Candles: A Quick Look

While Eternal Essence finalises its own range of candles, we thought it would good to provide our readers with an informed overview of what candles are, what they’re used for and how best to maximise their effects. While our writers could make a dissertation on candles, the team is practising a more succint method of writing (our ‘Brief Summary’ on diffusers wasn’t so brief and more than just a summary) so you can get the most important info as quickly as possible.

What is a candle?

For the uninitiated, a candle is a length of cord (a wick) suspended in wax that can be lit to provide light and warmth. With a little fragrance mixed into the wax, the candle can release a scent as it burns and the wax melts: thus making a scented candle. These can be pillar candles (freestanding, nothing containing the wax) or vessel candles (mostly just called ‘candles’, as ‘pillar’ distinguishes the two).

How do candles work?

Scented candles can be used in a very similar way to both wax melts and candles: being burned in a room to provide scent. While oils and melts can be used with eletrical burners, candles require a flame to work (‘wickless’ candles do exist, but they’re a middle-ground between melts and conventional candles and worthy of their own discussion), and so must be lit. it’s best to do this away from flammable materials (to avoid fires) and in a location not accessible by children, pets or irresponsible adults.

Once lit, the flame will begin melting the wax. This will allow the fragrance within to evaporate and thus fill the room with scent. They typically take longer to provide a scent, however, as heating wax from below is more efficient due to heat rising rather than sinking, therefore it wakes longer to achieve and full melt pool of wax for maximum evaporation of scent. Candles also burn away some of the fragrance alongside thewax, adding a slight warmth to the scent itself.

Why candles over melts or oils?

Gram for gram, melts or oils are generally better if fragrance is your main focus, as they heat the scented oil more efficiently and don’t burn any of it away. However, there are a variety of qualities candles possess that might make the fragrance conoisseur opt for them over other home fragrance products, although there’s nothing stopping you from having a variety of tools in your arsenal of aromas.

First of all, candles are an all-in-one package. Wax melts and oils require the melts/oils, a burners, and tealights more often than not. This is three seperate items that need buying, storing, and changing, which is a lot more hassle than just a single object. This also means that if you wish to move fragrance products around the house, candles are much more covenient to take to the bathroom for a relaxing soak than melts or oils. Melts and oils also require cleaning out after use and replacing, which can be quite messy if anything goes wrong (or even if everything goes right, some burner/wax combos are just difficult).

Secondly, candles provide light, warmth and atmosphere. Typically burning longer, stronger and brighter than tealights (as well as not having their flame obscured by a burner) candles are ideal for dimming the lights and providing a relaxing environment. Provided you trim the wick properly (ALWAYS read the instructions on packaging and labels), they can burn steadily for hours on end.

Lastly, candles are more convenient to place around a room as they typically take up less space than burner arrangements. They serve as ornamental pieces around the home, so much so that many candles remain unlit for years as people just love having them on show (first-hand experience corroborated by many online folk).

Published: 20/05/2022