Happy New Year and thanks for being patient while Christina and I took a break from writing reviews.  It's been nice to have some time off, but after relaxing for a couple weeks, I'm feeling refreshed, inspired and ready to try lots of new candles for you in 2006.  To kick off the new year, I'm reviewing a great winter candle from a company called Candles of Eden.  The scent is called Snow Crystals and is a mix of peppermint and chocolate.

If you're a loyal fan to CandleFind, you may have noticed that I've had Candles of Eden listed as one of my all-time favorite candle companies on my \'Editor\'s for a long time now.  I do love their candles and burn them at home for my own enjoyment, but for some reason I haven't written many reviews of them.  I guess I've gotten side tracked lately on other great brands Christina and I have been discovering, but no matter how many new companies I try, Candles of Eden will always hold a special place in my heart. Why?...

Candles of Eden was actually one of the very first handcrafted-type candle companies I tried soon after I created this site...they really opened my eyes to a whole new world of candles! Before trying their candles, I had only ever burned candles from the HUGE name brands that you see on every gift shop shelf out there like Yankee, Old Virginia, etc.

About a half hour after I lit my first candle from Candles of Eden, I was in shock.  I couldn't believe how strong and authentic the scent was.  I had never experienced a scented candle like this before...it totally blew the big name brands that I had burned in the past out of the water!  It was from this Candles of Eden "awesome smelling experience" that I first realized there were MUCH better candles out there than just the big brands that I was aware of.  So, I have to say a quick thanks to Candles of Eden for opening my eyes.  (By the way, that first candle I tried from them was their Hot Cinnamon Bun scent. You can click here to read that review.)

Just a side note on their jars...I just placed an order the other day on the Candles of Eden site and noticed they have 2 new jar styles in addition to my frosted jar that I'm reviewing here.  One of the new jars is called a Metro jar and the other a Honey Pot jar.  I was really happy to see that I get to choose what kind of jar I want now.  I ordered the new jars instead because I like the look of them much better...they're more modern which I like.

How Did My Snow Crystals Candle from Candles of Eden Smell?

I've been burning and enjoying this candle on and off now for at least a month.  Why has it taken me so long to get to the bottom? Well eversince Fall hit, Christina and I were on a big kick to review lots of traditional warm, spicey scents for you to enjoy during the Autumn/Christmas season.  I've never been a big spice fan when it comes to fragrance, so in between my spicey reviews, I really needed something to refresh my nose...something that would cool me down and lift me up after smelling all the heavy spices.  That's when my Snow Crystals candle came to my rescue!  Here's the scent description from the Candles of Eden web site:

Smooth chocolate and crisp mint blend together to give a refreshing scent, much like that of the first snowfall. Winter best seller and staff favorite.

To me, this scent is just perfect for the winter time.  I think if snow had a smell to it, this would be it. Snow Crystals has a nice cooling, refreshing feel to it from the realistic peppermint. (Yes, the "mint" is peppermint...I could tell, but I asked just to be sure.)  At the same time though, the chocolate seems to ground the mint and keeps this scent from being overly cool and minty... I think it also adds just a tad of sweet to the scent.  The chocolate in Snow Crystals is smooth and authentic, but from what I can smell I think the mint dominates the chocolate a little.  I asked my hubbie to sniff it and he said the same thing.

Snow Crystals is such a nice blend that my nose has really been enjoying. The scent reminds me of those Thin Mint cookies that I used to sell and eat when I was in Girl Scouts back in the day. When I used to eat them, my mouth would feel refreshingly cool from the mint.  That's just how my nose feels when I burn this candle.  This scent has been helping to clear my usual stuffy winter nose and make my sinuses feel a little cooler, which is a nice bonus for me. :-)

When it comes to scent strength, this candle is no wimp.  Every time I light it and let it burn, it's been filling my living room with it's crisp, smooth scent.  It's not an “in-your-face, sickening, have-to-blow-it-out kind of scent. It's been giving my room a cool, airy feel from the peppermint, but it's definitely been strong enough to fill my room.

As with most of the candles from Candles of Eden that I've tried, I don't have to sit right over it to enjoy the scent.  No matter where I've been sitting in my living room I've been smelling it.  My living room isn't huge, but it's not tiny either...it's average I guess.  I think if you have a larger great room and want to try this scent, I'm not sure if one candle would do it.  You might want to get two and light them just to be on the safe side.  Of course it's all about experimenting to see what works best for your room.

My candle burned very clean with no visible soot at all.  I've never gotten soot from a candle from Candles of Eden...I think because of the soy wax they use.

As you can see from the picture of my candle above, there was a litte wax residue left on the side of my jar, but that was my fault.  I didn't allow the wax to melt to the sides of the jar each time I burned it.  I think if you did, you wouldn't be left with any wax on the sides of this type of jar.  I still have to test their new jars to see how they perform...I'll let you know when I do.

One last thing on the burn...I feel like I got a lot of life out of this candle. It seemed to burn pretty slow.

Overall Opinion of My Snow Crystals Candle from Candles of Eden:

If you love the combination of peppermint and chocolate or just need a change from the traditional spice and bakery Christmas scents, this candle is a must-smell for you.  I think you'll find it just as refreshing, wintery and strong as I have.  It's been the perfect candle to cleanse and refresh my smell-buds. Thanks to the minty side of this scent, Snow Crystals is also a great candle to have on hand for those stuffy-nose winter moments.

Happy New Year and as always, Happy Candle Burning!

Carolyn :-)

Click here to shop for candles from CandlesofEden.com