Discover the basics of making handcrafted DIY scented candles so you can easily create your own candles at home. Designed especially for beginners, this article covers the essentials you need to understand the creative process and how candle making works. To dig deeper into each topic, you’ll find more detail in the dedicated articles in our candle guide.
Quality equipment is essential for working in the best possible conditions and making sure your creations are a success.
To go even further, explore our other complete recipe guides for beginners, packed with practical advice, innovative recipes and tips for choosing the best raw materials.
Before you start, we recommend taking a look at our comprehensive glossary to get familiar with the technical terms used in candle making.
Understanding and making a homemade scented candle
If you want to make scented candles, it’s important to understand how they work. Most of the time, scented candles are made in containers: glasses, jars and so on.
The wax used to create scented container candles is different from the wax used for moulded candles.
The whole point of scented candles is to diffuse a fragrance, which creates a unique scent experience.
The fragrance is released when the wax around the wick is hot and liquid. That’s why it’s important to choose a wax suited to the type of candle, ideally a soft, oily wax so that it melts at a low temperature.
We’ll mainly be talking about poured/container candles, but we’ll sometimes mention moulded candles too, so you can understand the subtle differences between these two types of candle.
Choosing the right wax for your candle
First of all, it’s important to use a wax that adheres well to glass. The oilier it is, the better it will stick to the container. Choosing it carefully is therefore crucial to the success of your creation. Waxes can be adapted to almost any situation, but some are far better suited to certain uses than others.
Each of our wax product pages gives you details on how to use it, recommended temperatures and more. Now let’s look at the different wax families.
Vegetable waxes (soy, rapeseed, olive…)
Vegetable waxes for scented candles work well with our fragrances, although they sometimes need to be blended with additives such as stearin to achieve the best possible burn and scent diffusion. Some waxes, however, are ready to use and can greatly boost your production capacity.
For making poured/container candles, we recommend the following waxes:
- Cargill C3 soy wax (add 5% stearin for the best results). This wax is very versatile and lets you make almost any type of creation, but it is trickier to work with.
- Kerax 4130 soy wax, which is perfect for beginners. This wax is easy to use.
- Rapeseed, coconut or olive wax for container candles, which are less widespread but give beautiful results.
For your moulded candle creations, choose from the following waxes:
- Kerax soy wax for moulded candles: 4120. It’s the easiest to use.
- Rapeseed wax for moulded candles: RAPS. It’s very widely used, but harder to work with.
- You can also opt for olive and coconut waxes for moulded candles. These waxes give an incredibly glossy, flawless finish. They’re becoming more and more popular!
Rapeseed wax, for example, has a lower melting point than soy wax, which changes the way you’ll use it.
The advantages of vegetable waxes
They are plant-based products, which makes them much more environmentally friendly. Their burn time is significantly longer than that of paraffin wax.
The drawbacks of eco-friendly waxes
In some cases, you’ll need to make a blend (soy wax or rapeseed wax + 5% beeswax + 5% stearin) to get the best finish and burn.
Mineral waxes (paraffin)
Paraffin wax is a far less fashionable choice today because of its composition. However, it pairs perfectly with fragrances and dyes. What’s more, it burns both evenly and smoothly, ensuring better, more continuous diffusion of your favourite fragrance. It’s a very versatile option and one of the best waxes you can use.
Advantages of mineral waxes
Paraffin wax takes both colour and fragrance well. It’s the wax that offers the best scent throw. And because it’s so easy to use, it’s the one to go for if you’re a beginner.
Drawbacks of paraffin waxes
Its burn time is shorter than that of vegetable waxes. And despite the high quality of our paraffin, it is still a petroleum-derived wax.
Animal waxes (beeswax)
Beeswax is well known for unscented moulded candles, as an additive in soaps, and for container candles too. It’s an essential additive in scented container candles, as it noticeably improves both the scent throw and the look of the wax. Beeswax is the only wax that can truly be described as natural.
The advantages of animal waxes
It’s a 100% natural wax made by bees, and it’s simple to work with. It also improves the diffusion of some lighter fragrances.
The drawbacks of beeswax
Bees are becoming scarce, and beeswax guaranteed 100% of animal origin is increasingly hard to come by! Hence a high price per kg.
What should you use to scent a candle?
You can use specially formulated fragrances. Our fragrances from Grasse will give your creation exactly the scent you want. We offer a wide range of over 500 fragrances from Grasse, the capital of French perfumery, with themes ranging from woody to fruity and gourmand, to name but a few.
Choosing your fragrance
Candle scents and fragrance oils
Our fragrance oils are developed in Grasse, in Provence, France. They are specially formulated to diffuse their scent in candles. Over 500 fragrances across a wide range of themes are available, including more than 200 that are CMR-free!
Essential oils for your candles
Be careful with essential oils: they may well be natural, but they are not ideal for scenting your candle, and can even be dangerous.
How much fragrance should go into a scented candle?
