My desk is in a corner of the house – I look out at the passing world, but just behind me is the downstairs loo. It’s not a bad place to work, but sometimes, gazing at the rain and listening to the other people who live here, it isn’t the most inspiring.
Ideally, obviously, I’d be sitting up a snow-capped mountain in front of a log fire, or at a street cafe somewhere exotic to meet my muse, but that isn’t happening any day soon. So I improvise.
Scented candles do help create something slightly more sophisticated than usual aroma of my workplace – squidged near the downstairs loo and the laundry room. And nice ones that actually smell of something when you light them because they’ve got real oils in them.
Shearer’s Candles of Glasgow have long been my favourites. Recently I had the chance to chat to artistic director Rosey Barnet.
Rosey has the enviable job of creating the company’s range of delicious scented candles.
She said: “I travel a lot on business and find I get my inspiration all over the world.
“When I was in Egypt and staying in a lovely hotel I found there was a lovely smell of crisp linen mixed a hint of spicy air coming from oil burners. It was wonderful.”
She used that inspiration to instruct perfume houses that she wanted to develop a cotton scent with an edge of spice.
Perfume houses created samples for her which she then had to test in candles as the candle-making process can have a profound effect on oils. Eventually she was satisfied with the Egyptian Cotton scent in the new Spring range.
“The Lavender and Neroli was inspired on a trip to Venice. We went to a restaurant on a beautiful island. One wall was open to a herb garden. You could smell the lavender, the herbs and the orange trees. Then in China I had visited a spa where the pathways were lined with oil burners full of orange oil. Neroli is made from the blossom of the bitter orange.”
Sigh. I could do that job, honest.
I’m currently burning an Egyptian Cotton candle and can confirm that it’s lovely. Almost as nice as my absolute favourite the Lavender and Neroli.
Rosey has kindly offered some Shearer candles from the new range as a prize to one of my readers. To be in with a chance of winning, please leave a comment about what scent you’d like to recreate if you could. Obviously, if you buy my book your chances of winning will improve considerably… as will flattery.
UK entries only.
Competition closes on March 18 and winner will be announced as soon as I can get round to it.
For more information on Shearer’s candles visit their website or their shop in sunny Govan.
PS Rosey tells me she’s working on a range of oil burners that will be divine, not like those nasty ones we all had in the 80s.
PPS Please don’t comment anonymously I need to be able to contact you. Email me if you’re shy – ellenarnison@hotmail.com.
THIS COMPETITION IS CLOSED AND HAS BEEN WON BY @jennifer_stokes
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I'm not sure they are ideal for candles but some of my favourite smells are:
Freshy bathed baby
Pears Soap (bit of a bath theme here?!)
Woodsmoke
Deep rich roses
Bread and Butter pudding just as it comes out of the oven
My husband 🙂
Gillian
Gillian, I love those – apart from your husband obviously! I'm not sure Essence of Gillian's Husband is going to catch on 😉
Apple pie with a hint of cinnamon and vanilla. Sorry Rosey,I know shearer's already have an orange and cinnamon candle, but for me apple and cinnamon make an ever better match/ Another great match would be lemon and mint or a “pizza” candle with thyme and basil.
Pear would be brilliant! paired with mulled wine
Anonymous people, your ideas are lovely, but you'll need to tell me who you are. Email if you're shy ellenarnison@hotmail.com.
Vanila is my fave scent. Although a true smell of chocolate would be fantastic x
Fresh linen and baby powder are my two favourite everyday smells, like a “dark rose” or “amber” scent for night-time xx
i love anythng coconut, also creme brulee would be lovely. Like the sound of the bread and butter pudding too!
@ashlallan
I love the smell of jasmine, honeysuckle, freesias and sweet peas. I'd love to create those for my home. Deb @MumForAutism
You and me both! I write tucked away in a corner of the dining room, staring at a fence (unless I crane my neck to see the garden). Or I write on the sofa, with a straight view onto our downstairs loo door (unless, you guessed, I crane my neck…). I WOULD like to write in the top story of a lighthouse surrounded by nothing but sea and sky. And my favourite scent would therefore be pure fresh sea air; the salty tang that you get when you sit on a headland somewhere. Now that would be something!
Memories from my trips to France- Mimosa and “Pine trees after the rain”, gorgeous!
