Wednesday 26 November 2014

Review & Giveaway: Chantel Martin Candles.


If there is one thing I really love about blogging, it's being able to discover, collaborate with and support local brands. It's no secret that I love to have a nicely-scented candle burning on my bedside table, so when family-run business, Chantel Martin Candles contacted me regarding a collaboration I was thrilled, and what's more, they are based a twenty-minute walk away from my house so I was able to take a visit to their warehouse to see it for myself.
 
Chantel Martin Candles is owned by Paul Martin and his wife, Chantel, and their little candle workshop is based within their bespoke furniture store in Warrington, Cheshire. Upon arrival, I was greeted with a warm welcome by Paul, plus the amazing scent from the batch of watermelon sorbet votive candles that he had just finished pouring (which smell delicious, might I add). He showed me to the back of his furniture shop, where there stood a glass cabinet full of his medium and large sized candle jars, plus a huge round table displaying votive candles of eighteen (!) different scents in candy shop-style glass jars- It was truly like being a child in a sweetshop.
 
The beauty of the Chantel Martin brand is that they are passionate about their products and each one of their candles is handcrafted with care and precision- Paul was happy to take me in to his workshop and talk me through his candle-making process, from melting the paraffin wax in a slow-cooker and adding in the coloured wax and fragrance oils to bring the scents to life, to the attention to detail he applies to each one, using tools that he has crafted to ensure that each wick is glued directly in the centre of each container and that every label sits straight on the glass jars. He also told me about his experiments of trial and error with different sizes and styles of wicks to ensure that his candles burn for as long as possible, and to help eliminate that annoying, sooty line that accumulates around the edge of many candle jars (Yankee, I'm looking at you!). Who knew that making candles could be so much work?!
 
Paul was so generous as to let me take home one of each of his votive candles, plus I was allowed to select three of my favourite fragrances in the full-sized jars. As a huge fan of Yankee's Clean Cotton candle, I naturally opted for Chantel Martin's version of the same name, plus the luxurious Whitewood, Vanilla & Patchouli scent and the Hot Apple Pie scent which smells just like a freshly baked apple crumble (I am super excited to set fire to this one now that we're a little closer to Christmas!). Of course, this is a lot of candles for me try out, so I shall be writing more detailed reviews of them in groups over the next few weeks, where I will talk a little more about burn time, burn quality and scent likeness, plus which rooms in the house each candle is perfect for. I have currently been burning my Clean Cotton candle for around fifteen hours and it is still going strong (Chantel Martin's large apothecary jars should burn for 40-50 hours), and I am happy to report that each time I light it, it quickly fills my bedroom with the scent of freshly washed linen. Heaven.
 
As well as large jars (240g, classic and luxury scents, £15.99 and £19.99 respectively), Chantel Martin also sells medium jars (160g, £9.99) and votives (60g, £2.50). Just in case you're stuck for Christmas presents ;) (you can find a full list of their scents here).
 
So, now that I have made you sit through all of that writing, here is the best bit. Paul has been ever so lovely as to contribute some of his candles for a giveaway on my blog, and he is offering my readers the chance to win not just one candle or a couple of votives, but a large candle, a medium candle plus ten votives! That is around £50 worth of candles in your choice of scents for one of you lovely lot! All you have to do is follow the rules below and enter using the Rafflecopter widget.
 
 
 
Rules
-This giveaway is open to the UK only (sorryyy)!
-Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter. There are plenty of options for extra entries!
- Giveaways on my blog are intended to say thank you to my readers. Entries made by accounts solely created for the purpose of entering giveaways will be disqualified.
- The giveaway will run for one week, and will end at 11:59PM GMT on Wednesday, December 3, 2014.
-The winner will be picked at random and contacted via email and/or Twitter and will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is picked.
 
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck everyone, and a huge thank you to Paul & Chantel Martin for making this possible! :)
 
Frances x
 
*DISCLOSURE: The prize for this giveaway has been very generously provided by Paul & Chantel Martin.

17 comments:

  1. Oh wow amazing, candle heaven. That vanilla, whitewood and patchouli one sounds lovely :)

    Sophie x

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  2. Bet the apple pie one smells divine!

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  3. Hot Apple Pie, I want to eat some now!

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  4. By the way, I tried searchiing for the candle companys instagram but I couldn't find it anywhere. :(

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    Replies
    1. Hi sweet, I just checked to make sure I had put the correct Instagram username and it is correct, be sure to try again just in case!

      Frances xx

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    2. Sorry everyone I put the Instagram account under my name . I have now changed it. Chantel Martin Candles. Hope that helps .

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    3. instagram.com/chantelmartincandles leads to a dead link as well :(

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  5. I think fresh lemon sounds lovely!

    Ashleigh

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  6. mmmm white musk! I love that smell :)

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  7. I like the sound of the Whitewood, Vanilla and Patchouli
    : ]

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  8. Amazing giveaway, i'm a candle junkie! The apple pie candle sounds lovely and the bubblegum candle sounds really fun too :) xx
    http://glitternnmud.blogspot.co.uk/

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  9. I love the sound of Jasmine and Gardenia :)

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  10. Sweet Strawberry sounds delicious

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  11. Clean Cotton is a classic and one of my faves! I'm intruiged about the watermelon though!

    Em

    www.emsmixedbag.com

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  12. Desperate to try bubblegum! Nomnom!

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