All Candles Are Not Equal

Time For Candles was established to allow me to create the best candle possible. It all started with my disappointment with some of the candles I have purchased over the years. There is a candle in almost every room in our home and let me start by saying “All Candles Are Not Equal”. Here is a shortlist of some of my frustrations. They can burn unevenly no matter how perfectly the wick is trimmed. The burning wax smell often overwhelms the scent of the candle. The wax can burn so quickly it snuffs out the wick and renders the candle completely useless. I’m sure every candle lover has experienced similar issues, but we continue our search for the perfect candle.

With all of this in mind, I decided I was going to make my own range of candles. Candles that I like, candles that smell great, burn evenly, and look amazing in any room. Here is the starting point of my company Time For Candles.

Candle Market Research

I like to think of myself as a candle connoisseur. However, enjoying candles is far from understanding the candle industry or how to make a candle. So, with my iPad in hand and a flickering candle on my bedside table, I started watching YouTube and taking notes. It was at this point I realized I needed to dive into some market research. Determining why or how people buy candles, and then learn the fundamentals of what makes a good candle.

How People Buy Candles

I visited candle shops and specialty candle boutique stores that were bursting at the seams with all kinds of candles. Spending hours on end watching people scanning the shelves looking for the perfect candle, then picking up the candles and raising them to their nose in the hope of smelling an amazing scent, and finally flipping the candle upside down to look at the price. Here are my top three observations.

  • The look of a candle

    #1: Candles must stand out from the crowd. The design of the candle is what attracts people to reach for it. That could be the branding, shape, size, color, or even the packaging for the candle. Although, I did find that candles in boxes are often overlooked because it is an additional step to open the box. When the candle is sitting by the side of the box or even on top of the box, it is more likely to be picked up.

  • The smell of a candle

    #2: The candle scent should be the most important factor, but our research showed that a great smelling candle can be overlooked if no one picks it up based on the initial attraction. The scent of the candle needs to be strong enough to capture the candle buyer. If a candle is underwhelming the buyer moves onto the next candle. The same can happen if the scent of the candle is overpowering, so finding a good balance is going to be part of your research in selecting your candle scent.

    Something to be mindful of, is the smell of a new unused candle is not representative of the aroma when the candle is burning the wax.

  • The cost of a candle

    #3: The cost of a candle is the third key factor related to how people buy candles, and the cost of a candle can make or break the purchase. There is no one size fits all when it comes to the cost of a candle. It is all based on the individuals budget or perceived value of the candle they are looking for. I have seen candles ranging from $1 to $100, and yes people buy candles upwards of $100, which is just astounding. This is the basic scale of economics and dependent on peoples financial ability to purchase the candle they desire.

    Finding the right price point for a candle will determine the type of customer you are trying to satisfy. It is important to get to know the market sector for the candle you are producing.

Buying Candles Online

Online candle sales is a totally different buying experience. It almost became addictive, spending hour after hour trolling through Amazon, Target, and Etsy. We also reviewed some of the independent websites that showed in Google search results for online candles.

As with in-store candle purchases, the reason why people will buy a candle online is the initial attraction to the candle. If people don’t like the look of the candle, they will simply skip over it. The price is also important, although the ability to filter the search for online candles by type and cost allows for a narrower search than walking through a candle store. It is even more critical to know your audience when selling candles online.

The main difference between buying candles online versus visiting a brick-and-mortar store is the smell. How does someone buy a candle without being able to smell it first. I was initially taken back by this and wondered how this was even possible. Until I dug a little deeper into the candles that were selling thousands of candles online. These online candles sellers spend time creating great product descriptions. Descriptions that detail the aroma, descriptions that pull you in, and create the warm fuzzy feeling that make you want to add to cart and buy the candle. Be creative and share as much detail about the candle as possible. Include the features of the candle, the burn time, the wick style and the type of wax, and most importantly the aroma experience the candle will produce.

How We Created Our Candles

Making a great candle sounds easy, at least that’s what I thought. I want to share with you some of the lessons we have encountered to create our vintage retro candles. It has taken almost a full year to understand the intricate dynamics of what it takes to make a great candle. We set the goal of producing what we feel is an amazing candle to meet and exceed our future customers expectations.

