Scented Candles

Subtle scents can make a huge difference in a room. They can be used to complement the physical arrangement and the lighting of a room to create a desired ambiance. Scents can come from burning incense, aerosol spray, scented potpourri, or scented candle.

Scented candles have the advantage of serving three functions –light, décor, and a pleasant scent. Another great advantage is you can make your own. Making scented candles can be fun. Apart from giving your home a pleasant smell, they are also perfect for gift-giving.

The first step in making a scented candle is to select which of the available waxes you want to use. The most commonly used is paraffin, but you can opt for an insect or plant-based wax as beeswax, soy, or palm wax. You can also choose gel wax although this requires greater temperature and density control as variations in these could affect your finished candle.

Using a double-boiler, wherein the solid wax is placed in a pot which is in turn placed in a bigger pot filled with water, the wax is heated to a temperature of 170 to 180°F.

When the wax has melted remove the smaller pan from the heat source and add the fragrance oil. Remember to use oil-based fragrances as the water-based types will not mix well with the wax. Fragrance oils should be mixed at a ratio of one ounce for every pound of wax. This results in a 6% concentration which is considered the ideal mixture.

If you wish to add colors to the wax, now is the time to do it. You can use a liquid candle dye but try not to overdo it. A few drops will go a long way to create deep colors.

You can now pour your melted, scented, and colored wax into your mold making sure that the wick stays in the center. Let it cool for four to six hours, remove it from the mold, and enjoy a delightful scent, a pleasing view, and a romantic lighting right in your own room.

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Sweet Scents – Make Scented Candles For Any Mood

Need something to soothe your tired bones after a long hard day? Are you feeling fearful or stressed about something and just need to relax? Or how about spicing up that romantic dinner you planned by filling the air with the aroma of jasmine or rose. You can make scented candles a vital part of any mood setting requirement you may have.

An extra dimension is offered by scented candles, which are now immensely popular. They can create a romantic or festive atmosphere; they can also soothe and relax us or lift our spirits, depending on which essential oils are used. Lavender oil will induce sleep and help you to unwind, while bergamot or rosemary will revive you. Compliment the scent of the candle with a delicate candle collar of lavender or rosemary, to make an attractive decoration or gift. Burning a scented candle while you relax in the bath is wonderfully self-indulgent and your own form of aromatherapy.

Oil lamps are an original alternative to candles, and you can color and perfume the oil to suit your mood or the occasion. Another variation is to place your chosen essential fragrance, diluted in water, over a candlelit ceramic burner or vaporizer, which will gently warm the oil and release the fragrance. Scented potpourri can be used in the same way and many different kinds are now available, including citrus scents. During Christmas, rich, spicy scents are popular, and you can add extra spice oils to a candle decorated with sticks of cinnamon or studded with cloves. Sprinkle a few drops of oil on the candle before it is lit, being careful not to let the oil fall on any ribbon or fabric in the display. A vaporizer will create an immediate spicy, festive atmosphere if you use it to warm a mixture of succulent orange and cinnamon smelling oils.

My particular favorite that I do often during the winter is using the spicy scent of cloves to press into the honeycomb sections of a beeswax candle in an attractive spiral pattern. I then use more cloves and rings of star anise to cover the base. The aroma that fills my house with these candles is so warm and wonderful and it reminds me a lot of my grandmother’s house at Christmas when I was a child.

If you’re looking to inspire romance while burning your scented candles, trying using jasmine, rose, sandalwood or yling ylang essential oils as this are useful as aphrodisiacs and so perfect for candles for your bedroom. Lemon oil and grapefruit can be used to reduce stress and uplift. Orange is particularly useful in relaxation and calming while bergamot is used in numerous cases including depression, fear, fatigue and loneliness.

As you can see essential oils are hugely beneficial when you make scented candles because you can predetermine the mood you’re going to set with them before you even begin the process of candle making.

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Making Deliciously Scented Candles

By adding scented candles to any room you can set the mood for people in the room.  Scented candles can stimulate, relax, and help to bring back memories of good times.  A very subtle scented candle is more attractive to many people. They can bring about a change in mood without bringing awareness to the reason for the change. 

Using Scents in Your Homemade Candles

It is important that when adding scents to your candles that you add those scents specifically made for candles or pure essential oils.  Other types of scents have additives that can affect how your candle burns or how the scent smells once heated with paraffin. 

It is recommended that when you first start making scented candles that you use only one scent.  By doing so you are able to experiment with the amount of oil that you will need to use to obtain the scent that you desire. 

The usual ratio of wax to scent is one pound of wax to ½ -1 oz. of essential oil or candle scent.  If you want a stronger scented candle you will need to find a special wax that doesn’t sweat the oil. 

Scents are added after the wax has been melted but before pouring the wax into your mold, container, or free form candle.  This allows the scent to mix evenly throughout your candle.  Remember to have a small amount of the scented wax to use for topping off your candle. Paraffin candles do tend to shrink some in the middle after hardening.

Experimenting to Find Your own Personal Scent

Don’t be afraid to experiment with creating scents.  When creating your own scents you will need a medicine dropper, small glass dish, toothpicks, cotton swabs, small brown bottle or bottles, different essential oils and some ground coffee. 

Remember these are for candles so you don’t want to mix these oils with bases. Note that good essential oils can be a little expensive but they go a long way.  There are many places to buy essential oils such as your local craft store. 

Once you have everything assembled, place paper under your working area; old newspapers work well for these projects. In the small glass dish place two drops of the main essential oil that you want to use.  Put a small drop of another essential oil that you have chosen to blend with the first oil into the glass dish. Mix both oils in the dish with a toothpick.  Walk away from the oils and smell the coffee to clear the mingling fragrances from nose.  Once you return to the dish, smell the oils from a distance, rather than placing your nose too close, to get a better idea of how the fragrance you have created smells. You can mix any combination of oils using this technique to determine your likes and dislikes. 

Once you have achieved the fragrance you love, mix the oils in the same manner or ratio that you used when creating it. For example if you used 2 drops of bergamot and 1 drop of rose, you may mix 2 oz of bergamot with 1 oz of rose to create enough scent for your candle. 

Remember that you only use ½ – 1 oz of oil to a pound of wax. Use caution and never use more than this amount unless you are using a special wax that allows more oil to be added.  This is because essential oils are flammable.

Once you have created your fragrance, store the oil in a small glass brown bottle in a cool area to protect the oils from the light and extreme temperatures.  Let the oil infuse for approximately three days prior to use.  Test the oil on a cotton swab to see how much, if any, the fragrance has changed since storing it.  Some change usually occurs.

Well you have done it! You have created a special fragrance that is of your own design to be used in your candles.  There will be no stopping you now.  Remember, as with any project, safety first! 

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