Depending on how concentrated the fragrance is, you’ll need to dose it at between 5 and 10% per kg of wax.
For example: a Jasmine candle fragrance will be much stronger than a Rice powder fragrance. It all depends on the intensity you’re after, your own sensitivity and the fragrance itself.
We also offer a unique special range dosed at just 1%! Every scent in this revolutionary range requires no UFI declaration at 1% and benefits from simplified labelling.
Our guide will help you see things more clearly, and we also offer a very handy tool: a wax and fragrance calculator.
The trickiest part: the right wick
Choosing your candle wick is crucial when making a scented candle. An oversized wick produces a flame that’s far too big, which will cause smoke…
Conversely, if the wick is undersized, your candle will burn poorly, with a small flame that isn’t strong enough to melt the wax and release the fragrance. Wick selection remains complex and depends on the type of creation, the type of wax, the diameter of the container and more.
Don’t panic! We’ve written a complete guide to choosing and using the right wick, and to fixing some of the problems you may come across.
Using waxed wicks for your scented candles
We recommend using a range of waxed wicks called “Series”, such as TCR, STABILO, ECO or LX, for your container candles, but avoid using them for moulded candles.
A closer look at the advantages of waxed Series wicks
They are coated with a vegetable or mineral wax, their tab makes them easy to position at the bottom of the glass, and they light quickly. That saves a considerable amount of time on large production runs.
The drawbacks
These wicks are somewhat fragile to handle, which can make them trickier to use, especially for beginners.
The differences in our Series range: TCR, ECO, STABILO and LX
Here are the main features of, and differences between, our waxed Series wicks for your scented creations:
- TCR, ECO and STABILO wicks: These wicks are coated with a blend of vegetable (soy wax) and animal (beeswax) waxes, and made from double-braided cotton. They are particularly well suited to vegetable waxes. A paper core gives these wicks the ideal rigidity for container candles, stopping them from leaning or drowning in the melt pool. TCR wicks can be used in larger-diameter containers. They are braided, while ECO and STABILO wicks are twisted.
- LX wicks: Made from spun cotton, these rigid wicks are specifically optimised for scented and coloured candles, and are particularly well suited to paraffin waxes. They offer an improved burn, making them an excellent choice for candles that demand a consistent burn.
Our wicks are untreated and comply with the European REACH regulation.
Of course, you’re free to use uncoated flat or round wicks instead.
Choosing cherry wood wicks
Distinctive, and with a gentle crackle as they burn, they give a beautiful result in your container candles, although they can (sometimes) tint your wax slightly. This is perfectly normal.
Advantages of wooden wicks
Compared with cotton wicks, cherry wood wicks produce less soot and smoke, which extends the life of your candle and reduces residue. They even add a gentle crackle that enhances the sensory experience.
Built to last, these wicks don’t degrade as quickly as their cotton counterparts. Made from natural, renewable materials, they are a more eco-friendly option.
A few drawbacks all the same
Their advantages come at a price. Cherry wood wicks are generally more expensive than cotton wicks, which can affect the overall cost of your candle.
Although they offer many advantages, these wicks can be a little more temperamental to position and use. You’ll need to be precise to make sure they stay perfectly straight while the wax sets.
Sometimes, a normal reaction can cause your wax to take on a slight tint.
A container or mould to show off your handcrafted scented candle
Glass, ceramic, metal or aluminium tins: the choice is huge! The key is to choose a container that’s ideally medium-sized (we tend to tire of a fragrance fairly quickly) and heat-resistant enough. It will need to be preheated before you pour the wax.
The typical candle on offer weighs 120 to 180 grams, with a burn time of 25 to 40 hours. An original design or packaging will catch the eye of your customers or loved ones.
For a moulded candle, choose a mould suited to your wax and pour your blend into it.
Remember to add an AFNOR safety label to inform your customers (mandatory for professionals). You must also comply with current European labelling rules if you want to sell your creations (CLP, UFI, etc.).
Let your candles cure for at least 48 hours. We recommend leaving them for about a week before enjoying their scent. This gives your fragrance time to mature and bind with the wax, for better diffusion when your creations melt.
In conclusion
Be patient! Making a scented candle is like cooking: one dish = one recipe. The same rule applies in the world of candle making. The fragrance dosage will vary depending on the fragrance, the type of wax, the wick and the container. Feel free to browse our various guides!
Example: You’ve just made a stunning scented candle in a glass. You decide to reuse the same blend and wick to make a travel candle in an aluminium tin. You light your travel candle, and it behaves nothing like the one in the glass?! That’s simply because glass heats up faster than an aluminium tin… So you’ll need to change your wick and your wax blend.
If you want to start making scented candles, you’ll need to choose the right type of wax and a suitable wick.
You can scent a moulded candle, but it won’t have the same scent throw as a scented container candle. Discover all the secrets of making moulded candles.
We’re here to support you by phone or through our training courses, and we’ll advise you on your creative choices.
