Scented Candles

What a soy and paraffin wax blend is

Whichever vessel you choose, the candle is made with a soy and paraffin wax blend and burns on a cotton wick. Soy wax is a vegetable wax made from soya bean oil; paraffin wax is a mineral wax refined from petroleum, and a blend brings the two together in one candle. The cotton wick draws melted wax up to the flame, which is why trimming it matters. Beyond the wax and the wick, our candles differ in vessel, size, burn time and scent.

Glass jar, metal tin or candle refill

Our scented candles come in glass jars and metal tins, and we also stock a few candle refills. Several scents come in a glass jar as well as a tin, so the choice rests less on fragrance than on the material you want to see and where the candle will stand. Match the vessel to what is already in the room: glass among glassware and ceramics on a dining table or mantelpiece, metal among brass, steel or timber on a desk or bedside table.

A few of the glass candles come boxed, which helps when you are buying a present. A refill is for a vessel you want to keep using: before ordering one, check its diameter on the product page against the inside of the vessel you have in mind.

Candle sizes from 6.5cm to 15cm across

Our scented candles measure 6.5 to 15cm in diameter and 5.7 to 12.7cm in height, so check the spot first. A candle at the narrow end of the range fits a bathroom shelf, a desk or a tray beside the bath; one nearer 15cm across wants the space of a coffee table, a dining table or a wide sideboard. Either way, leave clear room around it.

Burn times run from 20 to 80 hours. Each candle's diameter, height and burn time are given on its product page, so you can compare one with another before you buy.

The first burn and the burns that follow

The first time you light a scented candle, let it burn until the melted wax reaches the edge of the jar or tin before you put it out. On a wider candle that can take a few hours, so choose an evening when you are staying in. Put it out too soon and a ring of firm wax is left round the sides, which the flame struggles to reach on later burns.

Trim the cotton wick to about 5mm before lighting, as a long wick smokes and burns unevenly. A common rule is to burn for no more than four hours at a time and to stop when around 1cm of wax is left in the base.

Where to stand a lit candle

Any vessel around a flame warms up, so stand the jar or tin on a heat-resistant surface such as a stone or ceramic coaster rather than straight onto polished wood. Keep it clear of draughts, curtains, shelves overhead, children and pets. Never leave a lit candle unattended or burning while you sleep, and put it out with a snuffer rather than blowing, which can spatter hot wax.

The rooms and hours that suit a lit candle

A scented candle is at its best when you are there to enjoy it: an evening on the sofa, a long bath, supper with friends round the table. For a hallway, a guest room or anywhere you want scent through the day without a flame, a reed diffuser is the better fit, and we stock those too. The two work well together: a diffuser in the hall by day, a candle lit when you settle in for the evening.