Candles, Candles Burning Bright
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Who doesn’t love scented candles? I’m sure some folks don’t, but I am certainly a fan. I get them, I give them and I burn them. I used to save them for company, but these days, especially since Covid, I burn them all the time, even when I’m home alone. With a fire, a yummy candle and a good book, it’s easy to ignore the craziness of the world. Newsflash💥 …as of this week, we are indeed halfway through winter. Yeah baby!!
I usually burn candles in my kitchen anytime, or in the foyer or powder room when we have company. I only burn unscented tapers in the dining room.
Even though there are best sellers, scents are very personal. Like, the most popular scent is supposedly a vanilla blend. I typically HATE vanilla in candles. You really wanna smell them before you buy, if you can.
My latest cozy habit is to turn off the lights in the kitchen after cleanup, and I burn a candle on the island when I’m relaxing for the night and before bed.
If I’m going to burn them, I want them to be as non-toxic as possible and I try to pay attention to these details.
So what do you look for in a candle?
You look for the following…
A cotton wick, or a wooden one. They are more natural, and burn with less smoke. It used to be that only really expensive candles had them, but more and more companies are using these. A wooden wick will sometimes crackle and pop like a fire. If you end up with a synthetic wick with metal in it, the metal is sometimes lead, and the synthetic wick can have a chemical smell.
Has a double wick! Means it will burn evenly and you will not end up with wasted wax in the bottom. Hard to find outside of those with multiple wicks that are gigantic and cost a billion $$.
A soy blend, or a paraffin that is food grade. Most candles are made from one of the two. Soy wax comes from soybeans, burns cleaner and is usually more affordable. I find that they sometimes don’t have as strong a scent. Paraffin candles are petroleum based, carry a stronger scent and produce more soot.
A container that can be recycled or better yet, reused in your home!
No parabens, no sulfates and no phthalates. No bueno.
my Curated List of The Best Candles…
and some New Ones to try!
Click on images for links to products.
I have not bought a lot of Voluspa candles, but I get them as gifts a lot, and they are nice. They are made with coconut wax, which is about the cleanest burning type of wax you can get! They are clean candles, are cruelty free, are made in the US and claim to have 100% natural wicks. They are the least expensive candles in this post, and come in pretty glass containers, or exotic printed tins. They $30 for the classic and less for the small sizes. 60 hour burn.
Bestselling Scents…
White Cypress - with juniper berry, mint and evergreen
Sparkling Cuvée - sparkling wine, pomelo, oak and rose
Eucalyptus & White Sage - with cardamom and “sunwarmed hinoki bark” (WTH?)
French Cade Lavender - with french cade wood (again WTH?) and verbena
Moso Bamboo - with musk and cypress
Kalahari Watermelon - with lime and basil (YUM)
Baltic Amber - with sandalwood, cedar and vanilla orchid
Casa Pacifica - driftwood, sea salt and shorebrush
My current favorite. Sydney Hale Co. is made in RVA, has a double cotton wick, is a soy blend, is $34 and has a frosted glass reusable container. They sell a sample pack if you want to smell the scents before you buy. They have a $5 flat shipping rate. They also donate 10% of sales to animal rescue. 50 hour burn.
Best selling scents include…
Woods - sandalwood, cedarwood, bay leaf and bergamot
Bergamot & Black Tea - refreshing and citrusy
Tobacco & Sandalwood - with talc, marigold and a touch of vanilla
Woodsmoke & Amber - just like it sounds
Eucalyptus & Sage - these two fragrances plus, patchouli, teak and honey
Tulip & Bear is another local favorite from RVA. They also have a cotton wick, are a soy blend, are $32 and are in a reusable glass container. They are phthalate free as well. 50 hour burn.
Favorite scents include…
Morning Star - honeysuckle and jasmine - my fave
Spring - musk, green vetiver and florals
Winter - eucalyptus, mint, pine and tonka bean
Maison Louis Marie is a new line to me and I love it. It is a non-toxic line, started by Marie Thouars, whose great-grandfather was a botanist in post revolutionary France. These candles are soy based, clean and cruelty free, and are $38. The line is a fragrance line, not simply candles, and you can order samples of the perfume oils. 60 hour burn.
Scents with the most buzz…
No. 02 Le Long Fond - earthy- cedarwood, patchouli, musk
No. 04 Bois De Balincourt - earthy, woody - sandalwood, vetiver, nutmeg, cinnamon, amber
No. 05 Kandilli - floral - jasmine, tuberose, lily, sandalwood
No. 06 L’Etang Noir - warm, spicy - anise, nutmeg, vanilla, ginger, musk
This is a one scent favorite. Trapp Fragrance’s No. 13 Bob’s Flower Shop. It smells of fresh florals, cut green stems and watery notes. It’s like walking into a flower market. It is my friend’s favorite and now one of mine. It is a soy/food grade paraffin blend, comes in a beautiful glass container, is $38, and has a lead free wick. 50 hour burn.
