It is FINALLY going to start feeling like fall weather around here this week, and I couldn’t be more excited!  I love when the temps cool down, cozy sweaters come out to play, pumpkin spice is errrrywhere, and, the cooler weather also means…candle season!  I mostly use candles in the fall and winter months, and I always look forward to grabbing up a couple new scents once those first leaves start to fall.  🍂

I was so excited to work with Antique Candle Works for the season!  They are a small shop run by family and friends, and they hand-pour each and every candle which arrives in the cutest mason jar.  Love supporting family-run small shops.  🙌🏻  Now, let me just tell you.  I am a strong candle type of gal.  Drives me nuts when I buy a candle in the store thinking it smells so yummy, and then, once lit at home….?  Nothin.’  Blerg.  I like my candles to fill the space quickly, conjuring up all the fall feels.  These candles from Antique Candle Works do just that!  I could smell them THROUGH the packaging as I was driving them home from my PO Box!  YUM.  Let me try and describe them for you, since sometimes buying candles online is a bit of a gamble.

First up is “Apple Pickin'” which has the sweet, tart, fruity scent of a ripe apple mixed with just a touch of fall spice in the background.  Sometimes fruity candles can almost end up giving off a soapy, fake smell, but this one from Antique Candle Works smells like fresh apples sitting sliced on the counter while an apple pie bakes in the oven.  No lie, this one makes me hungry. 😂

Next up is “Pumpkin Spice,” and this one is sort of the quintessential fragrance of fall.  As my shirt says, pumpkin spice everything.  This candle is strong with notes of cinnamon, cloves and all things pumpkin!  Again with the pie theme, it genuinely smells like there’s a pumpkin one bakin’ away in the oven, and basically now I’m going to need pie after all this.  GAH! 😍  If you want a pumpkin spice candle that actually SMELLS like pumpkin spice, this is it!

And finally, my favorite of the three (if I haaaaaaaad to choose a favorite…) is “Autumn Leaves.”  I lit this one first when I got home with my box o’ candles, and I couldn’t place the combination of yummy scents.  After thinking on it for a bit, I tried to describe it to my husband, and all I could come up with was, “Well, it just smells like outside in the fall!”  Helpful, I know.  😂  So, I looked up the fragrance ingredients on the Antique Candle Works website, and it all clicked.  This “Autumn Leaves” candle is a mix of birch and maple leaves, plus added notes of pomegranate, juniper berry and orange blossom.  YES.  THAT’S what it smells like! 😉  It’s a nice mix if you want to find a candle somewhere inbetween the fruity scents and the spicier scents, and this one is also very strong, too!  Just like I like ’em. 🙌🏻

There ya go!  My three favorite smells of autumn from this sweet small shop candle co.  Ahhhhhh.  Now to bust out my sweater, curl up with my Kindle (reading “Outlander,” duh🙌🏻), and watch the leaves fall.  🍂  Check out Antique Candle Works [HERE] for these yummo mason jar candles if you’re in the market!  Have a great week, buddies!

(*This post was a partnership between Cotton Stem and Antique Candle Works, and I’m honored to help support this awesome small shop.  All reviews and opinions come from my brains and experiences, like usual.)