Although Lampe Berger has raised its price for fragrance, Ann’s is keeping our prices the same.  That means you continue to get a half-liter bottle of Lampe Berger for $18.95 each and the liter size for $31.95!  Happy New Year!

If you received a Lampe Berger for Christmas, have you used it yet?   If not, what are you waiting for?  Your Lampe Berger came with instructions, but here is the process in a nutshell:

Fill the lampe only half-way, no more.  There needs to be air in the lampe for it to work.  Insert the wick, let it soak for 20 minutes.  (Don’t “help” it saturate by swirling the lampe; let it saturate on its own.)  Now you’re ready to light the burner with a match.  Let it flame for 2 minutes.  The flame will flair up at first, then recede.  After two minutes, blow out the flame.  Place the grill over the now-hot burner.  Your lampe is now working taking odors out of the air and leaving it smelling like your fragrance!  To “turn it off,” remove the grill and place the small cap over the wick.   Please do not leave a burning Lampe Berger unattended.

You can burn your lampe all the time or just for a little while to clean your air.  Just be sure to let the wick saturate if it dries out.  A dry wick won’t light.

You can mix fragrances (stay with Lampe Berger fragrances to ensure no damage to the wick).  Or you can change fragrances.  Simply pour the fragrance back into the bottle (let the wick cool before you remove it!) and pour in another fragrance.  You may smell the first fragrance for a few minutes, but shortly the second will come through.

 Why not try a new fragrance to start your year right?  We love Fresh Linen for a clean scent.  It’s perfect after the holidays and comes in half liter and liter sized bottles.

 For a list of Ann’s Lampe Berger fragrances, click here.  Many retired fragrances still in stock!

Lampe Berger, that is.  It’s NOT oil.  Everyone calls it oil (or “olh” as we Texans drawl) but it’s not.   So what should we call it?  How about “Lampe Berger Fragrance.”  Because that’s what it is. Really.

To be precise, Lampe Berger fragrance is an alcohol-based fuel, the stuff you burn in your lampe to take odors out and leave fragrance lingering.  That’s why at Ann’s, we have you sample the fragrances by sniffing the testers, small vials that have just the fragrance in them.  If you open the Lampe Berger bottle, all you’ll smell is the alcohol.

So call it fragrance.  Or if you insist, you can call it oil, we’ll know what you mean.  

Do you have enough Lampe Berger oil fragrance stocked up for your holidays? 

Click here for Ann’s fragrance list and here for some fragrance stories.

Ann’s holiday Lampe Berger fragrances are so good they deserve a Thanksgiving post.  Keep your home free of unpleasant odors…Lampe Berger removes them and leaves its wonderful fragrance instead.  The nostalgic scents of a beloved holiday are a great way to enjoy it with your family.  Try Lampe Berger from Ann’s (click here for more about how it works).

And now for cranberries:

Most Americans today are familiar with cranberries served at  Thanksgiving dinner.    They’re grown in North America and Canada in bogs on evergreen shrubs related to the blueberry.  Native Americans and early English settlers used them for medicinal purposes.    Buy these at your grocery store. 

uscranberries.com

Next week, when Americans stuff ourselves in the spirit of thankfulness, it’s the cranberries that we relish most (sorry for the pun) because they taste so good with a turkey sandwich the day after.  Make this at home for your TG dinner.

bestfriendsforfrosting.com

 But the Cranberry we’re crazy about is  Ann’s NEW Cranberry Lampe Berger fragrance, just in time for the big holiday!   It smells like your mother is cooking Thanksgiving Dinner and you can’t wait to eat.     Buy it now at Ann’s! 

Something else to try:  mix Lampe Berger’s Orange Cinnamon with new Cranberry!   It will remind you of Mom’s cranberry sauce recipe made with oranges and vanilla bean to add sweetness.  And you can “taste” as much as you want because Lampe Berger HAS NO CALORIES!  So indulge.  

So don’t serve Thanksgiving without a visit to Ann’s!   Tell us… how do you like your cranberry?

