by Avery Jordan
Brand: Friendly Fumes
Type: Clamshells – 3.99
24 oz – 21.95
16 oz/ 16.95 – 17.95
10 oz – 13.95
Fragrances:
Snickerdoodle
Apple Cinnamon
Lavender Vanilla
Sweet Black Pepper
Lavender Shortbread
Strength: Medium+
Introduction to Friendly fumes scented candle review:
Friendly Fumes was a new company to me. I get excited about trying a new company so one of the first things I do is head to the website and start cyber shopping. (Hmmm…is there a better term for computer window shopping?)
This website is very easy to understand and navigate with little fussiness or nonessential pictures on the site to distract you. Friendly Fumes offers container candles, tins, pillars, votives, hearts and melts along with bath products, (Bob is a fourth generation soap maker!) so there is a lot to choose from! There are several styles of candles, and the scent list is large – with several types of vanillas, gingers and also several lavenders as well as many unusual scents if you are looking to expand your fragrance horizons… like Steamy Sauna! How about trying White Maple and Clove? Chocolate Raspberry Roll?
The owner, Bob, is great to work with and sent a nice selection of candles with the newest style candle, the cascade jar, in the biggest size: 24 oz. FUN and uh oh… He did not know what a gamble that was… you may recall that I am not much of a bakery gal! Could I be convinced? It was time for a candle-burning smack down.
Snickerdoodle:
What did my 24 oz Snickerdoodle candle look like?
The soft soy wax was a creamy, toasty tan. The cascade jar was unique – an updated style that has apothecary style clear glass with a double “bump” near the base. The clear, inobtrusive label includes their tag line: “Everybody is always stickin’ their nose in our business”. On the back is a small clear sticker with the scent name in black. I have glass lids, but you may choose other metal types.”
How did my candle smell?
“A freshly baked, cinnamon sugar cookie type with a hot buttered, creamy vanilla top-note, a spicy clove, cinnamon and ginger middle-note, with a sugary sweet vanilla base-note.”
I burned the candle in a medium size bedroom (about 9 x 12 ) and you could definitely smell it! OK, ‘fess up… what are you expecting from the non-bakery gal? How about a polite discussion that does not really say much about the scent? If so, you are so wrong!
Here is the good part – I liked this scent! The candle really did remind me of a hot Snickerdoodle, one that you have just scooped off the cookie sheet. The smell was of warm cookies with a sugary crisp shell, a hint of cinnamon. You know the smell of the crispy buttery-sugary outside that you bite through to the soft inner doodle? That’s it!
I moved the candle to a smaller room where the scent was stronger and then melted 2 cubes in a tealight melter in the bedroom. The scenting was medium, no trouble melting and they lasted about 6 hours. The smell also lingered for quite awhile after the flames were out!
Lavender Vanilla:
What does my Lavender Vanilla candle look like?
This is a standard apothecary jar. The wax is dye-free. The Friendly Flumes’ small rectangular label is on the front, (again, black writing on a clear sticker with a colorful flame graphic and the tag line). The back has a sticker with the scent name. Double wicked again!
How did my Lavender Vanilla candle smell? (no description on site)
Usually when you get Lavender Vanilla scented candles, it is the commercial scent, the one that we associate with fabric softener that comes to mind. This one is a little different. It is more of a botanical lavender with vanilla rounding out the scent. This was the strongest of the candles that I tried – the scent filled the room, and it felt crisp and clean, very soothing and spa-like.
I used 2 cubes from the matching clamshell in a tealight melter. The strength of the melts matched the strength of the candle – it was hard to tell which was burning. That is good news since candles usually have a much lighter scent throw than melts!
The Lavender Vanilla turned out to be my favorite scent in the group I tried.
Apple Cinnamon
“Baked apples with cinnamon, mmmm!”
This is their best seller. This candle is in a Mason jar, with one wick – that is all that is needed, believe me! The color intrigued me – it is not the typical red apple. I am not sure the color actually has a name – it is a reddish-pinkish-brown! Again the label is clear with black writing and does not detract from the appearance at all.
How did my Apple Cinnamon candle smell?
