LED candle lights

Some years ago, I spied some rechargeable lights that looked really good. They were called Candela rechargeable lights by Vessel and they were not cheap: about £70 for four. I bought some and for a while, they were indeed great. You could use them inside or outside, no wires or batteries, and when they needed recharging you just put them in their recharging base (which did plug in). I could use them as a night light for my children - they could even take them to bed with them if they wanted.

The Candela (which means candle in Italian by the way). Not working because, well, they don't work anymore.

But. After not very long at all, they stopped taking a charge. After replacing the base three times I gave up and relegated them to the top of the dressing table, where they're still gathering dust. I can't seem to find them for sale in this country anymore and perhaps that's why, cos they just stopped working after a while and people got fed up with them.

This was a shame because they were also really good for when and where you wanted low, ambient light - a bath say - but didn't want to use a candle. I love candles, I have more scented candles than you could possibly imagine: Diptyque, Creed, Jo Malone, Fresh et al, but with two young children, I don't really use them much anymore.  So for the past few years I've been having a bath under what seem like 2000W bulbs. Restful? Not much.

Then I found these LED flickering Imageo candle lights from Philips.

Here they are off.

Here they are on. Magic init.

A company I can at least track down fairly easily if things go wrong. And instead of £70 they cost £17 for three (ha, just looked and they're even cheaper now, but you know with Amazon the price goes up and down, £17 is what I paid for them anyway). I though they'd be a bit naff, but actually they're rather good (they look like a candle in a frosted glass container). You tip them to turn them on or off and when not in use they sit charging in a base. Great in pumpkins come Hallowe'en, great anywhere you'd use a candle. I love them by the bath, don't have to worry about switching them off. They're really nice on a dinner table (no point pretending they're real but from a distance they do look authentic).  I give my children baths using them when they need calming down (works a treat, the little one goes into a sort of trance looking at them, so much so that I end up asking her if she's doing a poo in the bath, it's that sort of far away stare, but don't worry, cos she's not, she's just transfixed).

They won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I love 'em.