When you burn Lampe Berger fragrance from Ann’s, your home will smell like the holidays!  Try Heavenly Spruce for a winter forest, or Orange Cinnamon for the smell of fresh baked goodies.  Or try new Cranberry!  Half liter sizes are $18.95 each, and you get a 10% discount when you 10 bottles (or 4 liter-size bottles, $31.95 each) ; you can mix the fragrances.    Lampe Berger prices will go up January 1, 2012, so now is a good time to stock up on your favorites. 

Ann’s has many retired Lampe Berger Fragrances (click here for list of fragrances) while supplies last.  Call us, email us, or leave a comment here if you’re looking for something specific.

For more about Lampe Berger and how it takes the odors out of the air, click here.

For more Lampe Berger fragrance stories, click here.

Heavenly Spruce is Ann's all-time best Christmas fragrance, $18.95 each.

Welcome to the islands!  Here’s where we’re going today:  (Click on map to enlarge in your browser)

Polynesian Islands

Our series of imaginary travel via Lampe Berger’s new fragrances would not be complete without a luau.  In Tahiti.  Or Bora-Bora.  Or any lovely, beach-y spot in Polynesia.  Our fragrance for this trip is Polynesian Dreams, and there are some do’s and don’ts to take note of as you prepare:

DON’T overdress.  While enthusiasm is commendable, this outfit screams “tourist”:

DO take your wardrobe cues from the natives:

DO stay in a nice hotel:

Preferably one with friendly, welcoming staff:

DON’T forget to pack at least one pair of nice shoes:

And finally, DON’T overpay.  Your trip should cost you $18.95 per bottle of Lampe Berger’s new Polynesian Dreams, available now at Ann’s.  One little bottle to pour into your Lampe will fill your house with the lovely fragrance of sunflowers, sun-ripened fruit, cocoa oil, vanilla and almonds.  

DON’T forget to come buy some at Ann’s!  Bon Voyage!

Let’s take a little trip.  South.  Brazil.  Bahia, to be exact.  But don’t hop on a plane yet.  Air-travel is so unglamorous these days.  Come with me on an imaginary journey with a little help from Lampe Berger.

A new fragrance, Journey to Bahia, from Lampe Berger, takes you to tropical beaches on the Atlantic Coast of Brazil.  Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and one of the most outstanding for beaches and tropical vacations.  Capital city of Bahia is Salvador, the oldest colonial city of the New World.

“Bahia” is ancient Portuguese for “bay” and refers to the Bay of All Saints, first seen by Europeans in 1501.  Here’s what it looks like via satellite:  (click on the picture to enlarge it in your browser)

Salvador, Bahia, Brazil from space

Here’s what the beaches look like:

Ready to go? Just come to Ann’s and pick up a bottle of Journey to Bahia fragrance from Lampe Berger. Take it home, pour some in your Lampe, light it and blow out the flame. As you experience the blend of caramel, coffee, amber, and vanilla, jasmine, and sandalwood, you’ll begin to relax and enjoy the vacation.

Now picture yourself here:

Journey to Bahia, via Ann’s Fine Gifts and Lampe Berger.  $18.95 a bottle. 

New fragrance from Lampe Berger. $18.95

One of the new fragrances from Lampe Berger’s “Dreams of Exploration”  is Springs of Mekong.  The Mekong river originates in China’s Quinghi Province and flows 4,909 km through Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.  The fragrance blends the cultures of Southeast Asia by way of flowers and plants, so let’s look at what’s in Springs of Mekong.

Cool, shady, mysterious bamboo

Shiso leaves, from ancient times used to lend the flavor of aniseed

Fresh, clean, crisp cucumber

Regal White Cedar

Bamboo Iris, an Asian variety

Mentha Longifolia (Mint)

All of this floral beauty comes in a bottle for $18.95, expertly blended to relax you as if you were on a lazy boat drifting down the Mekong River, carrying you somewhere elegant for dinner.    Try Springs of Mekong from Lampe Berger.  Available now at Ann’s.  Let us know how you enjoyed your experience.