This candle was a very nice balance of the two scents. It really does have a yummy scent and I can see why it is a big seller! It would be the perfect scent to start off autumn if you are a seasonal melter like I am. This had the lightest throw of the scents tested. Don’t let that stop you from choosing this one, though – it certainly was strong enough for a small bedroom, even stronger in my smaller front hall and it is a nice addition to any apple connoisseur’s collection.
Two cubes from the chamshell in a tealight melter and once again, the scent was about equal in both the candle and melt.
Sweet Black Pepper
I was not convinced that this was going to smell like pepper, so I was anxious to give this one a try.
The cold sniff was interesting – it started out more like a spicy cinnamon. After it was melted, the scent was a spicy, pungent blend. At first I thought that it was not pepper that I smelled. So, I tried to define what that note was that was blended with the other spicy notes and actually, I had to admit that black pepper turned out to be the closest scent to what I was smelling! It will be the type of scent that your friends and family will look at you quizzically and say “what is that scent? I know it, but I can’t seem to place it”.It is not for everyone, but I enjoyed the change. There really is a note on the finish that is quite similar to sniffing your pepper grinder, but of course the sneeze is absent.
The throw was medium strong – both on the candle and the melts. (Using 2 cubes from the clamshell again in a tealight melter.) I opened the door and was met with the scent. It is not overpowering and believe me, that is good for this type of scent! Interestingly, the longer the melt was melting, the more it smelled like black pepper. So here is your Martha Stewart moment: The next time you roll back the rug and host a Salsa dancing party, try replacing the Margarita scent with this one – it will add a little zip to the evening!
Lavender Shortbread
Before you say “Huh? Those scents don’t mix!” let me remind you about the Yankee scent, Shortbread Cookie, that flew off the shelf. There were lavender notes in that! Yes, seriously!
I just happened to have an old jar of that Shortbread to compare – and I can tell you, the cold sniff on FF was a lot stronger! There are differences in the balance of the notes – the Friendly accents the lavender with a nice cookie chaser. Yankee’s is predominantly cookie with just a little tickle of something different in the finish.
This is also smells more like a botanical lavender, not a “cosmetic” lavender (the kind you find in many inexpensive bath products.) When you first smell the scent you breathe in the lavender and then suddenly you are aware the scent is not finished – the shortbread follows softly to make a very interesting and more complex scent.
This candle was also had a pretty good throw – not intense, but strong enough again to sent the bedroom nicely. The melts performed as the others had, easy to melt, lasting about 4 hours with a scent a little stronger than the candle.
How did my candles from Friendly Fumes burn?
WOOHOO! Double wicks on the apothecary and cascade jars! These wicks made burning a very big candle much easier! It made the melt pool in the usual “8”, but the pool was large. Only a little wax stuck to the jar right at the middle indent of the 8. I left the wicks a little longer on these candles, this could have helped. (The tradeoff with a big melt pool can be drowning wicks.) Of course when you do keep them a wee bit longer, you have more carbon trimming to do, but the hassle is minimal. You will remember to clip before you relight! The burn was very clean, no soot noted.
The Mason jar? One word – Great! Only one wick but it makes a nice, full melt pool with the slightly longer wick, so I had to be sure I wasn’t snip-happy when trimming.
Final thoughts on Friendly Fumes Candles:
I have to admit, I am itching to get more of these candles! I had slipped away from candle burning and mainly into melting because of strength of throw and wick and soot hassles. But these candles are so easy! They form a melt pool quickly so no more “4 hour minimum time commitments” once you light your candle. The candle scents almost matched the melts in strength, so if you enjoy candles, you can have that comforting flame while you scent your room. If you are still a melter at heart, you won’t go wrong trying those either.
Another thing I like about this company – the scent lingers! I really enjoyed walking into the room a couple hours later and still having wisps of scent – noticeable with both lavenders and the Snickerdoodle. (And who would have thought that I would have wanted the Snickerdoodle to linger when we started out this review, LOL!)
I suggest that you check out their selection of 100% soy candles with Eco-Friendly scents and since they offer 4 oz Variety Sample Packs, it makes choosing a cinch! (Didn’t get that special gift you hinted about for Valentine’s Day? Perhaps that special someone in your life could get back in your good graces with the “Cupid Collection” sample pack. What better way to win a scent addict’s heart!)
Happy candle shopping!
~ Avery