Here’s Everything You Need To Know About Buying And Lighting Luxury Candles
From choosing the right candles to buy, to burning and snuffing out your candles safely
Candles are now the new home therapy trend, since many of us can’t go to spas or hotels for some well-deserved relaxation.
For centuries, candles have been used in rituals and ceremonies to create a peaceful or meditative ambiance. And more recently, more than just blocks of wax that we turn to during power interruptions or our annual trips to the cemetery, candles have evolved to become aromatherapy tools to get us into a more romantic, relaxed, or calming mood.
Whether you’re a first-time candle burner, a long-time candle lover, or an aspiring chandler (a person who makes or sells candles), you’ll learn a lot from this luxury candle-buying and lighting guide that we put together just for you.
Why light a candle?
There are actually many benefits of burning candles in your home. First is setting the atmosphere and ambiance. Just like how candles before were used in ceremonies and rituals, lighting candles at home instantly transforms your space into a peaceful and intimate space.
It’s a great tool to help you establish a morning or nightly ritual, where you light a candle to establish the ambiance that you want for the day’s activity. You can light a candle during breakfast, while you sip your coffee and read a book, or when you want a more meditative yoga practice, or if you want to unwind as you do your nightly skincare routine.
Candles have also been linked to improving your mood and increasing your focus. They are perfect for aromatherapy, since different scents can actually stimulate your mind or help you remember positive moments in your life. According to Apartment Therapy, scents like cinnamon, mint, lemon, or orange can help manage your stress and improve productivity. Psychology Today also writes that there are many behavioral studies that showcase the power of scent, where smells can trigger vivid emotional memories that can lift instantly lift your mood.
Sleep is also very important for our body, and the quality of our sleep is just as crucial as the quantity of sleep. To help you achieve a better quality of sleep, you can light candles to set the mood for a more restful night, staying away from blue light as best as possible before going to bed.
Choosing the right candle for you
Different people, of course, have different wants and preferences—and it’s the same thing when you’re buying a candle for your home.
Scented or decorative?
One of the very first things that you want to decide is what you’re using the candle for. Do you want a scented candle to help you create a certain ambiance? Or do you just want a decorative candle for mood lighting? In case of decorative candles, you want to look for a candle with a beautiful casing that goes well with your décor. If you’re looking for scented candles, you want to look for candles that emit the right amount of scent, because not all scented candles are created equal.
Wax
Another thing to consider is the wax used to make your candle. For the longest time, paraffin wax has been used to create candles and paraffin is made from petroleum that’s a by-product of making gasoline. Paraffin wax candles have become less popular because they emit black soot (which can discolor light surfaces) and emit potentially harmful or irritating fumes.
In response, most chandlers now use natural wax like beeswax, palm wax, or soy wax. These are naturally derived materials that come from rapidly renewable resources, and don’t pose health risks.
Wicks
The wicks are also important because the kind of wick determines the kind of burn that you’ll have. Synthetic wicks release toxic chemicals just like paraffin wax, and can cause an uneven burn on your candle. For better results, look for pure cotton wicks or wooden wicks.
For a comparison, cotton wicks are easier to light and maintain. When relighting a cotton wick, you just have to trim the wick and it’ll light up in seconds. A wooden wick may take up to 20 seconds to catch fire, so you can’t use a regular match stick. However, wooden wicks usually have a better scent throw since it burns slower.
Scent
Different people prefer different kinds of scents, and usually, you’ll find one that suits your taste if you try different ones. There’s no one scent to rule them all, so to speak.
However, it’s important to note what the chandler used to infuse fragrance into your candle. When shopping for sustainable and eco-friendly candles, you’ll want to look for candles that use essential oils derived from pure plant sources, instead of those that use artificial fragrance. For the best kind, look for candles that use cold-pressed essential oils because these are derived without heat application so the aromatic properties and healing benefits of the plant are preserved in the oil.
Candle shopping guide
Check out the gallery below for our favorite under-the-radar candles to give you an idea of what are the best candles out there for your home therapy needs.
Photo Gallery
Photo Gallery
BOY SMELLS
Boy Smells is known for their sensuous, accessible, and bright products that go across the gender binary. With the tagline “A scent for every identity,” Boy Smells have different and unique scents that are made to reflect the individuality of your identity. The candles are created from an all-natural coconut wax and beeswax blend. The candles are also hand-poured in a reusable glass vessel.
Photo Credit: Lit Lifestyle PH
Since Boy Smells is a US brand, it was quite challenging to get a hold of their candles before. But it’s nice to know that there are local stores now who have partnered up with these trusted international brands to bring them legitimately to Philippine shores. Lit Lifestyle is a concept store based in Manila that offers unique home and hobby finds that favor function and aesthetic. Their goal is to help you #findyourdelight through inspiration-inducing pieces for your space. Currently, they carry all the 16 scents from the Boy Smells Core Collection, their Giant 28-oz candles (which have 3 wicks), and limited seasonal releases from the brand.
Photo Credit: Lit Lifestyle PH
P.F. CANDLE CO.
