Behind the scenes
Candle development takes time, in order to ensure the safety of the end product. There are a number of steps we take to ensure your candle reaches you in optimum condition and performs its best.
Our candles go on quite a journey before they reach you, so here's a little insight into what goes in to their creation.
When creating candles, we choose wick sustainers that have a depth of 6.7mm, before the wick pad is added - these are the metal discs that hold your wick in place. This ensures that the candle does not burn below this point and prevents the base from becoming too hot – there will be a thin residue at the base, but this is deliberate, and we add more than the declared fill to allow for this. We also only purchase glass which has been developed for candle use and rigorously tested to withstand the heat - when used as instructed.
There are several processes that go into creating a candle. Firstly, we develop the fragrance, using pure essential oils. We then choose a wax that is compatible with the fragrance – there are many wax combinations on the market, both natural and synthetic. We use a natural blend of soy and rapeseed, as this burns nice and evenly all the way. Then we look at our wick options, working on the circumference of the glass container we have chosen, the type of fragrance we are using, and the type of wax. We use a combination of wicks across the collection, depending on the viscosity of the fragrance – because we work with natural ingredients, the texture and thickness of each oil can vary hugely, so we choose a wick that can carry each fragrance up the wick and project it into the room effectively. Most of our wicks are coreless, flat braided with a paper filament, and some have cotton, metalised threads, which act as a catalyst, for our more complex blends.
Once we have established the core elements, we then progress to testing with our ‘best-guessed’ wick and evaluate performance. We always test several of the same wick at the same time during testing, to establish the best average and to provide the best estimate for burn times and performance. If the wick performance doesn’t meet our expectations, we start again – this can be choosing a wick size up or down, or a completely different wick family. This phase of development can take the longest and we usually allow up to six months to get it right.
Once all these steps are complete, we then release them for sale.
We always provide candle safety and care instructions on our cartons and base label, and it is important that these are read, to ensure you get the best from your candle.
We've also included our Candle Care Instructions under each Candle on our website.