If i won I would love to try the White Jasmine Tea as Jasmine is my all time favorite smell xxx – Im a liker on Facebook Lynsey Buchanan
How about this one then? The scent of late spring in an English (sorry – but I don't know about Scotland) garden: mainly lilac, a touch of sweet honeysuckle, newly mown grass and a note of green tea wafting over it all. Add in a slight hint of sweet smelling sun cream and the waft of the newly strengthened sun caressing shoulders. If you could somehow incorporate the sound of a distant blackbird singing while the candle burns, that would be just perfect.
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I'd love freshly mown grass or pine disinfectant (My mum was a cleaner, I love that smell)
@littleboo_21
STOCKS crazy about smell
oldwalshy
Banana custard, cantaloup&mango shake, pink guava for my mum (her fav fruit)
My favourtites are the smell of gorse on hot summers day, the waft of spring Daphne flowers and the first bunch of daffodils brought in from a cold garden as they begin to warm in the house.
What about essence of George Clooney? I would buy that in a flash lol. I love the frsh smells of grapefruit, lemon and orange
I'd like to rescreate the scent of my first proper girlfriends hair!
@mister_steven
I think honey and ginger would be relatively easy to make and would smell gorgeous!
best leave a contact!!!! @tonybezzz
I love the smell of warm bread, if that could be recreated it would be wonderful.
I would love a candle to be made of out Jean Peal Gaultier Le Male aftershave!
The scent of an old fashioned library,old books, bit musty, cedarwood with a hint of vanilla.
Freshly cut grass
Cheryl020606
The smell of my cat when she has been outdoors in the cold – all fresh and outdoorsy!
A strange one I know, but coal tar soap always reminds me of my Dad so I'd buy that if it were in candle form!
On a more sensible note, I think pine and lavendar together would be nice or perhaps oak and Rosemary
Regards
Chris
banoffee pie – absolutely yummy smell
the air just after a storm on the beach. perfection
freshly mown grass – delightful
The smell of my baby daughter – I wish I could recreate that smell.
cherries yummy yummy x x x
My mums homemade apple crumble, fresh out of the oven..mmmmm 🙂
kays_canines@yahoo.co.uk
Summer rain on Hot tarmac – love that smell
@philibaldi
christmas – pine needles & cinnamon:)
@emmav6
My favourite candle smell is baby powder, but smelling like Johnsons used too @chelseamamma
Many years ago I was in the South of France in the hills just above a town near Cannes and there was a wonderful smell of pine cones unlike anything else I have ever smelled since. It was a pine/waxy scent, very fresh, and combined with the earthy smell of the forest and the fresh smell of the sea . Amazing!
Penny
love a candle to smell of donuts
tonywinscomps@gmail.com
Funnel cake as it smells divine and reminds me of our Disney holidays 🙂
@BoostieBoo
I love the fragrancies of spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg
Toasted Marshmallows. 😉
Lemon and Sugar
I love the smell of pencil erasers from my childhood. I loved them almost as much as the pencils!
The plant Nicotiana (Tobacco Plant) Smells nothing like tobacco, it has the most wonderful perfume on a summers evening. After having to move to a house which I hated from day one I tried to make it home. The garden, untended for 15 years, I transformed and planted the borders with Nicotiana (I had never heard of it but found some cheap at the garden centre) I would sit and smell the perfume and forget how unhappy I was. I spent 5 years in that house but moved away 8 years ago I still plant Nicotiana in my garden every summer.
Freshly cut silage.
The smell just after a thunderstorm – wet and green and earthy – either that or freshly baked bread. I'm not sure if a bread-scented candle would be good or bad for my diet though!
I would like to recreate a warm bread candle, mmmmmmmm.
I love the smell of Parma Violets sweets from my childhood days would love the same smell in candle form
mmmm Turkish Delight lovely
Gillian you should try our Red Red Rose fragrance – This rich, romantic scent of dew-drenched rose petals encapsulates the true essence of this beautiful flower, a symbol of love and beauty throughout the world.
You can buy online on the Shearer Candles website – following link – http://www.shearer-candles.com/Highland_Collection/Red_Red_Rose_Collection
Hopefully something to think of for future product development. Thanks!
