Wood You?

A customer called today to say she was concerned about burning the DayNa Decker candle she received as a gift because the flame was described as dancing and flickering and that made her worry that the flame would “jump across the room”. When I first heard about how the woodwick “crackles” as it burns, it made me think of how a fireplace sparks and sends burning embers shooting through the air. That made me nervous that it would light the rug on fire, so I have to agree, I was a little reluctant as well at first.

Since we’ve had the pleasure of trying these candles, they quickly became one of our favorites. They have a clean, crisp fragrance and provide instant impact in the room in their “multisensory” way through sight, sound and smell. I video taped one of the Botanika candles burning so you can see the beautiful wide flame and hear the sound effect of the wood wick. Don’t fear – they are fantastic and well worth the indulgence. The small size chandel makes a fantastic and unique hostess gift. Our favorite fragrance is Zelia with lotus, cypress, incense, oakmoss and cedarwood (I love woody scents, particularly in the winter). Leila is our best seller with grapefruit, bergamot, dewberry, lemon flower and amber musk. Manzanita and Bardou are their two new fragrances. Be sure to try one yourself and let us know what you think!

Lights Out

Use a wick dipper to extinguish a candle without any smoke or soot so you don't lose the beautiful fragrance you worked so hard to achieve. Using the end of the wickdipper, push the burning wick into the pool of melted wax to drown out the flame. Then use the curved end of the dipper to pull the wick back up out of the melted wax and bring it upright so that when the candle re-solidifies, the wick is straight up and coated with wax, priming it for easy re-lighting. This extends the life and the quality of the wick.

Wick dippers can also be used to recenter a wick. If you notice that the wick is getting close to the side of the jar, extinguish the candle and use the wick dipper to push the wick back to the center of the glass. When the wax re-solidifies, the wick will start in the center. Warning: A wick burning too close to the side of the glass can cause the glass jar to crack! Be sure to extinguish the candle and move the wick to the center of the jar before that happens.


Check out our video on how to use a wick dipper:

(Bear with us! This is our first video:)

'Tis the Season

All day long frazzled shoppers enter our store not knowing where to begin to find the right gift. With so many scents and candle lines to choose from, the selection process can be overwhelming. Given a price range and a one sentence description of the gift recipient or a preferred fragrance, we can generally find a gift in less than 5 minutes in the shop. (You're welcome to send us an email and we can help you find a gift on our website!) Since many of you will, unfortunately, not be able to make it to our candle shop in Annapolis, Maryland, we created a list of our top 5 gifts for under $50. Click here for complete details.

If you're fortunate enough to be able to splurge on something over $50, my favorite picks would be either the Le Cherche Midi CT01 Balsam Candle or the classic Rigaud Cypres Demi candle. Both are absolutely stunning and well worth the indulgence.

At the end of the day, be sure to take some time to slow down and enjoy the fragrance of your favorite holiday candle.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Candles Off Main!

In the Spotlight

Check out Traci Arntsen from Voluspa on Good Day LA as she shows how fantastic the new Seasons Collection can compliment your holiday home.

Mood Swings

It's been a rough day. One of those days when you can't wait for it to end. As soon as I return home, I gravitate towards my Lighten Up candle by Aromatherapy Interventions. It assures me that somebody, somewhere is has it far crappier than me. According to their fragrance blend, essences of winter mint and crisp woodland pine counteract obsessing on the unimportant. This is all from their box, but I need to see for myself, so I give it a whirl. It burns beautifully, and the sheer color and ambient flame are enough to improve my day. For me, aromatherapy is more about what fragrances mean to each of us individually. I like amber and vanilla scents when I need comforting and relaxing. Woody fragrances are grounding to me if I need to de-stress and settle. When I need something energizing and invigorating I turn to citrus scents. Right now I'm trying to concoct a spa-like fragrance using my eucalyptus and lavender fragrances by Lampe Berger. There's nothing like the scent at a spa to instantly sooth. What does aromatherapy mean to you? Do scents change your mood? My day is already smelling better.