You might be curious about whether you can use your favorite perfume or cologne in candle making. While it would be great to have your home filled with the same unique scent of your favorite perfume, you might not want to delve right into the craft.
Using perfume to make candles is a bad idea. Apart from being a fire hazard, perfume releases toxic gas such as formaldehyde, which causes cancers of the nose and throat. However, you can use fragrance oils to make scented candles; they’re not only safe but cheaper.
Using perfumes in candles has many effects on the human body, including but not limited to sore throats, nosebleeds, itchy eyes, and coughs. Read on to understand the dangers of using perfumes in candle making, how to use fragrance oils as an alternative, and the best scent you can select for your candles.
Dangers of Using Perfume in Candle Making
Different events have different moods. Whether it is a dinner date, wedding night, or birthday parties, scented candles are a great way to create the ambiance. However, making scented candles using perfumes isn’t the safest option at the moment. The following are the risks that you will encounter:
- Fire Hazard
Imagine lighting a candle for your evening date. The wick burns for a few minutes, but you notice that the flame keeps getting bigger. That would be alarming.
One of the key ingredients when making perfumes and colognes is alcohol. We all know from science that alcohol is highly flammable.
- Health Risks
Burning perfume is a dangerous idea. Studies have shown that sprayed perfume change composition when it comes into contact with open air.
Burning perfume produces a mixture of dangerous gases such as formaldehyde, a substance directly linked to the airways’ cancer. Perfumes manufacturers use some toxic chemicals such as parabens that produce adverse effects in the human body.
- Lack of Stability
It is advisable to use oil-based raw materials such as beeswax or soy wax when making candles. Perfume is alcohol-based, which makes it not practical for candle making.
Fragrance oils mix well with molten wax if used in the right proportions and do not interfere with how candle wax sets. Perfumes result in fragile, chunky, and discolored candles.
- Short-lasting Scents
Even if you are lucky to come up with a candle that contains real perfume, the results would not be so impressive. The candles will produce a faint scent that lasts for a short period before disappearing. The fragrances will get burned off pretty quickly because of the alcohol base.
Scented oils in fragrance candles will burn at a much slower pace than perfumes, giving the aroma the staying power.
Using Fragrance Oils in Candle Making
Did you know that the scent emitted by the perfumed candles from the store comes from fragrance oils? Fragrance oils are chemical compounds that are synthetically manufactured in factories to mimic various smells found in nature.
You can mix several combinations to come up with different unique aromas that nature lacks. Fragrance oils contain specific synthetic components that only smell good but do not benefit the human body.
A burning scented candle releases the aroma through evaporation by burning fragrance oil. Correctly made aromatic candles will produce carbon dioxide and water when burned. Most, if not all, scented candle manufacturers use fragrance oils.
There is no doubt that there are over 2000 aroma compounds available for candle making. Essential oils are also, in some instances, blended with fragrance oils to develop pleasant smells that meet consumers’ tastes and are agreeable for candle use.
Most organizations have the safety of their consumers in mind. To find a fragrance product in the stores, they must pass through different quality and health procedures to ensure consumer safety. In turn, reputable candle makers and dealers use high quality and safe fragrance oils approved explicitly for consumer use.
Read our full article on How to Make Scented Candles at Home.
Factors To Consider When Select the Best Fragrance for You Candles
Choosing the best scent for candle-making isn’t an easy decision to make, considering the many types of scents available. For instance, how many times have you picked a candle and placed it close to your nose to sniff the smell? How do you choose the best candle scent for each occasion or purpose?
No need to worry! The following factors will help you choose the best fragrance for your candles.
- Living Space
The first thing to consider when selecting a suitable candle scent is the size of the room you want to light the candles in. It is not advisable to use top concentrated notes in a small space, for example, the powder room, since it will be too much. The same scent in a big living room will smell quite lovely.
Are you wondering whether to buy different candles for each room? Of course, go ahead! Soft floral scents are suitable for use in your bedroom since they are relaxing, but they are entirely out of place in the kitchen. They mix with delicious aromas from the cooking food to create a new smell, not the scent you signed up for.
- Purpose
Scented candles serve different purposes, such as ambiance and neutralizing odor in your living spaces. A zesty, citrus scent will energize your workspace.
You may use woody candle scents such as sandalwood or fresh citrus, such as lemon, to cover up odors for living rooms. Sandalwood scent is fit for the bathroom since it is a stress reliever.
- Fragrance Type
After picking your purpose and space, it is time to decide on the type of scents you want your candle fragrance oil to have. Which is the best type of fragrance oil to use in candles?
Essential oils are extracted from natural plant materials and are quite popular with cosmetics and soap manufacturers. You can use them to make candles for aromatherapy purposes since they have therapeutic properties. However, they have a limited range of fragrances.
Essential oil fragrances do not contain parabens or phthalates; therefore, good for your health.
- Choose Your Definitive Candle Scent Group
Everyone has a category of irresistible aromas that they love. Exotic, Woody, Floral, and Fresh make the four main categories of scents that appeal to human olfactory senses worldwide. The scent group you select will help you choose the perfect fragrance for your candles.
How to Use Home-Made Scented Candles
Scented candles have different purposes, depending on the occasion, such as an aromatherapy session, event ambiance, or even home décor. Here are a few examples.
Nostalgia
Scented candles can evoke memories of long-gone events or persons that made an impression in your life. The brain registers scents and attaches them to specific memories and events. If you re-encounter the same scent, your mind immediately recalls the associated events or the person associated with the scent.
Decor
You probably use candles to decorate your house, depending on various occasions. However, what happens if your budget doesn’t allow you to buy some products, but it has to smell like Christmas? Use fragrances such as the apple cinnamon, candy cane, and Christmas cheer to make your favorite scented candles.
Aromatherapy
Fragrance candles are a suitable replacement for the cost-intensive diffusers for aromatherapy purposes. There is an apparent link between colors and our bodies, and the same case applies to smells. Just as a red color can represent your most memorable Valentine’s day, smell evokes the same response.
You can use scented candles to relax your stressed nerves after a tedious day at work, boost the immune system, or set pace for a night of deep, restful sleep.
Up Your Creativity Game
Making candles at home is very rewarding and fulfilling. Perfumed candle making gives you a chance of bringing out the creative essence that every human possesses.
You get an opportunity to employ different techniques to come up with genuinely unique designs as you try out designs with different colors, scents, and shapes. Quite a break from the monotonous forms and fragrances at the shopping store!
If making candles is your thing and are good at it, you can consider selling your handmade creations.
Don’t Use Perfumes in Candle Making
Since most perfumes are alcohol-based products, it is not advisable to put them in direct contact with flames. Alcohol is highly flammable, which makes perfumes a fire hazard.
Fragrance oils should always be the preferred option when making scented candles because they blend well with melted wax and produce the preferred fragrance for extended periods since essential oils burn slowly compared to alcohol. Make informed decisions as you decide which scent to use on your candle.
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