You
know those jarred candles that people buy for other people as gifts? I
have one of those. I received it around 7 years ago. I burn it, once in a
blue moon, when I happen to notice it sitting on my shelf, but in all
those seven years, I've been careful not to burn it too far too fast. I
have collected scented candles from every imaginable source. All of them
reside in a drawer in my living room, which I occasionally open up to
gaze at them before closing it securely once again.
My
boyfriend's mother seems to be fond of good smells. She used to regale
us with scented lotions and shower gels, before graduating to Glade
Plug-ins, and finally these little bags of air freshener that she gets
in Indonesia. I still have a tube of body lotion that she must have
given us the first year we were together. I love it, and I use it, but
clearly I use it sparingly! The other tube she gave us that same year
still hasn't even been opened!
The
Glade Plug-ins were a lifesaver when I moved into a stinky apartment in
2015. But when I moved out again, all but one plug, and all of the
scent vials, disappeared. I bought some half-off no-name replacements at
a dollar store a year ago, but they now feel like such a precious
commodity that I have never plugged one in!
The
Indonesian air freshener? It has sat, helpfully, unopened on top of my
dresser for the past 5 or 6 months! I'd like to use it, but it's the
only one I have, and once it's opened and its scent depleted, it can
never be restored!
When
I was about 12 years old, my mother gifted me an aromatherapy kit
called "Making Scents," which started me on a path of lifetime love for
essential oils. I still have the notebook, hand-decorated by Yours
Truly, containing all the instruction cards that came with the kit. I
also have a few of the original, miniscule (5/8 a fluid dram, if that
means anything to you!) vials of essential oil. Yes, in 23 years I still
have not used 5/8 of a fluid dram, but I have to conserve them, because
once they're gone, well, I can't even bear to think about it!
Several
years ago, my then-boyfriend gave me a hand-me-down. It was an
Americana-themed Scentsy wax burner and 3 or 4 packets of Scentsy wax. I
don't know if you know (I didn't at the time), but a Scentsy is a
totally cool little gadget that uses a light bulb to melt a puddle of
scented wax in a dish above it. Because the wax doesn't actually burn
off, it can be used over and over again and never run out! It sounds
like a smell-hoarder's dream, right!? Unfortunately, my Scentsy fell on
the floor and perished before I'd been able to use it even a handful of
times, so for months I had all this Scentsy wax I was loath to part
with. Fortunately, I saved the light bulb and cord, and before long, I
had acquired a smaller potpourri burner from Freecycle that just managed
to contain the light bulb and enable my wax-melting once again.
Confident that I'd be able to use my new pseudo-Scentsy on the regular, I
then proceeded to invest in a sizable collection of scented wax, in
fits and starts over the past two years. But did I ever melt the wax?
Not much. I put the burner in the basement as a deodorizing tool for my
Airbnb guests last summer, and I haven't seen it since.
As
you have probably ascertained, my smell-hoarding tendencies are a force
to be reckoned with. Once I acquire something with a pleasant scent, I
won't let it go without a fight! I could be proud of my unwavering
tenacity, but let's be real—it's a little excessive. A whole drawer full
of barely touched essential oils and unopened Scentsy packets, six
scented candles in various degrees of un-use, some plumeria incense I
bought in September but want to save for summer, an adorable garden-eel
car freshener I bought in Japan and have now refused to open for the
past year and a few months? What's the point of having all these scents
around if I never actually smell them? This has to stop!
So
I did something about it. I had eight unused Scentsy packets and
nothing to melt them in. A lesser hoarder would throw those all away,
but I am both hoardy and crafty! I went to the thrift store and found a
bag of electric candles for $2. I disassembled one candle, replaced the
bulb with a 40-watt globe, stuffed the whole shebang into a drinking
glass, and then topped the contraption with a plate full of lavender
wax. Soon I had a brand new, uber-ugly Scentsy burner ready for
business!
Since the scented wax lasts well nigh forever, I'll likely never
actually deplete my supply, but at least it won't be gathering dust any
more! And I can rest assured that if my new ghetto-Scentsy bites the
dust, I have four more electric candles I can use to rebuild it.
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