Home Fragrance 101
Not sure which size or format of scent to get? Read this
A Short Guide to Candles, Tealights & Diffusers
I make seven essential oil blends for home scent here in my small studio, each offered in a variety of forms: 180ml candles, 120ml travel-size candles, 500ml three-wick jars, sets of twelve tealights, and reed diffusers.
Each format brings a space to life in its own way. This simple guide will help you choose the one that suits your home and your habits best.
180ml jar candles
Tried and true
The classic single-wick jars are the heart of the range. They burn evenly for many hours and suit almost any room size. If you like to light a candle for a few hours most evenings, or to have beautiful natural scent throughout your house all day, this is the one to keep on hand: a calm, consistent companion.
Three-wick candles
For the drama
Three-wick candles burn brighter and release more scent, using more wax in each burn. They’re ideal if you love a full fragrance in a large space, or simply want the beauty of three dancing flames. They’re not designed to last 3x as long as a single wick candle, but to be 3x as intense.
Bonus tip: The first couple of lightings take a looooong time to form a full melt pool. This is because of the slow burning nature of soy way, and because I choose wicks that will give you the longest lasting candle possible. However, as the candle travels down the jar, more heat is trapped inside, resulting in a full melt pool faster. I have discovered, by virtue of having a lot of three wick candles in my house, that lighting one in the later stages of it’s life is actually a great way to get a quick burst of scent through the whole house. I find I do this quite often on evenings when I want to enjoy a quick hit of scent for an hour before heading to bed.
Tealight candles
For the whimsy
Are they practical? Not really. Are they adorable? The most adorable. Tealights are for a joyful treat or a special gift — to dot around a bath, or a book nook, or anywhere you’d like to feel truly cocooned and cared for.
They also come in very handy if you want the ceremony of lighting a candle in the evening, but not to commit to waiting the several hours for a full melt pool in a jar candle. Two to four tealights in a room will give a similar scent throw to a jar candle, but because they form a melt pool quicker, you can enjoy their light and scent without waiting ages for them to get going.
Travel size candles
For pockets or packing
Ideal for those who travel often, these small jars bring a little familiarity and comfort to otherwise soulless hotel rooms, or to any space that could use a touch of home. A really nice touch for guest bedrooms and care packages as well.
Reed diffusers
The constant companion
I have discovered that there’s something very welcoming about a reed diffuser in the right spot. I keep one by my sofa all the time, and being greeted by a fragrance that’s already in the air when I sit down in the evening is beautifully reassuring. As someone who works with scent all day, there is also something nice about the diffuser scent staying put in it’s spot and not filling my whole house like a candle would. I can enjoy it for a couple of hours and when I move away from it, I am in unscented air again.
And now that you’ve decided which format to get, read a little more about the oil blends
Or why creating candles with these oil blends can be a bit like winemaking? Halfway between an art and a science
For tips on taking good care of, and getting the best from, your soy candle: visit the candle care post
And everything you might like to know about reed diffusers can be found in this reed diffuser post
