I am a fragrance whore.

Let me explain. (If you just want to read the review of Febreze Candles, jump ahead.)

My Dad has a very sensitive nose. When we were little, we weren't allowed to have anything in the house that smelled like anything other than air. The slightest scent could set him off, so we had to live in a house that had enormous windows and a very strong ventilation system in the kitchen. If Mom cooked something that could potentially waft into the rest of the house and linger with the fragrance of Korean food (quite possibly the strongest smelling food ever), she had to cook it outside. We used unscented everything -- laundry detergents, soaps, and lotions. Most importantly, we were never allowed to wear perfume, and we most certainly were not allowed to burn scented candles or have potpourri, things that were expressly for filling the house with a smell.

With that kind of deprived childhood, you best believe that as soon as I grew up and moved into my own house, I would fill the air with aromas. When I cook, I let the smell of basil and garlic flood from the kitchen into the rest of the house. I wear perfume every chance I get (and I have absolutely no regard for the rule about wearing only enough so someone standing right next to me can smell it), and I use scented candles like I'm burning a bonfire for the Homecoming pep rally.

So, when Febreze offered a sample of their new scented candles, I took up the opportunity. Unlike most scented candles which simply share the air and hopefully overpower any bad smells, Febreze Candles apparently have some technology that actually removes odors. They come in five typical "flavors" that reek (pardon the pun) of the aromatherapy counter: Meadows & Rain, Spring & Renewal, Linen & Sky, Vanilla & Refresh, and the one I tried, Apple Spice & Delight.

The candle looks very simple - a rounded bottom glass holder with a wax color that coordinates with its "flavor." This has always annoyed me about scented candles in general because the candles that "match" my home decor are never the scents that I like. My living room is blue and brown and I prefer to not have my house smell like Neptune's Palace or like Deep Woods Off. The red Apple Spice and Delight candle, obviously, did not match in color. I also am not a huge fan of "apple" as a smell (especially when it's not autumn), but I let that one go.

I lit the candle and placed it on my desk to see how well it worked while I was blogging. The good thing about the Febreze candle is that it wasn't an overpowering apple smell, which, like I said earlier, is the bad thing about other candles that use strength to overpower existing bad smells. The candle filled the air very faintly with a pleasant appleness. Granted, I wasn't giving the candle's odor-eliminating feature a fair test because I wasn't pitting the candle up against a house full of fried catfish and roasted garlic (but who doesn't love the smell of roasted garlic anyway?), but I thought the Febreze candle was doing a nice job.

Come fall, I might use the Apple candle in my kitchen. The only thing I would change is the shape of the candle, but that's just a personal preference.

Of course, I could never burn this when my parents come over.