Choose a scented candle by its scent first, then by the size and vessel that suit the room it will live in, and read what the house tells you about its wax and wick. The wax decides how the candle melts and carries fragrance, the wick decides how steadily it burns, and the weight tells you roughly how many evenings it will give. Then take care over the first burn, because it shapes every burn that follows.
What Is the Wax Made Of?
Most scented candles are poured from paraffin, a mineral wax long used in candle-making; from plant waxes such as soy, rapeseed or coconut; from beeswax; or from a blend of these. Each melts at its own temperature and holds fragrance in its own way. Plant waxes are generally soft, which is why they are usually poured into a container rather than moulded into a free-standing pillar.
The label is the evidence, so read it. Where a house names its wax, we tell you; where it does not, we do not guess. Focdenit is the clearest example among the candles we have chosen: its Vegetal Candle and Jazmin & Coco Candle are each made with 100% vegetal wax and essential oils and hand-poured in Mallorca, Spain, and the pack of its Lavender Scented Candle describes it as 100% vegetable and hand-filled.
Why Does the Wick Matter?
The wick draws melted wax up into the flame. Most are braided cotton, and the best wick is simply the one sized to its vessel. Too small, and the candle burns a narrow well down the centre while wax is left clinging to the sides, a habit known as tunnelling. Too long, and the flame grows tall, flickers and can smoke.
You control the length. Trim the wick before every lighting; each candle in this piece carries that same instruction in its care notes. Several of our candles, among them Diptyque's Jasmin Candle, Alyssa Ashley's Oceanic Breeze Candle and Focdenit's Jazmin & Coco Candle, burn from a single wick, the usual arrangement for a jar of this size.
Vessel and Size
The vessel is what you live with once the candle is out, and it decides how the candle looks unlit. Clear glass shows the flame and the falling wax line. Coloured or opaque glass gives a softer glow and a more sculptural object. A lid keeps dust off between burns.
Size is easiest to judge by weight. Diptyque's Jasmin Candle is 70 g in a clear cylindrical glass with a black-and-white label: a small candle for a bathroom, a desk or a bedside. Focdenit's Vegetal Candle is 125 g in a glass container, presented in a box. Alyssa Ashley's Oceanic Breeze Candle is 145 g in a square clear glass. At the other end, the Luxurious Scented Candle from La Casa de los Aromas is 650 g in a black glass container with a matching box, a candle made for a living room and for many evenings.
How Long Will It Burn?
Burn time follows weight, but wax, wick and the way you burn all change it, so treat any figure as a guide rather than a promise. Where a house publishes a burn time, use it. Where it does not, the fill weight is the honest measure: a heavier candle in the same wax simply has more to give. Burning in sessions long enough for the surface to melt evenly, and keeping the wick trimmed, helps a candle use all of its wax rather than leaving it down the sides.
What Is Scent Throw?
Scent throw is how far a candle's fragrance carries into a room. The cold throw is what you notice from the unlit candle; the hot throw is what fills the room once the wax has melted. A candle with a strong cold throw does not always have the strongest hot throw, so judge it lit, and give it time: fragrance builds as the melt pool widens. Match the scale to the space. A small candle can fill a bathroom; a large living room will want a larger candle, or two.
Then choose the scent as you would a fragrance, by family. Florals are the easiest place to begin. Diptyque's Jasmin Candle is scented with jasmine. Focdenit's Jazmin & Coco Candle pairs floral jasmine with creamy coconut. Focdenit's Vegetal Candle is named Mundo Floral on its pack, a floral home fragrance, and La Casa de los Aromas names the fragrance of its Luxurious Scented Candle Asian Flowers.
If florals are not for you, look at fresh and warm scents. Alyssa Ashley's Oceanic Breeze Candle suggests a fresh, airy atmosphere inspired by the sea. Focdenit's Lavender Scented Candle is lavender, in a glass jar with a lid. Acqua di Parma's Cubo Nero Perfumed Candle sits in the warm, oriental family, presented in a black cube with embossed branding and a black ribbon, inside a yellow box; it is as much an object for a mantelpiece or hallway as it is a candle.
The First Burn
The first time you light a candle, let it burn until the melted wax reaches the edge of the vessel all the way round before you put it out. Every candle we have chosen here asks for the same thing: let the wax pool evenly on the first burn. Wax has a memory, and a candle put out early will tend to melt only as far as it did that first evening, which is how tunnelling begins.
Before you light it, trim the wick and set the candle on a stable, heat-resistant surface, away from draughts, which make the flame flicker and the wax melt unevenly. Never leave a lit candle unattended.
How to Choose
- Start with the scent family you already wear or love: floral, fresh or warm.
- Match the size to the room: around 70 g for a small space, a large candle for a living room.
- Read the wax and wick on the record, and trust what is stated over what is implied.
- Choose the vessel for how it looks unlit, since you will see it far more often than the flame.
If you would rather scent a room without a flame, read Reed Diffusers: How to Scent a Room Without a Flame. Otherwise, begin with one candle in a scent you already know you love, and give it a full first burn.
