What To Look For When Buying Your Candle
I have spent the past few years learning about candle making and, WOW, have I learned some INFO! When starting my candle making journey I had no idea of the nuances and techniques involved to create a good quality candle. I want to share what I have learned with you.
Before taking the leap into making my own candles, I enjoyed buying and burning candles just like everyone else. Some candles were amazing, others didn't smell of much and some barely burned or had MASSIVE flames! Now I know what these issues mean and I want YOU to know as well as so when you part with your hard earned cash for a lovely candle - you get your money's worth.
FRAGRANCE OIL & SCENT
One of the key elements of your candle is how that candle smells. Some candles lose their scent quicker than others, some claim to have more scent than any other candle. Let's be clear here - just like dissolving anything in liquid; wax has a limit to how much fragrance it can take. If a candle is made and the fragrance percentage is over the recommended amount for that wax..... a whole lot of stuff can happen when that candle is lit. The candle wax can bobble up and breakdown or a layer of oil can be present on the top of the liquid wax when burning, which is highly flammable and the fragrance oil itself can end up catching alight!
Just as candles that are too fragranced can cause damage; a candle that isn't fragranced enough won't be dangerous but it does mean that either that candle company hasn't tested is wax and fragrance ratio enough or they just cut corners and haven't added enough fragrance. Some companies do a 2nd pour of wax to fill in any imperfections when the wax sets the first time around - there is nothing wrong with this and is a way for the candle maker to smooth out any imperfections....BUT sometimes the 2nd top up is the only part that is scented which means as you burn the candle the scent dissipates. A good candle will smell amazing right to its last burn.
Scent throw is a term that you might have heard before. There is hot and cold scent throw. Most people want their candle to smell lovely when it's not lit as much as when it is lit. There is a science to this and any chandler worth their salt will have tested and retested their chosen candle fragrance with their chosen wax and even their chosen wick can make a huge difference to this. You might find that you buy a great smelling candle and when you light it you get nada. Could be so many variables (as you have read above) .