Understanding Materials as Creative Partners

The wax, the fragrance, and the wick all have their own personalities, so to speak, and if you don’t account for them, you will never create a quality candle. Wax takes time to melt and set. If you try to speed up the process, you could ruin your candle. Wax is also finicky about how you pour it, the temperature of the space it’s cooling in, and the colorants used in it. If you don’t learn what works well and what doesn’t, you will never master the craft.

Wax is not the only ingredient that is unforgiving, though. Wax and fragrance can have quite the tumultuous relationship. Some fragrances will seize up when added to the wax, while others will not distribute properly. Some will burn very hot and destroy the throw of the candle. If you don’t take the time to understand how each fragrance reacts in the wax, you will waste a lot of time and materials.

Finally, there’s the wick. It’s not nearly as volatile as the wax and the fragrance, but it does have its own set of rules to follow. Using a wick that is too small or too large for your candle will cause it to burn improperly, as will the wick being in the wrong position. The size of the wick, the material of the wick, and the position of the wick all play a part in the final product.

I used to think that the ingredients were secondary to the design, but now I realize they play a vital role. If I want to create a beautiful, functional, handmade candle, I need to respect the ingredients. And I can only learn to do that through experience. I can read about other people’s experiences until the cows come home, but it won’t teach me nearly as much as I will learn from doing it myself. There is no substitute for experience, and that is the lesson I take away from this exercise.