Potters Crouch Candles

Being a Mum to all my lot does mean that often I miss out on the niceties because there isn't the time or money or I'm too tired! One of the things I do like to spoil myself with is candles. I love to fill my house with the smell of Cinnamon or Vanilla, Toffee or something more exotic. Because we're over-run by young men florals don't go down so well in our house, but I can even get away with them sometimes.

I jumped at the chance to review two candles from Potters Crouch, a company who sell most of their candles online. All candles are handmade in the UK (in Hertfordshire to be exact). Each candle burns for around 50 hours and there are 70 different varieties to choose from in 4 different fragrance ranges - Fruits & Flowers, Fragrances Of Yesteryear, Fragrances Of The World. and Christmas Candles.

They are certainly very beautiful. I chose Sea Breeze and Summer Fruits, avoiding my more obvious favourites and trying something a bit different. The candles are presented in a tin, the lid of which serves as a stand to protect your surfaces. They tins are decorated with gorgeous paintings which are full of colour and fascinated my children, and are all original water colours painted by Jo, the person behind the company.

Inside the tin the candles themselves are also special. They have sparkly treasure and the Sea Breeze candle even has 3 little shells embedded into the wax. I also got to smell them for the first time. Both were very promising.

On the back of each tin were the care instructions, which is always handy, rather than having to remember where you put a small scrap of card.

Potters Crouch hope that you will have different smells for different rooms, you don't just fill your whole house with one anonymous scent. Each smell has moods and connotations and its own place in the house.
 I tried Sea Breeze first and found that in our huge living room the smell was lost. That was never my intention anyway, so I took the candle into the bathroom and let it rest for a while before I went in there to bath the little ones.

The smell was reminiscent of the sea, and perfect for a bathroom, but it did have a soapy clean smell, so it might be that the bathroom would be the only truly appropriate place to keep it. I don't mind, I've booked an hour in the bath at the weekend and it can keep me company!

The second candle we tried was Summer Fruits...

Summer Fruits was already deemed gorgeous before I even lit it. The smell is incredibly fruity and really bold without being sickly sweet or heady. It's fresh and juicy, but thankfully doesn't make you feel hungry! It was an all round hit and all of the children liked it as well as the adults.

The flame even has a slight pink tinge, which is soothing and warming, and the smell filled my living room much better than the Sea Breeze. This candle is gorgeous, we love it and I definitely recommend it for a living room, kitchen or hallway.

Each candle costs £8.50 and I think this is very fair for a 50 hour candle with a great range of different scents and such beautiful presentation. They make an excellent gift to give to other people (and not only to yourself because you've been so very, very good). Potters Crouch will also supply bespoke candles and candles for special occasions. Postage is very reasonable and starts at £3.50 for up to 4 candles. ...

I was sent these two candles free of charge in order to review