Fragrance is truly enchanting. It can transport you to another time or place, stir up treasured memories and inspire you to transform your mind, body and soul. Scented candles are one of the best ways to add fragrance to your space, heightening your senses and enhancing the ambience in your home. You may think it’s a simple thing. Pick a scent you like, then light it. There’s much more to scented candles than that though. From floral to fruity, and earthy to exotic, there are lots of aromas to consider. Not to mention scent throw and even maintaining your candles properly. So, let’s set a fire to the flame. Choosing scented candle fragrances When choosing your fragrances, think about the mood you’d like to create. If you’re looking for something energising, go for a refreshing citrus aroma like lemon, lime, orange or grapefruit. A calming lavender is wonderful for relaxation, while festive seasonal scents of pine, clove, cedar and winter berries are great for Christmas and wintery vibes. You can also match different fragrances to different spaces. Whether you want to create a calming atmosphere in your bedroom, or bring the tranquillity of a spa to your bathroom, they can also make kitchens and other areas of your home smell lovely. You can even use them in your office to create a more pleasant environment for working, or to transform your living room into a tranquil retreat for a spot of yoga. Using your scented candles Before you go ahead and light up a new scented candle, it’s a good idea to take a few simple steps to ensure you’re getting the best out of it. After placing your candle on a level, stable surface, trim the wick to around a quarter of an inch before lighting. This will help to prevent smoking. If you want to avoid any smoke altogether, and prolong the life of your candle at the same time, try using a candle warmer. These are particularly good if you plan to use your candle for less than an hour, or if you’re likely to leave it unattended for a while – or even forget it’s lit. It can be nice to alternate your candles in different rooms, so you can enjoy a different scent as you move between various spaces in your home. You can also layer your fragrances to create your own unique blend of scents, opening up a whole new world of creative experimentation. Caring for candles Trimming the wicks of your scented candles could prolong their life by as much as a quarter. When you don’t trim the wick, you have a larger flame. Not only does this melt more wax and give the candle more fuel, it can also create more soot and make your candle’s glass black and dirty. Allowing your candles to fully cool and harden before you relight them is important for prolonging their life and avoiding tunnelling. Occasional dusting will help to prevent uneven burning, while keeping a lid on your candles will not only protect them from dust, but also help them to retain their scent. When you extinguish the flame, use a candle snuffer rather than blowing it out, as the ashy debris you blow onto the surface will also contribute to an uneven burn. The first time you use a scented candle, make sure it burns for long enough to fully melt the wax right across the top. This is the most important thing you can do to stop tunnelling, which can dramatically reduce the life of your candle. It will also maximise the scent throw, which is the term we use to describe how well a candle distributes its fragrance. The hot throw is the scent when it’s burning and the cold throw refers to the strength of the fragrance before a candle is lit for the first time. Enhance your festive ambience with candles There’s something special about the atmosphere a scented candle can create in your home. Particularly on a chilly evening when you want to snuggle up and get cosy. Maybe you’re curling up with a good book or putting on a festive film, building the ambience with a crackling candle that engages your senses. If you’d like to experience a new scent every evening throughout December, don’t miss our limited edition Christmas advent calendar. You can enjoy opening a different window every day of the month in the run-up to the big day, revealing a carefully curated collection of candles, body lotions, shower gels and eau de toilettes. Bring Scotland home through scent Our candle scents provide an alluring connection to our striking Scottish home. The Isle of Arran is a stunning place overflowing with unspoiled beauty, where rolling forests tumble down from rising peaks to meet rugged shorelines and crystal waters. Our island home is the inspiration behind all of our fragrances, and our scented candles are perfect for transporting yourself to Arran – whether you’ve visited the island before or not. We couldn’t be prouder of our roots, and we think you’ll love them too when you experience our scented candles. Key takeaways If you remember to trim your wicks, allow your candles to cool before relighting and allow a melted wax pool to fully form the first time you use them, you can look forward to maximising the enjoyment you’ll get from all of your scented candles. We’d recommend having three to five candles on hand for a nice variety of fragrances, also allowing you to experiment with layering to create your own scents. If you’d like to try some of our favourite scented candles, make sure you take a look at the ARRAN Sense of Scotland Fragrance Advent Calendar. [product handle="2023-advent-calendar"]
