Call me candle crazy!

I have an unnatural love of scented candles and diffusers! There, I’ve said it. Mr C, my hubby will be secretly pleased I’m finally coming out of the candle closet. I think it started when I first began earning money. I treated myself to a luxury candle, I cant remember the brand, but I do remember being beyond excited and couldn’t wait to get it home.

Now, the problem is I really love the packaging and find it quite a tug to throw it away. The box of this very first candle of dreams stayed loyally next to its partner for its entire life. I think, at the time I thought it was stylish to show as much branding as possible within the home. It still takes me a few days to throw away the box, I’m so ridiculous!

I don’t love all candles though. They don’t necessarily need to be expensive, but they must be of good quality. The packaging needs to be pretty, if that makes me shallow, then so be it. It needs to burn well, provided you follow the rules of trimming the wick and letting it burn for the right time. I’ll talk about that more in a while. More than anything else though, it needs to fill the room with heady fragrance. A scented candle that doesn’t really smell is about as depressing as finding out your date for the night has a micro-penis. Not for me thank you!

I have a beautiful cigar table from Culinary Concepts London, which opens up to reveal my candle collection, which I’m constantly adding to, of course. Underneath the table top there are four drawers, which hold room sprays, diffusers, long matches, candle lids, you name it! I do try and not go near it too often as I have been known to spend an inordinate amount of time sorting alphabetically. Removing me from the area is not pretty!

I have some favourite brands and fragrances that I love and that I know perform:

Lower Lodge Candles – my favourite scents being Wild Rhubarb or Grapefruit for summer and Green Fig and Walnut for winter. www.lowerlodgecandles.com

Millie & Green – beautifully simple candles, which ooze style. My favourite, so far, being Fresh Fig. https://www.millieandgreen.co.uk/

JOGB – luxury handcrafted in England using essential oils, I love Slojo, which smells of lavender, geranium and patchouli. https://www.jogbliving.com/

AHLT – James and Ky from A House Like This have created truly beautiful fragrances for their candle and diffuser range. My favourite so far is Damson, plum, rose and patchouli. https://ahouselikethis.com/

The White Company – One of my all time favourites. Ever since they bought out the “Winter” candle I’ve been obsessed with both their candles and room sprays. My current favourite is “Orange Rind”, but I also love “Wild Mint”. https://www.thewhitecompany.com/uk/c/candles-and-fragrance

Cire Trudon – If you really want to push the boat out, as they are very pricey, then go for one of Cire Trudon’s candles. They evoke a sense of time gone by, a memory. I absolutely love them, particularly as often you cant quite work out what the fragrance combination is, but you know its so good! Think of church pews, old leather, tobacco, tea and vetiver, old mossy walls and fresh laundry! Their room sprays are very pricey, but last for years! https://trudon.com/eu_en/home-fragrances/candles.html

One thing you can always be sure of with me is that I will only ever promote things I really truly love. I haven’t been paid by any of the brands above, although I have been gifted candles before.

Now, there is a right way to burn a candle and most people have absolutely no idea what it is. First, always trim the wick before you light it to between 4-7mm long. Why? Well, trimmed wicks will give you a cleaner, brighter burn. Untrimmed wicks are a lot more likely to create pooling and cause too much smoke.

Secondly, excessively long wicks are a top cause of those nasty black marks that end up on the glass surrounding the candle (I only ever have candles in a glass casing as I find they are much safer than ordinary pillar candles, which can drop wax everywhere). Trimming the wick keeps the flame in control and prevents those marks from forming in the first place.

Once your candle has been lit, don’t blow it out until the top layer of wax has melted all the way across. This might take several hours, so don’t light it unless you know you’re going to be around for a while! Whenever you don’t allow the candle to melt all the way you’re contributing to a process that is called tunnelling. The wick starts to sink lower and lower as if a tunnel is forming right through the center of the candle. Finally, keep your candle away from moving air, gusts of wind, fans etc. This will make sure the wax burns evenly and stops black marks forming on the glass. It’s also a safety issue, never burn a candle near any gusts of air that could catch the flame and set light to something else in your home.

Blow your candle out carefully so as not to splash the wax. I use a candle snuffer. I always try to have a lid for my candle. I place it on top as soon as Ive blown the candle out to stop smoke permeating the room.

There’s something so romantic and tranquil about a lit candle. It can evoke all sorts of memories and emotions. It can also give a sense of peace and calmness. If ever I’m stressed, one of the first things I do is light a scented candle and pour a large glass of Viognier obvs!