Making Deliciously Scented Candles

By adding scented candles to any room you can set the mood for people in the room.  Scented candles can stimulate, relax, and help to bring back memories of good times.  A very subtle scented candle is more attractive to many people. They can bring about a change in mood without bringing awareness to the reason for the change. 

Using Scents in Your Home Made Candles

It is important that when adding scents to your candles that you add those scents specifically made for candles or pure essential oils.  Other types of scents have additives that can affect how your candle burns or how the scent smells once heated with paraffin. 

It is recommended that when you first start making scented candles that you use only one scent.  By doing so you are able to experiment with the amount of oil that you will need to use to obtain the scent that you desire. 

The usual ratio of wax to scent is one pound of wax to ½ -1 oz. of essential oil or candle scent.  If you want a stronger scented candle you will need to find a special wax that doesn’t sweat the oil. 

Scents are added after the wax has been melted but before pouring the wax into your mold, container, or free form candle.  This allows the scent to mix evenly throughout your candle.  Remember to have a small amount of the scented wax to use for topping off your candle. Paraffin candles do tend to shrink some in the middle after hardening.

Experimenting to Find Your own Personal Scent

Don’t be afraid to experiment with creating scents.  When creating your own scents you will need a medicine dropper, small glass dish, toothpicks, cotton swabs, small brown bottle or bottles, different essential oils and some ground coffee. 

Remember these are for candles so you don’t want to mix these oils with bases. Note that good essential oils can be a little expensive but they go a long way.  There are many places to buy essential oils such as your local craft store. 

Once you have everything assembled, place paper under your working area; old newspapers work well for these projects. In the small glass dish place two drops of the main essential oil that you want to use.  Put a small drop of another essential oil that you have chosen to blend with the first oil into the glass dish. Mix both oils in the dish with a toothpick.  Walk away from the oils and smell the coffee to clear the mingling fragrances from nose.  Once you return to the dish, smell the oils from a distance, rather than placing your nose too close, to get a better idea of how the fragrance you have created smells. You can mix any combination of oils using this technique to determine your likes and dislikes. 

Once you have achieved the fragrance you love, mix the oils in the same manner or ratio that you used when creating it. For example if you used 2 drops of bergamot and 1 drop of rose, you may mix 2 oz of bergamot with 1 oz of rose to create enough scent for your candle. 

Remember that you only use ½ – 1 oz of oil to a pound of wax. Use caution and never use more than this amount unless you are using a special wax that allows more oil to be added.  This is because essential oils are flammable.

Once you have created your fragrance, store the oil in a small glass brown bottle in a cool area to protect the oils from the light and extreme temperatures.  Let the oil infuse for approximately three days prior to use.  Test the oil on a cotton swab to see how much, if any, the fragrance has changed since storing it.  Some change usually occurs.

Well you have done it! You have created a special fragrance that is of your own design to be used in your candles.  There will be no stopping you now.  Remember, as with any project, safety first! 

About the Author

PJ Hall is a professional writer who provides tips and information on scented candles for Candles 4U – your guide to candles online.

Coffee Essential Oil – 100% Pure 1 Oz $20.00 Botanical Name: Coffea arabica L Plant Part: Seeds Extraction Method: Cold Pressed Origin: Brazil Description: Coffea Arabica is the earliest cultivated species of the coffee tree and still the most widely grown. The trees produce approximately 70% of the world’s coffee, and are dramatically superior in cup quality to the other principal commercial coffee species, Coffea canephora or Robusta. All …

Vanilla Sugarcane White Barn New York Wallflowers Fragrance Bulbs 2 pk – 0.8 oz each for The Tahitian Coffee & Tea Candle Co. $12.50 Vanilla Sugarcane White Barn New York Wallflowers Fragrance Bulbs 2 pk – 0.8 oz each for The Tahitian Coffee & Tea Candle Co. The exotically delicious scent of vanilla and brown sugar, infused with hints of caramel and coconut. Fills and entire room with fragrance. Lasts 6 to 8 weeks. For use only with Wallflowers Frangrance Diffuser….