$18.95 for half-liter bottle at Ann's.

“I had a farm in Africa.” 

So begins Isak Dinesen’s “Out of Africa”.  But no one said it better than Meryl Streep in the movie!  Robert Redford as Denys Finch-Hatton and Streep as Baroness von Blixen-Finecke brought Kenya in the 1920′s to the big screen.   John Barry’s unforgettable music score of soaring strings literally takes you up in a plane as you soar over the African landscape.   (Click here to hear it!)   If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, whyever not???

You know what you have to do.  But before you click on Netflix, set the mood. 

You’ll have to drive to Ann’s and pick up a bottle or two of Lampe Berger’s new Excursion to Kenya.   Pour some into your Lampe Berger, light the wick, and blow out the flame.  Now your journey can begin.  (i.e., Now you’re ready for movie night.)

Excursion to Kenya is a combination of rare spices, wild flowers and rich precious woods reminicent of colonial Africa in the days of big game hunters.   You can actually smell the coffee on the plantation and the jasmine blooming in the highlands of the Ngong Hills.  It’s a wonderful journey, and you can make it comfortably in your favorite chair, right there at home in front of your plasma TV.

So what are you waiting for?  Africa calls!   Your Excursion to Kenya begins as soon as you visit Ann’s and pick up a bottle.  $18.95. 

Read it.  Watch it.  Burn it.  And you too will say,

“Here I am, where I ought to be.”   (Isak Dinesen, Out of Africa) 

Let’s go to Paris.  Want to?

Imagine yourself strolling through the “Jardin de Tuileries” .   You’ll smell all the roses, peach trees and citrus blooming, and of course admire all the fashionably dressed people. (You, naturally, are well-attired in the lastest fashions.) 

View of the Louvre Museum from Jardin du Tuleries

Sigh.  How to make this dream a reality?

It’s so easy when you burn Lampe Berger’s new Chic Paris fragrance in your Lampe Berger at home. 

So instead of digging for your passport….follow these steps to the letter:

Drop by Ann’s Fine Gifts and purchase a bottle or two of Chic Paris.  (And some chocolates.  DO NOT forget the chocolates!)  

Drive home.  

Pour the fragrance into the lampe (no more than half-full).

Let the wick soak (20 minutes).  Eat the chocolates while you’re waiting.

Light the burner and blow out the flame after 2 minutes.  

You’ll be instantly transported as the fragrance fills your rooms.  

Enjoy Paris in a half-liter bottle, $18.95.   Bon voyage!

New from Lampe Berger: Paris Chic

You can have Fresh Linen!  No, we’re not talking about clean underwear, although that’s always nice.  “Fresh Linen” is a fragrance from Ann’s by Lampe Berger.  When you burn it in your Lampe at home, the odors in your house will disappear and the scent of clean, line-dried laundry will fill the air.  Remember staying with your grandmother?  How fresh the sheets smelled?  Remember opening your trunk at summer camp and smelling the scent of home?  That’s what Fresh Linen will do for your home, instantly. 

Houston weather is hot one day, cold the next; our homes are shut up tightly to preserve energy and warmth or cool and to keep out the humidity.  Since we city-slickers can’t throw open our windows to the freshness of unspoiled country air, burn your Lampe Berger fragrance inside and get the same effect!  Lampe Berger will keep your home smelling good, no matter what Houston weather prevails.

It’s not unusual for couples to have different favorites when it comes to fragrances.  When you can’t agree on what to burn in your Lampe Berger, Fresh Linen is often a common preference.   Try some at Ann’s!  Half-liter sizes are $18.95.  Buy 10 bottles of half-liter fragrance and get a 10% discount.  Start the new year smelling good when you buy Lampe Berger’s “Fresh Linen” at Ann’s Fine Gifts! 

Note:  Ann’s carries over 60 other Lampe Berger fragrances in addition to “Fresh Linen.”  Come sample them in our store!