Scented Candles
Ever since candles became essential interior décor, they have changed from being plain old wax sticks to become colorful and fragrant art pieces. Now, we have the pleasure of enjoying not only soft mood lighting, but appealing scents as well.
Candles nowadays are recognized more for their decorative purposes rather than their illuminating capabilities. They are now able to achieve whatever mood, ambiance, or effect that people want them to exude.
Perhaps, one of the greatest elements of a candle is its fragrance. How else is it supposed to transform an otherwise boring room into a romantic one if it does not give off any scent at all? But scented candles all differ in some ways. That is, heavily scented candles, and richly scented candles are different from one another.
Heavily scented candles are very ideal for those who want to keep the scent in the room until the candle has all burned out. Basically, when we speak about candles that are heavily scented, this just means that the fragrance (essential oil) added to the wax is a lot more than usual. When you opt to buy these though, make sure that you choose the ones that are wrapped. Exposed candles are likely to lose their scents long before they are burned out. One way to determine whether you are buying a heavily scented candle is by checking if you can smell the candle’s scent even when you are standing away from it. Most of those who purchase this type of candles never burn these but merely want them around as decorations.
Richly scented candles are the best options for those who want to smell the scents both indoors and outdoors. This type of candles are not scented using essential oils, rather, they make use of fragrances used in soaps, perfumes, lotions, and shampoos. Thus, your candles can have floral, fruity, and other perfume-like scents. The fragrance from a richly scented candle lasts all the way till the candle burns all throughout. Furthermore, the scent is evenly distributed throughout each candle giving you balanced effect every time you burn one.
There is no real definition of heavily or richly scented candles anyway. Thus, what one manufacturer considers as a richly scented candle may be the same as another’s heavily scented type. Thus, when you opt to buy either the heavily scented candle or the richly scented one, it is advisable to choose the soy candles instead of those made from paraffin wax. The reason for this, the artificial scents used with soy wax have the tendency to liquefy, making the candle burn until the base. Beeswax is also another alternative of paraffin wax. Both soy and beeswax are healthier options, eliminating the usual soot emitted by the traditional paraffin candles. Also, soy wax is proven to hold the scent better than paraffin. This natural ingredient is most likely going to preserve the fragrance until the candle’s end.
If you want to make your own signature scented candles, it is actually easier than most people think. There are a number of websites that will teach everything you need to know about scented candle making. Choose from among the wide selection of fragrances and achieve your very own scent. But as a tip, citronella fragrance is best for any utilitarian application as this works to drive off midges and mosquitoes both indoors and outdoors.
One useful tip though is not to overdo the amount of scent you put in to your wax. A regular scented candle contains about 0.5 ounce of fragrance or essential oil. If you want your candle to keep the scent all the way to the end, you can actually triple the amount. However, be mindful that there are people who are allergic to certain scents. Thus, if you want to prevent any allergy issues, keep the scents minimal. Otherwise, your candles won’t really serve their purpose.
If you are not keen on experimenting with scents and would rather buy the ready-made scented candles, you will find out that there are actually a lot of fragrances to choose from. And if you have a particular scent in mind, but not quite sure if you can come up with it yourself, there are stores that you can order customized scented candles from. With the wide variety of fragrances available, why settle for the unscented?