Please try our Egyptian Cotton – A smooth, silky floral with notes of rose jasmine and carnations, warmed with a touch of clove.
Buy online at our website here – http://www.shearer-candles.com/ScentedCandles/EgyptianCotton
We have to perfect scent for you ash – Vanilla and Coconut – A heavenly scent of warm baked coconut infused with hints of vanilla pod. Coconut oil is known for its protective and wellbeing properties. It has sometimes been hailed as the medicine food. This delicious fragrance is sure to get your taste buds watering.
Buy online at http://www.shearer-candles.com/ScentedCandles/Vanilla_&_Coconut_
This sounds absolutely wonderful!
we actually do a banoffee pie scented candles – buy online – http://www.shearer-candles.com/DeliceAroma/BanoffeePieWaxFilled_FoodTin-SC05BP.html
Delicious bananas with sweet caramel and whipped cream topped with grated chocolate. Yummy fragranced recipe candles ideal for kitchen and home entertaining.
You would love our Hollyberry and Clove – A deep red fragrance spliced with cloves and cinnamon. Bright red in colour, this collection is perfect for setting a colourful scene around your home.
Buy online – http://www.shearer-candles.com/ScentedCandles/HollyberryandClove
This is definately something to think about for the future – sounds wonderful! An exotic range with golds and pastel colour packaging.
Sherbert Dips
Either the talc smell babies have or the smell or rain after a long dry period
tweeted
@kiki_725
Definitely the fresh air at the seaside, nothing like it!
banoffee pie :]
The smell of freshly cut grass, dettol soap or Geraniums do it for me 🙂 @mamamakes
Has to be the newborn baby smell – milk and warm, new skin… amazing 🙂
ps. I'm @pipersky1 on Twitter 🙂
For me, its the musty warm smell of fresh rain on hot, dry tarmac. I love it, for me its a really nostalgic scent!
For me its the smell of fresh rain on hot, dry tarmac. It reminds me of my childhood. xx
Washing fresh from the line, love that smell.
I would recreate the smell of rain on newly mown grass, nothing like it!
Oooh so many!
Cola cubes
freshly mown grass
baileys irish cream
fionabeard1@gmail.com
The smell I would most like to recreate would be that first scent of frost when you walk out of your door on a crisp autumn morning…..
New mown grass or the scent of lavendar on a sunny day purplex0191 at yahoo dot co dot uk
spring flowers or new born baby smell!!!!!
I love the smell of suncream, reminds me of lovely family holidays. I would buy this in a flash.
I also love the smell of petrol, but doubt this would a top seller!!!
@emmiloam
I would like to create the smell of a damp woods or forest….like damp ferns. A i weird?? lol
@mariajkknight
I love the smell of anything citrus. There are lots of variations, but I don't think I've seen a mojito scented one!
The smell of Strawberry cheesecake wofting around my house would be nice 🙂
Donna Clarke
crag-y-don@hotmail.co.uk
hmmm magnolia flowers 🙂 @brumpton1991
mowed grass 🙂
I love the smell of the sea, freshly mown grass, freshly baked bread, perculated coffee and petrol!
@chocolateonemse
Chocolate fudge cake, coffee and cream and I love the smell of malibu and pineapple!
So many scents I love…
Fresh Gingerbread coming out of the oven,
My baby daughter 🙂
Suncream – memories of family hols 🙂
Cinnamon 🙂
twitter @charlotte_jones
I love the scent of Pandanus flowers..I have not found in UK..but easily available in India..absolutely gorgeous!
Twitter @dr_reenu
fresh bread or cakes baking in the oven
The smell of a fresh summer morning where the dew is glistening after a stormy night
@angiehoggett
I love the scent of the beach, it evokes so many happy memories 🙂
@samanthawesley
samantha_wesley@hotmail.co.uk
Freshly cut grass
Apple Crumble and Vanilla Custard it reminds me of childhood all the different smells 🙂
@broughton100
I love summer evening perfumes such as jasmine and honeysuckle. I also love pine scents and lilac and viburnum.essential oil scents like sandalwood and patchouli take me straight back to my youth and lavender is a classic favourite any time
The old fashioned roses in my grandads garden when I was a small child, modern roses are no where nearly as scented.
I love the smell of Disneyland when you walk down Main Street, it smells like candy floss and waffles :o)