While Boy Smells is more on the trendy side, P.F. Candle Co. captures more of the laid-back living vibe. Their scents are inspired mostly by California life—travels to your favorite places and chill activities like going to the beach, BBQ afternoons, early morning walks, forest hikes, etc.—and are meant to bring back the good memories attached to them. All P.F. candles are vegan, cruelty-free, and phthalate-free, made with 100% domestically-grown soy wax in Los Angeles, California. Just like Boy Smells, P.F. Candle Co. is available in the Philippines through Lit Lifestyle PH, who carries their standard and large-sized candles.
Photo Credit: Lit Lifestyle PH
SOOHYANG
Soohyang is now one of South Korea’s most sophisticated fragrance brand, and the Soohyan candle is their signature item. Each candle is made in Korea with biodegradable vegetable wax, which burns even and clean, leaving no ash or smoke. Their fragrances are closely associated with memories of Seoul—the sunshine over the city, the songs overheard on the alleyways, the whispers of love by the Han River, or the dinners with friends in memorable local restaurants—this is why the brand has become very popular with Filipinos, especially K-drama fans.
Photo Credit: Lit Lifestyle PH
Soohyang became even more popular last year when they released the Soohyang LEELEE line, which was an official collaboration collection from the hit K-drama Crash Landing on You. The LEELEE line has two main candles: the Seri candle and Junghyuk candle, both inspired from the show’s protagonists, Seri and Captain Ri. The LEELEE Seri candle was inspired by the dandelion that blooms into a yellow flower regardless of the place, but remain faithful to its fate. The LEELEE Junghyuk candle is a scent defined by the blooming of love, which makes you feel a strong desire to protect the ones you love. Lit Lifestyle is the official and exclusive distributor of Soohyang in the Philippines, and just a week into the release of the LEELEE line, they sold out all stocks. They will, however, restock soon.
Photo Credit: Lit Lifestyle PH
While we wait for the LEELEE line to be available again, they also have other scents that may pique the K-drama enthusiasts. They have the Itaewon 565, which reminds us of the hit show Itaewon Class. Itaewon 565 will inspire you to remember your beginnings since it’s also the address where Soohyang first opened. The fragrance of Gangnam 8 will evoke memories of Gangnam Beauty, inspiring you to get real and embrace your true beauty. There’s also the Champagne Supernova, which encourages you to celebrate small wins—just like that of our beloved Start-Up team.
Photo Credit: Lit Lifestyle PH
GENTLE HOUR CANDLE CO.
For a local option, you can check out the candles from Gentle Hour, who produces artisan and small batch candles made from ethically sourced ingredients. Their candles are made from a blend of coconut and soy wax with some paraffin, and come in three sizes, depending on the size of the room that you want to light up: 80g, 150g, and 190g. For a luxurious burn, check out their Brunch in Gangam scent, which is reminiscent of slow mornings that take an exciting turn with a luxurious day-out in a fabulous neighborhood.
Photo Credit: @gentlehour_
CALME SCENTED CANDLES
Another one of our local picks is Calme Scented Candles, which feature luxury vegetable wax candles with ethically sourced wooden wicks for that clean, high-fragrance, and long burn. They only use pure essential oils for fragrance, so you know you’re getting all the benefits from the scents. For a more personal touch, you can order a Calme scented candle in a fine bone china container that’s customized by Saturday Group artist Migs Villanueva. Migs paints on the lid of the container so when the candles have burnt out, you can easily reuse the container for décor or practical purposes. For customized Calme candle orders, you can contact Migs directly on Instagram via @rafaslola.
Photo Credit: Migs Villanueva
Candle Accessories Guide
Your candle burning experience is not complete without the right tools and burning techniques to help you. Make your candle journey much more special with these candle accessories and burning tips.
Before and after lighting
Before lighting your candle, make sure to trim the wick to about a quarter of an inch so that the candle won’t emit too much smoke. When turning it off, you also don’t want to just blow it out because that produces a lot of soot and smoke, and you risk blowing out droplets of hot wax in the surrounding area.
To light and snuff out your candles correctly, you’ll want this Candle Essentials Set from Amber Lights Laguna, which comes with a wick dipper, wick trimmer, and a candle snuffer. Use the wick trimmer to trim before lighting, and the dipper or snuffer to extinguish the flame without blowing it out.
Light safely
Sometimes, a short matchstick just won’t do the job when you’re trying to light a candle. Especially when you’re lighting a wooden wick candle, which takes a couple of seconds to burn, you want a longer matchstick so you won’t get burned. For a more opulent match option, check out this Brass matchstick box from Paperbound, which has 40 pieces of 200-mm long matchsticks encased in an auspicious brass box.
Burn without fire
Even though scented candles tend to be small, an open flame still poses a risk for fire. Especially when you have young kids at home, you don’t want an open flame that they can easily knock over.
To eliminate this risk, Lit Lifestyle introduced the concept of candle warmers, which lets you release the scent of the candle without having to burn the wick. The heat emanates from a light bulb, which then melts the wax and creates a cleaner and stronger fragrance—minus the fire hazard.
Lit Lifestyle’s Colt Candle Warmer V2.0 does the job ever so excellently since it also comes with an auto-shutdown timer feature so you can finally light a candle and just leave it on while you doze off to sleep. It’s definitely the ultimate carefree candle experience!
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