Getting to know the Yankee Candle Sisters with some Q&A fun!

I came across the Yankee Candle Sisters blog a few weeks ago and was blown away by the quality and quantity of their candle reviews. Averaging over 3 reviews published per week on their blog they certainly embody their maxim, “We have a passion for fragrance.”

I reached out to the Sisters, Kari and Jenna, and was lucky enough to land a brief, informative, and fun question and answer session with the both of them!  Without further ado, take it away Yankee Candle Sisters!

1. Your blog, yankeecandlesisters.wordpress.com, impressively has over 600 unique blog posts since December of 2011 created between the two of you!  Clearly you’ve lived up to your blog’s slogan “We have a passion for fragrance”.  In order to post reviews for that many unique candle products how often do you ladies find yourselves out shopping for new things to review on your blog? 

   Kari: I tend to buy a ton of candles during the winter and summer semi-annual sales, which keep me stocked up! But I cannot resist a great find at Homegoods or a Yankee candle Outlet (I go about once a month) and then there is the occasional online purchase after a stressful week!
   Jenna: In the past I would say I was out looking pretty much every weekend. Recently, I’ve been trying to cut back, but more on that later!

2. It’s got to be a lot of fun sharing a blog with your sister.  Would you say that having the blog has benefited your relationship and how so?
   
   Kari: Absolutely! We first started this blog just as an online diary for which candles we liked. When I moved to Rhode Island, and then to Maryland, our shopping trips together became fewer and fewer, so this is a fun way to stay in touch with our favorite hobby!
   Jenna: Definitely! When we lived closer together, we would mostly go shopping together. So we would know everything that the other was buying. Now, we live so far apart and don’t see each other often. Reading her blog posts allows me to see what products she’s buying and which ones she likes the best (or absolutely hates).(The Candle Review says: What a great idea to use a blog to share your candle hobby with each other while at the same time benefiting your readers too! Kudos!)
3. This one may be tough, but can each of you give your top three favorite Yankee Candle scents, and rank them #1 through #3?  And what makes your #1 choice your absolute favorite?
   
   Kari: This is so hard!!! I change my mind all the time, but at the moment…
   #1) Candy Apple – I have loved this scent for so long; I remember buying a votive of this scent many years ago with money from a babysitting job. It’s now retired, but I grab a jar every time it returns as a Treasure! (The Candle Review says: Thanks Kari! I’ll be on the look out for the return of this retired scent!)
   #2) Jelly Donut
   #3) Country Lemonade
   Jenna:
   #1) South African Vineyard – This one is amazing. A lot of grape scents are artificial smelling and remind me of cough medicine, but not this one. It’s so strong I can even smell it when it isn’t lit.
   #2) Pink Sands – This is the scent that actually got me into burning candles! I always loved buying them for our mother but this one was the first one that I smelt and said—“I need this” (The Candle Review says: Thanks Jenna! You’ve convinced me to pull the trigger on this one that I’ve been wanting to try for a while now!)
   #3) Turquoise Sky – This scent is just so fresh and clean. It reminds me of being at the beach on a windy day.
4. Do either of you have a least favorite Yankee Candle scent?  If so why is it your least favorite?
   
   Kari:I have always hated the Sage & Citrus scent. Yuck!
   Jenna: Tailgating!!! Kari and I found this at the outlet last summer and she made me smell it, I literally felt sick after smelling it.
   Kari: I change my mind. Jenna is right…Tailgating is by far the worst scent I’ve ever smelled!

   (The Candle Review says: Haha, okay now my curiosity is piqued!  I’ve got to find a Tailgating scented candle to see for myself what it smells like!)

5. What are a couple of your go to Yankee Candle scents when you’re looking to completely relax or looking to have that zen moment?
   
   Kari: I always go for the autumn scents! Usually it’s Autumn Leaves! I just love the cooler fall season, and it makes me nostalgic for the excitement of the upcoming holidays (Halloween is my favorite!)
   Jenna: Turquoise sky or a similar beach/fresh scent is a go to for me when I want to relax. There is nothing more relaxing than feeling like you’re at the ocean (can you tell I’m from New England?)
6. Are there any scents that you’ll only burn at certain times of the year, for example you only burn a specific scent around the holidays, or is it pretty much a ‘free for all’ where any scent goes at anytime?
   
   Kari: To be honest, I usually blindly select my tarts. Seriously, I have them in a Yankee Candle bag and will close my eyes and grab the first one. I’m definitely a free for all!
   Jenna: I’m actually pretty particular about when I burn scents. I will only burn holiday scents around that particular holiday, same goes for winter themed scents. I with only burn them in the winter. I bought the Boston Strong candle after the Marathon bombing, and I will only burn that candle the week of April 15th—it’s going to last me a very long time!
7. You mention on your blog you live in different states, but when you’re together and with the both of you having such a passion for candles have the two of you ever have any disagreements on what candle you were going to burn?
   
   Jenna: No, for the most part I think that the general rule is that whoever’s house we’re at, that person gets free reign on the candle scents. The only exception would be that some scents give Kari a headache so I’ll obviously change scents if that was the case.
   Kari: Jenna’s spot on! Fresh scents make me sick, but other than that, whose ever house we’re at gets to pick! (Same goes with the radio in the car…but I limit Jenna’s Taylor Swift binges).

   (The Candle Review says: Hey! Nothing wrong with a bit of Taylor Swift binging! 😀 )

8. Between the two of you combined, could you take a guess about how many candles you currently own (not including tea lights)?  Which of the two of you has more candles?
   
   Kari: Jenna wins the most candles award! I am down to maybe 8 jars and 20 tarts (just restocked!) I promised my husband that the next time we move, I will have less than 4 boxes dedicated to candles…
   Jenna: I definitely have more candles! Without exaggerating, I have hundreds of tarts and votives and over 30 jars. The sad part is that, apart from receiving them as Christmas or Birthday gifts, I haven’t really bought any candles for myself in over a year. My jar collection was over double the size, but I’m trying to burn the ones I have before getting new ones!
9. I see you have some posts highlighting wine’s under $10 on your blog.  My wife and I love a good bottle of wine and even more so if it’s inexpensive!  If you had to recommend one bottle of wine for us to try under $10 what would it be?
   
   Jenna: This is all Kari – she’s the wine drinker!
   Kari: Wine is my section indeed! My current go-to is Angel Food Cake by Cupcake (~$9). I’ve been meaning to revisit this section! When I moved to the DC area, everything was so expensive, I couldn’t find anything under $10. But now I am in a more rural, and reasonably priced area. I love Cupcake wine…and if you or your wife prefers red, their Devil’s Food Cake is also great!

   (The Candle Review says: Thanks for the tip! The wife and I will be giving a Cupcake bottle a go next weekend!)

10. And for fun, who’s the better blogger?
    
    Jenna: Kari is definitely the better blogger. She blogs much more often than I do. I tend to slack off. I’m going to try to get better with that!
    Kari: Nah, I’m just more talkative! I actually write for 3 other blogs (all on science and connected to my job), so our candle blog is a fun vacation from oceanography!

What a delightful Q&A with these two sisters and the best part is now I’ve got even more candles added to my wish list!  Be sure to head over to the Yankee Candle Sister’s blog to check out ALL of their great reviews and to get more ideas for candles you may want to add to your arsenals!