Scented candle and gift set heaven: Irish range Brooke & Shoals are on to a winner

Give me a good smelly candle and you've got a friend for life.  I LOVE scented candles, I have the house full of them and in particular I love the Irish ranges.  Max Benjamin and Cloon Keen are particular favourites and now here's another brilliant Irish brand to join the gang.

If there is ANYTHING positively definitely going to make me squee with delight it's a luxury candle.  Cheap smelly candles aren't worth their salt - quite often they're just sprayed on the outside with fragrance and you'll find that they smell of absolutely ... nothing when they burn.  Pick up that candle in Penneys and it might smell lovely initially and look exactly like a Diptique or Jo Malone - but you can bet your ass that it will be crap in the "perfuming the house" stakes.

Luxury brands on the other hand, although they may seem eye wateringly expensive, ARE actually worth it.  They're packed full of essential oils, last for ages (look for the burn time on the box - it's 40 hours on these guys, €18) and one will scent your whole home in a couple of hours or so.

Brooke and Shoals are  firmly in the fancy pants category.  If you like the smell of an expensive spa and are a sucker for essential oils like neroli, geranium or ylang ylang, you're going to love these. (However if you're not a fan of essential oils I'd avoid - the scents are very strong).

Ever since my GP told me to burn a lavender candle at night before going to bed (chronic insomnia anyone?) I've started to pay more attention to essential oils and the way they might look at you - there's a gorgeous lavender flavoured candle in this range.

But the absolute corker here are the gift sets.  They're exquisite.  Show me a woman who doesn't like a luxury gift set full of delicious candles, hand cream or body products and I'll show you one who doesn't like chocolate.

Are you a fancy pants candle lover?  Would you like to see a candle roundup - I've tried them all!

To find out more and for stockists details visit brookeandshoals.ie