When you've chosen your fragrances why not use one candle, and one
diffuser and/or room mist
This way you create your own signature home scent.
Lemon is is a bright and invigorating fragrance which brings sunshine vibes into your beautiful homes. Summer in Provence and White Rose & Lemon add an instant burst of zingy freshness.
Lime Scented Candles
Fresh, lively and green in character, Sicilian Lime transports you to the lime groves of Sicily. This fragrance releases a vibrant burst of citrus that enlivens any space.
Grapefruit Scented Candles
Lighting a grapefruit scented candle instantly refreshes your interior spaces, providing an uplifting mood boost. Try Grapefruit or Summer in Seville to brighten up your day.
Orange Scented Candles
Orange oil is known to be a mild sedative and can naturally relax you after a long, hard day. If you're feeling like you need to relax a little, try Summer in Sorrento with sun ripened oranges and lemons, Orange Blossom or Mandarin & Sandalwood.
]]>As your candles age you may find that the scent starts to weaken. This happens
because molecules of fragrance oil are slowly but continually evaporating from the
wax into the air, even when the candle isn’t burning. This means that the longer you store your candle without burning it, the less fragrance will be produced when you do decide to light it.
If you want to enjoy the strongest fragrance then it’s best to burn it
as soon after purchase as possible.
Pure soy candles contain no artificial preservatives and can develop a whitish bloom over time. The wax can also deteriorate over time if your candle is not stored in a cool, dry place which may lead to your candle not burning as it should.
My advice: life is short; burn the candle, buy the shoes, eat the cake.
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Wax
Most high street candle brands (even the high end ones) use paraffin, the cheapest type of wax. Paraffin tends to create soot as it burns. It’s also not very eco-friendly, as paraffin is a by-product of petroleum production.
Luxury candles tend to use better alternatives such as coconut wax, beeswax, and soy wax. My candles are made with 100% natural soy wax and not a soy blend which contains paraffin. Soy candles burn around 50% more slowly than paraffin candles which is why my candles last so much longer. They are also cleaner and more environmentally friendly than paraffin.
Fragrance
Standard shop bought candles are usually composed of a couple of basic scents. Luxury candles contain many more, balancing a combination of top, middle, and bottom fragrance notes that complement one another to create a much more complex fragrance experience.
The wick
The choice of wick makes a huge difference to the way a candle burns and fills a room with fragrance. Many candle makers (and candle factories) will use the same wick for any fragrance in a standard container. As fragrances have differing densities, I test each fragrance with a variety of wicks in order to get the best burn and scent throw. After finding the correct wick for a fragrance the information is added to my wicking chart. Each time a small batch of candles is produced, I check my wicking chart to select the appropriate wick.
Presentation
Packaging is the final important touch in providing the luxury presentation you expect from a luxury candle either as a special treat for yourself or as a special gift for a loved one. You can be assured that each candle is packed with the same love and care that goes into making every one.
The choice is yours.
]]>Evoke the spirit of Christmas and the festive season with my Christmas Collection. If you are not having a real Christmas tree, you can still have the fresh scent of the winter forest with my Christmas Tree candle, diffuser and room mist.
If you prefer a more traditional, spicy aroma then Noel or Kings of Orient are the perfect choices for you. To soothe away the stress of all the seasonal preparations, choose Advent or Star of Wonder for its calming and relaxing vibe.
If you just can't choose between my Christmas fragrances, then opt for a Christmas Votive Collection which contains one votive of each of three of my Christmas fragrances.
Scented candles also make great gifts for friends and family members. From my extra large luxury candles and gift sets to my little tealight sets, I have something for everyone.
Photography by Janne Ford
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They are amazing for freshening up and scenting any space in your home in seconds.
They are perfect for using when you're not lighting candles in the daytime (perhaps when you have small children around) to layer your home fragrance and welcome visitors.
