Candles can be confusing!

There are several different types of wax.

1000's of scents - 100's of colors

A candle for every occasion & a Candle of every price.

Palm, Soy, Bees, Bayberry, Gel, and Paraffin or blends of the waxes.

Palm wax is a superb material for making excellent burning candles. It resists melting in hot summer months,  takes colors easily,and holds fragrance well. Palm wax has great hot and cold scent throws.

Soy wax is great for container candles.You will see offers for soy votive candles, these most often are not 100% soy as soy is a very soft wax and does not hold shape well and easily melts. Soy has a decent scent throw, but not as strong as palm.

Bees wax is very hard and not usually scented.

Bayberry is another natural wax that is hard and not usually scented.

Gel wax can be used for any type of candle. Holds scent and color well.

Paraffin and blends are what you will most often see. These is the least expensive wax. Holds scent and color well.

Not every candle is created equal.

In order to increase profits some candle makers cut corners.

Look at the dollar store candle.

A small votive is about 2 oz of wax, a little color, and a little scent.

To cut the cost of making each candle, they only scent and dye the outside of the candle. This makes the customer think that they are getting a great smelling candle. At least until the first burn when all of the scent and color burns off.

The cheaper the ingredients the more profits the maker earns.

Most small business candle makers use quality products and take pride in their creations. You will find candles that look and smell great from top to bottom.

Scents:

There are many companies that make candle scents. One companies apple may smell like a fresh off the tree apple while another may small like sour green apple. Best bet with scents is to buy sample sizes ( some companies will give out free samples or low cost samples.)

This lets you try a scent before you invest in that companies products.

You will also find that each and every scent from a company may not smell the same each time.

Be aware of flash points, melting points and what scent and color may cause you candle to do!

Melt point is temp that wax melts at. Flash point is temp that wax reaches to catch on fire.

 Wax that is smoking or boiling is way too hot and may catch on fire.

Have you heard false claims of NO SOOT CANDLES?

Fact is nothing you light is soot free!

The critical temperature for wax is 896°F-1130°F. Candle wax does not become a gas under normal use; it becomes a vapor. Hydrocarbons, the chemical components of wax, in their solid and liquid states do not burn, it is the vapors that burn. When you light the wick on the candle you initially burn the cotton (at a temperature of 460°F). The heat of the burning cotton causes the wax to melt, the liquid wax is drawn up the wick and the heat from the flame produces vapor (this vapor is in equilibrium with the liquid wax, like water in the air). The vapor ignites at about the same temperature as the flame, thus feeding the fire. This is why the wick is not consumed any further than the initial lighting, the fire is burning the wax vapor instead. Not all of the wax vapor is burned, the flame is generally small, so some vapor and wax aerosol (a suspension of liquid or solid particles in air) escapes unscathed. You can sometimes see this wax aerosol as it is carried away from the candle by thermal convection (it is most pronounced when you blow out the candle and see a faint white wisp floating in the air). You can also smell the vapor: the smell associated with burning unscented candles is often the smell of vapor from paraffin wax. That vapor is carried by the thermal convection generated by the candle and floats in the air in a metastable state; a change in temperature or pressure could either make it a gas or condense it to a liquid. Raising the temperature of the vapor would make it a gas, but the ignition temperature of wax is low enough that in air, a high concentration of vapors would ignite before turning into gas. As wax vapor is burned it turns into soot (amorphous carbon particles) that is also carried away by thermal convection (smoke) and sometimes left as a black residue after combustion. At room temperature and pressure the unburned vapor from the wax cools and condenses