No point in trying to fix something that does not need fixing. With my list of things I disliked about some of my own candle purchases, I started to investigate solutions within the candle industry. And let me just say “What an eye opening experience this has been”.

Standout From The Crowd

Our personal taste in home décor is midcentury modern with retro vintage styling. This quickly became the theme we wanted to start with. Trying to find a glass jar that we could use for our Retro Candles was almost impossible. I was fortunate to meet a graphic designer who worked in the glassware industry. After sharing my vision with the designer, he set about creating some virtual renders that we bounced around until I settled on the retro candle jar designs we use today.

 Understandably, our retro candles are not going to be everyone’s taste or style. And that was the point, we wanted to create a range of candles that we would personally buy for our home. The retro candles will only appeal to a limited portion of candle buyers, but that’s ok. We are not trying to take over the candle market, just simply produce a great candle with outstanding features that has a retro vintage and modern feel.

The Best Wax For Candles

Now if there was ever a point in time where I wished we had not started this journey, this would have been it. There is so much to learn regarding the waxes that can be used, and the different blends of wax types to alter the performance of a candle. And then the supply chain is even more difficult to navigate and find consistency. Remember, not all waxes are equal.

Paraffin Wax - Soy Wax - Palm Wax - Beeswax - Gel Wax - Rapeseed Wax and Coconut Wax, are all suitable for producing a candle. And these are just the generic terms, there is a wide scope within each wax category. Each of these waxes have distinct characteristics and will alter the performance of a candle. We studied and evaluated them all, and quickly became a candle bedroom chemist. After several months we accidently found a blend of candle wax that has little to no odor, a long burn time, and durable to be shipped, and most importantly, it burns evenly in a glass jar.

Candle Aroma Selection

Having gone through the first mine field of candle wax, we were a little more prepared for the task of finding the type of scents to use. Fragrance oils and essential oils, sounds simple. Hundreds of manufacturers and scents to choose from make this a challenge. My suggestion here is don’t be afraid to try something you would not normally pick. Regardless of which type of oils, here is where the fun starts.

Finding the right smell and translating this to a candle is an art form. We started out with caution at 2% fragrance, and eventually built up to 17%, which was way too strong. There was much trial and error in creating a balance of smelling the scent in hardened wax to ensure you get your customers attention. But then not being too strong of an aroma when the candle was lit. Making sure not to create an overwhelming scent was a challenge. We feel our retro candle range offer some outstanding scents to enjoy.

Wick Selection Time

Selecting the right wick was a much easier task. We tried all the wick types we could find. Wooden Wicks, DGQ Natural Candle Wicks, EricX Light Cotton Candle Wicks, Premium Craft Square Wicks, Braid Cotton Candle Wicks, Charm Moi Candle Wicks and GINXIA Natural Candle Wicks. They all have their own unique properties and will affect burn time, heat transfer, odor and soot. We found our choice after hundreds of ours of burn testing. Positioning the wick centered in the jar is also important to the performance.

Making A Perfect Candle

Now it is time to mix all the individual results from our trials together, in the hope of finding the perfect mix. We ranked our top 5 results from each experiment and then fuse them together. Measuring these results of these candles was extremely satisfying. We are now close to the original goal of creating a candle we would be happy with.

Prototype Candles

Just a few weeks after the materials experiments were completed, we received the first custom glass jars with our retro graphics. It was now time to put it all together and see our Retro Candle dream come alive for the first time.

Candle With A Lid or Not

Have you ever wondered why some candles come with lids and others do not. After talking with several other candle makers, the consensus is that fragrances used in candles can dissipate over time if the candle is not sealed. This is also related to the type of wax and other variables. Regardless of if this is true or not, I now had to find a suitable lid for my candle with a rubber seal to ensure my retro candles meet their new owners in the best condition possible. Candle lids are made from various materials such as metal, wood, glass, or cork, and this will change the look of the candles, so make sure you select the right lid. We chose a light-colored wooden lid with a rubber seal to finish off the retro vintage vibe for our candles.

Candle Packaging

Often when buying a glass jar candle, it is sold without a box. Packaging will not affect a candles performance in any way, but it can help with protecting the candles during transportation. We decided to send all our retro candles in a box with matching retro graphics to enhance the Time For Candles brand experience, and ensure the retro candle makes it safely to is new home.

Many thank for reading our journey so far.

Gail Anderson