witches Brew scented candle by Yankee...

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Advantages: Fragrance fits the holiday, reasonable price, range of sizes,
Disadvantages: limited availability.

It's that time of year again; I just love burning scented candles during the grey, rainy and cold autumn/winter months...

Patchouli [aka graveyard dirt] has long been used to tap into the energies of the Earth element. It is seen as a symbol of the nurturing power of minerals, plants and trees, as well as it being thought to repel evil spirits and vengeful ghosts. It is still used today, mainly to reinforce spells for healing, wealth and protection. Patchouli oil is also popular in aromatherapy, where some believe it is a aphrodisiac and can also be applied to aid fertility. So by reputation alone it makes for an obvious choice in fragrance for a special edition Halloween candle by Yankee.

Patchouli is best described as smelling like damp soil, with a undertone that has a kind of organic spicy/sweetness to it. The spicy tang reminds me of cinnamon - perhaps there is some extra cinnamon added? I can't pinpoint the sweeter notes, but overall the results smell vaguely like cola to me.
These above notes combine to create a darker incense note, with the smokiness of burnt wood underneath everything else.

WITCHES BREW is a perfect fragrance for Halloween, as the perfume conjures up the image of a freshly dug grave, with the perfume from nearby funeral wreaths and smoke from bonfires lingering in the air.

I don't like patchouli in perfumes or body products as it has a strong scent that can feel suffocating to me, not to mention that it can give me migraines. But I've found that when the patchouli is not in contact with my skin I actually like the earthy/sweet contrasts to it.


I mainly use my candles in my bedroom for a few hours in the evenings. A single Yankee votive sampler will last about seven days in total [sometimes eight days].
Seven days, with two to three hours burning time per use, means that each votive has a burning time of between roughly fourteen to sixteen hours. My WITCHES BREW votive was one of the Yankee candles that lasted eight days or so. I'd guess that it lasted well over eighteen hours in total.

As with all Yankee candles, the entirety of the wax is perfumed; I've used some candles where the fragrance burns up before the candle does, but that is not the case here. The fragrance lasts as long as the candle does and is strong enough to travel over the house. I even catch occasional wafts of the perfume whilst the candle is unlit.


Yankee sell some really lovely limited edition Halloween holders for their votives and tea lights, but in this case lovely means costly; some sell for £16 and the cheaper ones tend to be made to fit tea lights, so the melting wax will overspill and drip if you use a votive.

I usually look out for similarly sized scented candles already in glass and tin holders in Poundland style shops, burn them down quickly and use the holders to hold the Yankee candles - I've had no problems so far.


If you'd rather not spend any more money, just take a look inside your cupboards and cabinets; you could use a saucer as the votive will perfectly fit into most cup grooves in the saucer, and you could also look in your cupboard and size up shot glasses, small glass tumblers and small jars to find a good fit for the votives.

WITCHES BREW was originally released under the name Purr-Chouli and, as the name suggests, the wax used to be black like the traditional witches cat, rather than the dark purple colour the wax has had for the past few years. So if you should come across a site offering the discontinued Purr-Chouli candle at an inflated price, there's simply no need to part with your cash.