Thirdly I spray my bedsheets with a few spritzes of mist to make going to bed seem like the most blissful luxury hotel experience ever. If you're a bad sleeper then French Lavender will help you drift off peacefully in no time or if you fancy that chilled holiday vibe then St Lucia will transport you instantly to the dreamy Caribbean island.
Rum punch anyone?
]]>Before choosing your home fragrances consider what impression you would like your home to make. So if you want your home to feel warm and cosy, choose woodier scents like Fallen Angel, Wild Jasmine, Warm Amber or Mandarin & Sandalwood. If you prefer your home to be light, airy and more minimalistic then choose fresher fragrances like Grapefruit, White Rose & Lemon, Sicilian Lime, or St Lucia. If you're home is focused more on the garden then floral fragrances like Fleurs, Pink Pepper & Rose, French Lavender or Peony Petals will be excellent choices.
Many people just choose their favourites scents when choosing a home
fragrance but think carefully about product placement in your home. Choosing a smokier scent like Old Havana would not be an ideal choice for a pristine white bathroom, just as a strong floral fragrance like Bluebell would not compliment your dining room. It would be too heavily scented when eating.
You may also want to change your home fragrance with the changing seasons. In spring and summer you may want to create a fresher feel with floral or citrus scents which remind you of sunshine and fresh air. But in autumn and winter you may prefer warming scents as the temperatures drop and you want your home to feel warm and cosy. I find that many of you do this already.
If you ever need any help selecting your fragrances just ask. There's nothing I like better than helping customers find a fragrance they love which also reflects their home style.
The perfect spring scent is different for everyone as we all have different tastes in fragrance. Some may like refreshing notes while others prefer either greener and earthier tones or floral fragrances in full bloom. Some of my favourite fragrances for springtime are filled with bright, clean, fresh notes like my Blossom Collection.
Photo credit: Janne Ford
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Fragrance also has the power to make us feel happier, more relaxed, less stressed and even more productive.
Citrus fragrances are well known mood boosters. They are associated with summer sunshine and fresh air. Japanese researchers found that the smell of citrus helped to eliminate emotional stress and boost participants’ moods for up to thirty minutes. Light a Silver Candle Company Grapefruit, Sicilian Lime, St Lucia, Mandarin & Sandalwood or White Rose & Lemon candle to enjoy the mood-enhancing benefits of bergamot, grapefruit, lime, mandarin, orange or lemon.
Lavender is another powerful fragrance. It is renowned for easing anxiety. A lavender scented candle may help calm your nerves. In a study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, people exposed to a lavender scent experienced a higher reduction in anxiety and tension compared to those who didn’t inhale the scent. These participants also recovered more quickly from stressful situations.
]]>Though they may seem innocuous, paraffin candles are a source of air pollution and they emit chemicals that are considered as dangerous as second-hand smoke. Paraffin is a petroleum waste product and has to be deodorized and chemically bleached before it can be made in to wax.
Most scented candles are made from paraffin wax and previous studies have found that they can release highly toxic, cancer-causing chemicals that can also be harmful in people (especially children) with respiratory conditions such as asthma.
Some candle brands also use a wick where the cotton is wrapped around another material such as metal, producing a toxic soot, which may also lead to lung problems. Many candles also contain artificial scents and dyes, which release additional chemicals when burned.
Natural wax candles that use soy are the cleanest, producing an estimated tenth of the soot normally created by a paraffin candle.
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Candle making is a precise art and many hours of testing go into finding the right wick for the fragrance. The wick has to work with both the container and the fragrance in order to have a great hot throw (that's the amount of scent you can smell). A wick that may work with one fragrance may not work with another even in the same container and so this is why at The Silver Candle Company we spend a lot of our time testing, testing and testing again. We want to make sure that you all love your candles as much as we do.
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There are two causes of tunnelling. Either it’s user error or maker’s error.
Did you burn your candle on first burn long enough to have a full melt pool and so reaching the edges all around? If you have very small amounts of wax left at the sides they will melt away as your candle burns hotter lower down. The second reason for tunnelling is that the candle has been wicked incorrectly.