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For a stylish atmosphere, a pleasant smell and a good first impression, a scented candle is just the right thing. For every season, time of day and occasion, you can find a suitable scented candle with an appropriate look and smell.
This topic page provides you with a comparison of different scented candles, gives you an overview of the most important purchase criteria and answers the most important questions about the health and effect of scented candles.
Summary
- Among other things, scented candles can have a calming, refreshing and warming effect. The effect of the scented candle depends on the scent.
- The ingredients have a significant influence on how resource-friendly and sustainable the scented candle is.
- Some ingredients of scented candles can be unhealthy for humans and animals. Scented candles are generally harmful to the health of babies and small children!
The Best Scented Candle: Our Choices
Buying and rating criteria for scented candles
The following criteria should help you choose the right scented candle. The most important criteria are:
We will describe each of the individual criteria in more detail below to help you make your decision.
Scent
The fragrance itself is the main function of the scented candle. Which scent is the right one for you depends on your individual preference. There is an extraordinarily large selection for every time and every taste. You can choose between rosy flower scents, fruity scents like apple, woody scents with tobacco notes or sweet chocolate scents and countless others.
Ingredients
The flavourings, fragrances and colourings used to make the candle should ideally come from natural materials. Natural materials are much healthier because when they are burnt, they do not deteriorate the air in the room. The scent also usually smells less artificial and fresher this way.
In addition, you can make sure that the ingredients are nature-friendly. In other words, they are not made from limited resources such as petroleum.
You can use more sustainable ingredients such as beeswax and natural fats like stearin or vegan alternatives made from soy or rapeseed. For health reasons, you should avoid ingredients made from heavy metals, bromine, iodine, fluorine or chlorine in your scented candle.
Dimensions and weight
Scented candles come in different sizes and weights. The size of the scented candle depends on where you want to place it. The weight roughly indicates how many hours the candle can burn in total.
The dimensions and the weight do not directly have anything to do with how intense the scented candle smells. It has more to do with how fast the candle burns and how much fragrance is released.
Burning time
Whether the scented candle burns for a total of 20, 30 or 90 hours depends on the ingredients, the weight and the wick.
Scented candles made of paraffin wax, stearin and especially beeswax burn for a particularly long time. The more weight or mass the scented candle has, the longer it will burn. For a long burning time, the wick should be strong, have a large circumference and be made of high-quality cotton.
Most of the time, the burning time or other important data is given by the manufacturer, so you can easily compare the burning time of different scented candles.
Number of wicks
Most scented candles have one wick. However, there are also many scented candles with several wicks.
More wicks go hand in hand with higher consumption. Because more flames are burning, the wax in the candle also disappears more quickly. However, the smell is also more intense and the flames glow brighter together.
Container
Most scented candles come in a jar, tin or marble container. There are three main things to look for in a jar – material, appearance and lid.
Material and appearance go hand in hand in a way. For both, you should look at what you like aesthetically and what suits the room in which it is to be placed.
A lid is not always included. However, it is useful as a coaster to prevent wax from getting on the base and to protect the scented candle when it is not burning.
The container has no influence on the scent and the burning time.
Guide: Frequently asked questions about scented candles answered in detail
In this section, we answer the most important questions about scented candles. We explain what you should look out for to protect the health of yourself and others, what effects scented candles can have, how expensive scented candles are and whether you can use scented candles against insects.
Are scented candles unhealthy?
For allergy sufferers and asthmatics, some substances produced during burning can be unhealthy. Allergic reactions on the skin and the respiratory tract, rhinitis and bronchial problems can occur. With scented candles made of beeswax or essential oils, allergy sufferers and asthmatics can often avoid these problems.
Scented candles are dangerous for babies and small children!
They can cause severe skin reactions and irritation of the mucous membranes. Therefore, scented candles should never be used in a household with children. In addition, fire in the vicinity of children is of course generally not a good idea.
If you don’t want to buy scented candles and other smelly products for health reasons, there are other options. Hot beverages such as tea or coffee are an alternative to scented candles that provide a similar feeling of well-being. Information on green coffee or coffee beans
Are scented candles unhealthy for pets?
However, dogs do not like many smells, but this often depends on the individual dog. For cats, on the other hand, scents such as eucalyptus, peppermint, citrus scents, cinnamon scents and conifer oils can be unhealthy.
It is also true that most substances released during burning that are unhealthy for humans are also unhealthy for animals. In addition, depending on the animal’s upbringing, there is also generally a risk that your pet will be the scented candle, which is always harmful.
Which scents have which effects?
| Scent direction | effect |
|---|---|
| Natural scents (e.g. mint, herbs, eucalyptus, woody scents) |
refreshing promote concentration strengthen attention help against tiredness |
| Plant scents (e.g. lavender, rose, jasmine) |
relax increase well-being Stress relieving |
| Sweet scents (e.g. vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon) |
calming warming harmonising |
| Heavy scents (e.g. tobacco, leather, cedar) |
warming create a certain atmosphere |
These effects for the respective scents apply not only to scented candles, of course, but also to soaps, shampoos, deodorants, perfumes and other products. Mate tea or matcha powder can also help against fatigue or increase concentration.
How much does a scented candle cost?
| Price range | Available products |
|---|---|
| Low-priced (3,50 – 7€) | Classic scented candles, for which all scents are already available |
| Medium-priced (7 – 16€) | Scented candles with intensive scents, high-quality containers, longer burning time and better ingredients |
| High-priced (from 16€) | Luxurious appearance and extras such as several wicks or several scents, in addition, all criteria are extensively fulfilled |
Besides the weight of the candle, the container plays a major role for the price. The type of fragrance, on the other hand, is not decisive for the price.
If you don’t have a lighter to light the scented candle, you should buy one, as they are usually not included in the delivery.
Can scented candles be used against wasps and mosquitoes?
Scents such as coffee, lemon, basil or mint are particularly suitable for driving away insects. Insects also generally dislike the smoke of scented candles.
Of course, these effects of scents are not limited to scented candles.
Conclusion
For a pleasant atmosphere and a good scent with the right effect, a scented candle is ideal. When buying a scented candle, you should make sure that it does not contain any unhealthy ingredients. The size, the wick and the material are decisive for the burning time. There is a wide range of fragrances and containers for scented candles that you can choose from according to your taste.
You can already get all scents for a low price segment. For a little more money, there are scented candles with high-quality ingredients and a long burning time. In the high-priced segment, you will find particularly stylish scented candles with extras such as multiple wicks or different smelling wax layers.
(Cover photo: thevibrantmachine/ Pexels)
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