fail.

this was supposed to be a citronella candle. i lit it last night while we sat on our patio and watched fireworks. i have, in fact, had positive experiences in the past with the insect-repelling properties of citronella, and so i had hopes for this.

unfortunately, it has also been scented with other things, i assume to mask the scent of citronella, which can be rather pungent. the problem with this idea is that it also masks the smell of citronella to the very insects it is supposed to repel. i'm not sure what that was before it flew into the candle and burned to a crisp last night, but if a bug got that fucking close to the flame, it's obviously not all that abhorrent to them. i've heard of "like a moth to flame" before, but never seen it in action.

damn. now i have to go buy another candle.