This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
Fragrant candles are useful things to have about your home. Unlike diffusers which constantly emit one fragrance, you can change the atmosphere in a room by lighting a different candle according to your mood. Christmas would not be Christmas in our house without the evocative scents of cinnamon and cloves for example. And who doesn’t like to relax in a bath with a fragrant candle and glass of bubbles on the side?!
Annabel often has several different fragrances on the go at one time in her house, which I think is a great idea as whatever the combination it always seems to work so well.
The UK is one of the world’s biggest scented candle markets, with Brits spending a massive £90 million on them every year. Around 80 per cent of people in the UK regularly use air care products such as candles, room sprays and reed diffusers to scent their homes.
The wax used in fragrant candles falls into two categories: paraffin and natural. Paraffin burns faster than natural wax and is most commonly used as a lower cost alternative. It also releases toxic compounds into the air which can, in quantity, damage our health and the environment. Then there is natural wax; beeswax, soy and palm. Soy is the most common and is derived from vegetables. It is slow burning, smokeless, non-toxic and all-natural. It’s also good to look out for natural fragrance (such as essential oils) and pure cotton or paper wicks. I’ve listed a few eco-friendly brands at the end of this post.
Now, here are those tips to help you get the best scent diffusion and burn performance from your candles:
- Store in a cool dry place away from direct sunlight.
- Before lighting, trim the wick to about 5mm and remove any ‘clubbing’ – this will prevent the candle from smoking or flickering excessively.
- Keep your candles out of draughts – it will burn more evenly.
- If the flame gets too high, extinguish the candle and re-trim the wick.
- The size of the wax pool on the initial burn sets the memory for the life of the candle. So, when you light it for the first time, do not extinguish it until a liquid wax pool has been created right to the edge of the glass (this can take about 2 hours). Otherwise tunnelling will occur and you will be left with an outer rim of wasted wax.
- Stop burning your candle when the wax level drops to 10mm from the base.
- Recycle your candle holders – they are really useful as mini flower pots, pencil holders etc.,
Eco-friendly candle brands:
Eym: Available in five fantastic fragrances £39 from Liberty London.
Aromaworks £10 from Waitrose
Neom: A well known brand that uses essential oils. Try Tranquillity which has essential oils including lavender, basil and jasmine. £16 from John Lewis.
Like to see some more of our chosen WiseSpend products? CLICK HERE