Black Coffee fragrance oil …

Aroma: The Magic of Essential Oils in Foods and Fragrance $13.97 A New Way of Thinking About Food and Fragrance Turn a brilliant natural perfumer loose in a chef’s kitchen and you get vanilla perfume, saffron, ginger, and blood orange bath salts, and a cucumber mist. Turn a brilliant chef loose in a perfumer’s pantry and you get rose-infused steamed bass, peach-jasmine sorbet, and scores of other startlingly original recipes using floral and herbal aromas. A…

1st Cup of Coffee Soy Candle – 18oz Apothecary Jar $21.7 First Cup of Coffee Soy Candle – 18oz Apothecary Jar. Smells just like that first cup of coffee in the morning with the aroma of rich coffee beans brewing. Now you can enjoy it all day long. Each candle is made in the USA 100% natural soy wax Cotton lead-free wicks with a natural wax coating High quality fragrance oils, natural soy color (white) no dyes added assuring you receive a cleaner burning, longer lasting, richly scented soy candle. Our candles are non-toxic, eco-friendly and water soluble. Since the candles are made with natural ingredients, the containers can be safely repurposed after cleaning with soap and hot water. Going Green Soy Candles are a Green, healthy choice for sharing and enjoying your favorite aromas. Going Green Soy Candles, a Green alternative to other types of candles. This container is 4 3/4 high and 4 in diameter.

1st Cup of Coffee Soy Candle – 24oz Spa Container $26.42 First Cup of Coffee Soy Candle – 24oz Spa Container. Smells just like that first cup of coffee in the morning with the aroma of rich coffee beans brewing. Now you can enjoy it all day long. Each candle is made in the USA 100% natural soy wax Cotton lead-free wicks with a natural wax coating High quality fragrance oils, natural soy color (white) no dyes added assuring you receive a cleaner burning, longer lasting, richly scented soy candle. Our candles are non-toxic, eco-friendly and water soluble. Since the candles are made with natural ingredients, the containers can be safely repurposed after cleaning with soap and hot water. Going Green Soy Candles are a Green, healthy choice for sharing and enjoying your favorite aromas. Going Green Soy Candles, a Green alternative to other types of candles. This container is 6 1/4 high and 3 3/4 in diameter.

1st Cup of Coffee Soy Candle – 26oz Apothecary Jar $28.31 First Cup of Coffee Soy Candle – 26oz Apothecary Jar. Smells just like that first cup of coffee in the morning with the aroma of rich coffee beans brewing. Now you can enjoy it all day long. Each candle is made in the USA 100% natural soy wax Cotton lead-free wicks with a natural wax coating High quality fragrance oils, natural soy color (white) no dyes added assuring you receive a cleaner burning, longer lasting, richly scented soy candle. Our candles are non-toxic, eco-friendly and water soluble. Since the candles are made with natural ingredients, the containers can be safely repurposed after cleaning with soap and hot water. First Cup of Coffee Soy Candle – 1 – 26 ounce Apothecary Jar Soy Candle per case Going Green Soy Candles are a Green, healthy choice for sharing and enjoying your favorite aromas. Going Green Soy Candles, a Green alternative to other types of candles. This container is 6 high and 4 in diameter.

1st Cup of Coffee Soy Candle -16 Ounce Tin $16.98 First Cup of Coffee Soy Candle – in an 16 Ounce Tin. Smells just like that first cup of coffee in the morning with the aroma of rich coffee beans brewing. Now you can enjoy it all day long. Each candle is made in the USA 100% natural soy wax Cotton lead-free wicks with a natural wax coating High quality fragrance oils, natural soy color (white) no dyes added assuring you receive a cleaner burning, longer lasting, richly scented soy candle. Our candles are non-toxic, eco-friendly and water soluble. Since the candles are made with natural ingredients, the containers can be safely repurposed after cleaning with soap and hot water. First Cup of Coffee Soy Candle – 1 – 16 ounce tin per case Going Green Soy Candles are a Green, healthy choice for sharing and enjoying your favorite aromas. Going Green Soy Candles, a Green alternative to other types of candles. This container is 2 1/2 high and 3 3/4 in diameter.

Enlightened Cakes $22.95 If you have had a lifelong love affair with cake, ENLIGHTENED CAKES is for you. It contains a cake for every occasion. For a fuss-free cake for afternoon coffee with friends, Cardamom-Scented Citrus Loaf or One-Bowl Chocolate Buttermilk Cake will do the trick (and can be mixed, assembled, and in the oven in less than ten minutes). These cakes are not hard to make. The recipes are straightforward, the ingredients commonly available, and the techniques geared toward the home baker. All have been field tested, which mean all of them work. And all follow well-recognized enlightened guidelines for healthy eating, including no more than 10 grams of fat per serving, utilization of healthy fats and oils, and incorporation of whole grains when possible. A nutritional analysis is included with every recipe, listing a breakdown of calories, protein, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sodium, and cholesterol per serving.