How to Shop Smart for Candles
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By Carla Jordan  //  Decorating, Tips  //  No Comments

Photo credit: Simon Upton, www.ElleDecor.com

Candles are my friend.  Pillars, tapers, tea lights are all welcome in my home year-round.  I use them so much that my father once suggested I just disconnect the electricity and spend the extra on…more candles (ha, ha, Dad!).  Yet, there might be something behind Pop’s joke when I think about it. This past winter, candles lit up my living room, dining room and kitchen nearly ever night; and thanks to a warmer Spring than usual, they’re already adding a warm glow to my patio when I head there after dinner.  And I’m about to check my candle closet (yes, I have one–doesn’t everyone?) to see what to stock up for both myself and for gift-giving (Mother’s Day, graduation, weddings, weekend hostess gifts).
If you, too, are crazy for candles (bet you are since Americans ring up $2 billion in candles sales every year), then you know what I do–you can’t swing a stick without hitting a candle when it comes to shopping.  So the question is…how can we shop smart for candles amidst this sea of oh-so fragrant wax?
For the answer, I tracked down Tracie Henson, Celebrating Home’s home fragrance division director of product development (and a top industry pro with over 20 years of experience).  I persuaded CH’s Queen of Candles (without even tying her to a chair!) to answer the top five candle questions I’ve obsessed about for years.
1-Size
•When is bigger better, when is it not?

”Go for big when you really like a fragrance and want to use it it repeatedly over time.  Go smaller if  trying out a new scent and don’t know for sure if it’s the one for you; when you want to mix scents to create one uniquely yours (more economical) and if you aspire to create scent continuity throughout several rooms.”
2-Color
•Anything to the “color determines scent” myth?
“Color and scent are two separate things.  Color is simply the hue infused into the wax–it has nothing to do with scent.  Your goal is to match color with scent.  Want a candle that smells like a granny smith apple? Then you want it to be apple green-hued, not ocean blue or orange. Seems obvious but a lot of people get hung up on color, thinking that just because a candle looks a certain way, it’ll smell that way, too.  Select your candle based on sight and smell.”
3-Scent
•When sales people tout their candles as containing the highest percentage of fragrance in the industry, is that a reason to pay more?
“No.  Candlemakers adjust percent of fragrance to the potency of the specific scented oil.  For example, rose is a very heady scent so a smaller percentage of it is used than with a lighter scent like ocean breeze.  There’s chemistry to candle-making–it’s not one formula fits all.  So go by how the candle smells to you.  Is it strong, weak or just right?”
4-Wicks
•What’s up with all the wicks? 
“Most wicks today are cotton-braided, paper-braided, paper-core or wood, and there’s a reason for so many.  Candlemakers vary wicks by type of candle (and sometimes fragrance) in order to provide the proper amount of fuel (flame).  Fuel is key to achieving maximum burn time and hot throw (the distance scent travels throughout a space). Cotton and wood wicks are good picks.  Cotton maintains a very consistent flame and burn because it can be braided exactly the same every time.  Wood wicks deliver unique burn characteristics that enhance your sensory experience.  There are also candles with metal core wicks which I recommend avoiding because you don’t know where the wick are made and the metal might contain lead (here in the U.S., there’s a law against lead being used in metal core wicks)—better safe than sorry.”
5-Price
•Does high price always equal high quality?
“Not necessarily.  There are good quality candles at all prices.  Designer candles, typically, cost more because you’re paying for the designer’s name and reputation; although sometimes rare ingredients (like an hard-to-get scent or special wax) may also have been used in manufacturing.  Fancy packaging can also bump up the price.  The key to how much to spend is looking at the candle as a whole and paying for what’s most important to you.  Is it great fragrance, designer name association or simple illumination?  Budget accordingly.”
On the hunt for great candles?  Here are some of my favorites, based on Tracie’s tips:

At just $6.98 each, Scents of Home Petite Jar candles make it affordable to mix scents to create your own unique fragrance and to create scent continuity throughout several rooms.   They come in 15 scents so you can mix and match until the cows come home.


Pure Palm candles match color to scent (kiwi papaya shown here) and they feature a wooden ember wick made from the bark and husk of coconut palms that emits the sound of a crackling fire.

For just $10, the Celebrating Hope candle delivers the bells and whistles of designer candles that sell for much more including: a high-quality custom fragrance (vanilla with exotic notes of fig and amber), soy-blend wax, a remarkably long 27-hour burn time for its size and an embossed lid.  Plus, $3 from the sale of each candle benefits the Celebrating Hope  Foundation’s charitable partners–the Celebrating Hope Foundation like Habitat for Humanity, Hope International and the Wounded Warrior Project.