Yankee Doodle Dandy

About two weeks ago, I placed an order with www.yankee.ie. I've been completely in love with Yankee candles since I discovered them in a tiny little homeware shop in Cavan years ago. For me, Yankee candles are my go-to item when I'm feeling down, annoyed, upset, bored, dull - every single wet day, you can guarantee that I'll have a Yankee candle lit in my windowsill. I adore them. I often just sit smelling them (not as weird as it sounds).

I'd buy Yankee every single day if I could (I'm aware, by the way, that this post is going to sound like I'm an ambassador for them, but I'm not connected with them in any way - just a huge fan), but the price is sometimes an issue for me. I find their large glass jars can be expensive, depending on where you buy them. Our local shop charges almost €2 for one little wax tart, and anything up to €50 for a large jar. The wax tarts are the little flat rosette-shaped candles with no wick (as pictured below) - these are intended to be burned in oil burners. I know that many people have been caught out with the tarts, assuming they were just flat wicked candles. They're not - they're SO much better. I burn one in my oil burner, then let it go cool again, pop it out with a knife, and burn another one. I keep all my partially-used ones in a little box in the kitchen, this means I will never get sick of the same scent - which tends to happen when I buy the huge glass jars, if I'm honest. I've got a huge Sandalwood one in my sitting room and I've completely gone off the smell of it over the last year.

Image: www.yankee.ie

Anyway, back to my experience with the website - I can honestly say I've never been as happy as I was with this company. I'm always a bit dubious when I use my laser card online - sometimes things can seem so impersonal. This time, I ordered (I honest to god can't remember) around 12-15 of the wax tarts at their discount prices (less than €1). About two days later, a lovely lady rang me and explained that they were sadly out of stock in one or two of the fragrances I'd chosen. She then went through the list of all available fragrances with me on the phone, stopping and explaining the individual scent whenever I asked. She also popped in an extra few tarts for me into my order, and I received it the very next day. One other little thing that I loved about the site that really made a difference - they specify that delivery is either by courier or by An Post (delivery charges are the same either way - €3.99 for orders up to €45, and free for anything over that). I paid €3.99 and specified that I would like to receive my order via An Post if at all possible (had an overdose of couriers the last month, after buying all the back-to-school stuff online), that was also mentioned to me in the phone call and it did indeed arrive with the Postman. I just thought it was nice to know that the orders were being dealt with personally and read properly, an important factor when you're taking the risk by ordering online. The site also operates a loyalty scheme, where customers earn loyalty points that are redeemable on the site once you reach a certain limit.

Fireguard (also in white) with 3 boxes of Yankee Tea Lights, Now half price at €29.95

I want to make it 100% clear that I bought and paid for my order myself, and the only free products I received were down to the generosity of the lady who rang me (that's why I'm not mentioning her name, I don't want to get anyone into trouble) and this did not influence this post in any way. I would still rave about Yankee even if there wasn't a sale on. I just wanted to make a point of telling everyone how happy I was with the order, the company, and the products - so often, people complain about bad experiences they've had, and I think the good experiences are just as important - probably more so. It's great knowing where to avoid, but it's even better to know that you can trust in a company to provide a fantastic service.

The sale over at www.yankee.ie is ending this Sunday, August 23rd, and you can pay by Credit Card, PayPal, or Laser. The little fireguard above is fantastic value considering the usual price and the quality of the products - they also update their stock regularly and feature all the yearly limited editions and gorgeous seasonal gifts like these Christmas packs, which are DEFINITELY coming to my house this winter. Love.

Grab these for €17.95 (usual price €29.85) before Sunday!

I think in times like we've had over the past few years, it's easy to go to UK or US sites to grab bargains - so this is a brilliant opportunity to pick up some gorgeous gifts/treats and support Irish business at the same time. Treat a loved one (or yourself - yourself is always a worthy recipient).

S xx