee Candle, brought me two Pure Radiance crackle wicks. She knew I loved them and they were being discontinued, I didn’t have the willpower to turn them down! Pumpkin is set aside for fall but Citron smells yummy.
My seasonal copper tray is the simplest yet: found seashells, a shell guidebook, glass starfish dish from a Charleston, South Carolina honeymoon stop, the nautilus tealight holder was a Yankee Candle clearance item from summer 2015 and retired Sandalwood Vanilla jar with Beachcomber illumilid.
My mid-to-end of summer burning goal is six candles. I still have spring’s Fresh Cut Herbs going in the kitchen, determined to finish it. My summer stash holds some of my all time favorites, including Mountain Lodge and Campfire Treat. If a candle from my summer collection catches anyone’s eye for a review, let me know, any excuse to burn!
The Scented Library 
Hey, you’re getting there – slow and steady wins the race and all that other turtle talk (back to those turtles again, hmm?) I’ve got to ask, though, how do you deal with soot? Because I’ve been doing some deep cleaning lately, particularly around the window frames, and I’m finding sooty stuff ALLLLLLL over them, and I don’t even burn candles all that often. One of the reasons I prefer wax over candles, at least at the moment.
I love your copper tray – that’s a super cute idea. I like the thought of rotating new stuff in and out every now and then.
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Great question. The short answer is I deal with it by not dealing with it. Long answer: we used to have a working gas Franklin-style stove in our downstairs family room that turned out to be a soot-churning monster. We ran it probably 3 winters in a row before I noticed our kitchen ceiling had gray streaks. Following the streak trail down the stairs showed us nearly everything white or cream covered in the soot. After a lengthy and still incomplete clean-up involving wiping our numerous drop ceiling tiles with a rubber soot sponge, repainting, cleaning all windows and surfaces and repainting again, that was tons of fun, we looked like Burt and Mary Poppins. We decided to stop using the gas stove, bought a fireplace space heater and wait to repaint the ceilings until we move lol. I recognize soot when I see it and have never seen anything close to it from the candles, on glass or walls. However, we do get our furnace inspected every so often and last year the service tech asked me if I burn a lot of candles. I asked how he knew and he said the filter was sooty. In fact we need to change it again soon, thanks for the reminder.
Wax beats candles every time in the soot dept!
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Re: My copper tray, thank you! It’s my favorite seasonal decor change, I do it about 6 times a year.
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The copper tray is so beautiful. I look forward to seeing how it is arranged every season. Great progress on your burning! It would have been a crime indeed to turn down the pumpkin wood wick. I would love a review on that when you come around to burning it.
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Thank you, it’s my favorite way to decorate, often the only way I change my decor. This summer one is my favorite yet.
I’d be glad to review the Pure Radiance pumpkin come fall, it’s so unique. Thanks for stopping by, lovely:)
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