Unscented soy candles: all the candlelight, none of the perfume
Lots of people love candlelight but can’t stand scented candles. Ten minutes after the candle is lit, the room is full of vanilla or “fresh linen” and a dull headache starts behind the eyes. If that sounds familiar, you are far from alone.
Why scented candles bother so many people
Neurologists say that between a quarter and three quarters of people with migraine are sensitive to smells, and in one study almost half of them named odour as a trigger. Sweet and floral scents are mentioned most often. Even people without migraine often find a strong perfume in a closed room tiring, especially in winter, when windows stay shut.
A candle’s scent comes from fragrance oils mixed into the wax. They are what makes a candle smell before it is lit and fill the room once it burns. Take them away, and what is left is simply wax, a wick and a flame.
What “unscented” means for our candles
At Vilma Candles we add no fragrance oils and no essential oils to any candle. Vilma candles are poured from 100% soy wax and shaped by hand in Riga. What you notice in the room is the shape and the warm light, not a perfume.
Soy wax itself has only a very faint, natural smell, which most people don’t notice at all once the candle is burning.
Who finds unscented candles useful
- People who get headaches from strong smells.
- Small flats and bedrooms, where a scent quickly becomes too much.
- Dinner tables. A scented candle competes with the food and the wine; an unscented one doesn’t.
- Gifts, when you don’t know the person’s taste in scents. A smell is very personal; a beautiful shape is a much safer choice.
Good habits for any candle
Unscented doesn’t mean you can forget about the flame. Air the room now and then, keep the candle away from draughts (a flickering flame makes more soot), trim the wick if the flame grows tall, and never leave a burning candle unattended.
Sources: Yahoo Health; IQAir.