Another one scent wonder. Thymes has other scents that are nice, but this one is iconic. THE Christmas candle if you don’t want a heavy cinnamon scent. And can be used into the winter, long after the tree is gone. Frasier Fir is $34, it is made of food grade paraffin and has a lead free wick. A great diffuser as well.
I do like a few of the Nest NewYork Candles. They come in pretty glass containers, and in the summer, some of them come in a pretty raffia holder, which you can save and use again. They are made of food grade paraffin and have cotton wicks. They are $46 - more of a splurge… 50-60 hour burn time.
Favorites include…
Bamboo - white florals, green notes and citrus
Grapefruit - with green notes, lily of the valley and corriander
Wild Mint & Eucalyptus - with basil and ginger
Ocean Mist & Sea Salt - sea salt, tea and coconut
Holiday - pomegranite, orange, cloves and cinnamon
I love the Antica Farmacista line of home fragrances and their candles are special. They are beautifully packaged in a hexagonal glass vase, made of a soy/paraffin blend of wax. Every candle includes its’ own box of matches. These are also a splurge and good for gift giving. They are $48. 60 hour burn.
Bestsellers include…
Prosecco - a crisp scent with notes of citrus and floral
Cask - cognac, leather and tobacco, with vanilla
Rose, Orris & Oud - a floral that is exotic and earthy
Pink Peony & Citron - just like it sounds
Wave - cool saltwater with lemon and orange
Desert Sage - sage, bergamot with florals and mesquite
I love these candles - LAFCO. We carried them at Posh. They are in gorgeous handblown glass containers. These are made of soy wax, “with a small amount of paraffin”, they have cotton wicks, and are clean candles. They also come in at $50. They are a splurge or a really nice gift. 50 hour burn.
Best Selling Fragrances…
Feu De Bois - sandalwood, frankinsence, leather
Chamomile Lavender - with sage
Sea & Dune - lotus, sea grass, amber ( I have this one - yummy.)
Champagne - with ginger, grapefruit and raspberry
Rosemary Eucalyptus - with basil
Spike Lavender - with white woods and catmint ( I don’t know what white woods are but they sound nice?!)
Marine - with bergamot and jasmine
this post has me sounding like a sommelier…..
This is a new line for me and I want to try them. Anyone here bought or received one? Otherland
The brand is just four years old, and is supposedly already vying for top spot with Diptyque as the “brand du jour.” They are a soy and coconut blend wax, are made in Brooklyn, are very clean candles, cruelty free and have a cotton wick. They are $36 each. 55 hour burn time.
Here is their bestselling Core collection…
Daybed - rose, peony pear
Canopy - fig, ivy greens, summer dew (which smells like….?)
Rattan - sandalwood, amber, musk
Chandelier - champagne, saffron and leather
Kindling - cedars, embers, incense
I’m Intrigued.
One of my favorites is also famous for their scent and has candles and diffusers and other products. Kai is a wonderfully yummy floral scent - gardenia with other white florals. It is a clean candle, in a soy and coconut wax blend, cruelty free, and is pricier at $48. I love all their products - I have the roller ball and the diffuser. 40 hour burn time.
Last and certainly the most expensive, I could not post about candles with out a mention of the iconic Diptyque. A french line that has been around for 60 years. These are $72 and are luxury for sure. They are made of “high quality paraffin wax” and are clean candles, with lead free wicks. 60 hour burn time.
Their famous besties…
Baies - tangy currant berries with accents of rose
Roses - just that
Figuier - woody and fruity scent of fig trees
Feu de Bois - wintertime - woody and smoky
Tuberose - just that
Ambre - amber, spices and woods
My Wick Trick
Sometimes, the candle burns wonky - the wick gets buried, or cut too short. The wick burns out and is done, and there’s still a lot of wax left.
I wondered if this would work and it does. I bought a bag of wicks on Amazon, for when this happens.
I snip the long wick (they come very long for candle making) and stick it in the melted wax to finish up the candle!
At the end of the candle, there was an inch or so of wax left and the wick was done. See below on the right, I cut two wicks down to 1 1/2” or so and stuck them on either side of the original wick, with tweezers and they burned the rest of the candle!
Original wick in the middle!
While I love diffusers in spring and summer - in my closet, and foyer and two guest rooms - there is nothing like a flickering flame in a room to say “warm & cozy”, much like the fireplace.
A candle is a sign of life - if it is lit, it means someone is home.
I hope you enjoyed this one on “all things candle”…
Next up is a winter bouquet how-to, inspired by My French Country Home! She has the most beautiful gardens.