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What Makes the Finest Candle

There are basically two types of candles: pillar and container.

A pillar candle is one that stands alone without the support of a jar, dish and any other type of container or structure. The wax in the candle is usually harder since it does not have any type of support structure.
A container candle is just that: the wax is held in some sort of container, usually transparent or translucent to some degree or another. The wax is usually softer as it uses the container to provide rigidity and support.

From here, the basic components are similar. Since Once Upon A Time Candles only makes container candles, our presentation, for the sake of brevity will be limited to only such candles.

The five basic components of a container candle are: Wax, Wick, Color, Fragrance, Container

Wax

In the early 1990’s soy wax was developed. As the name indicates, it is derived and processed from soy beans. While a somewhat popular replacement to regular wax, soy wax lacks some of paraffin’s better traits such as scent throw, excellent color retention, and, in some varieties of soy wax, burn life.

There are also hybrid and combination waxes such as gel, parasoy (a blend of paraffin and soy waxes), beeswax, palm wax and others. Once again, these various types lack, to one degree or another, the best attributes of the long standing, traditional candle wax.

These waxes come from many domestic and foreign suppliers and in many degrees of purity. Safety from pesticides is often in doubt.

At Once Upon A Time Candles, we pour mainly that century old paraffin wax because:

It offers superior fragrance retention
Excellent scent throw, which is the filling of a room or surrounding area with fragrance.
More bold and vibrant colors.
When burned properly, excellent burn life with little or no sooting.

We use only virgin wax supplied by IGI, a large and highly reputable wax manufacturer with operations in both the United States and Canada.

Wick

In today’s modern candle, a wick is much more than simply a piece of string. Modern wicks include:

Fabric wrapped around a piece of wire, often zinc wire.
Braided or woven cotton or paper.
Multicomponent wicks such as those with a paper impregnated core surrounded by a fabric outer sleeve.

Most of these wicks are available in a wide variety of thicknesses to be matched with the various diameters of the container in which they are used. Many wicks are primed with a vegetable type of wax.

At Once Upon A Time Candles we never use a metal core wick. We only use wicks with paper and/or cotton construction. Additionally:

All of our wicks incorporate metal tab stand-off bases which are adhered to the candle container bottom.
Our wicks are constructed so that the hottest part of the flame is at the tip.
The wick is designed to curl slightly at the tip where it is the hottest to greatly reduce “mushrooming” at the end of the wick.

Soot formation during candle burning is most often caused by improperly matching the size of the wick to the diameter of the candle. Improper burning techniques can also cause the development of soot. Drafts and air currents are also factors here.

Color

There are high and low quality colorants. A poor quality color will often :

Lack “brilliance” in presentation,
Fade rapidly in the presence of light, most often UV rays or fluorescent light.

At Once Upon A Time Candles, we only use:

The finest candle dyes, in select amounts depending upon the amount of wax to be poured.
Additionally, we use an UV absorber additive that extends the life of the candle color.
Other trace additives that extend the burn life, enhance the color and increase the scent throw are also used.

Fragrance

Fragrance oils also come in all degrees of strength, purity, and ability to last over time. They can be of domestic and foreign origin. Some of the finest fragrance oils are formulated right here in the United States.

The fragrance can be thoroughly blended throughout the entire candle, thus giving an even scent throw for the entire life of the candle.

Many candles, especially of foreign manufacture are “top scented”. Top scenting is the practice of putting a smaller amount of fragrance in most of the candle, and a greater amount at the very top of the candle. This practice gives good scent throw for about the first 30 minutes of burn time. After that there is little or no scent throw. This is often the case in low priced, poor quality candles.

Fragrance can also be incorporated in various amounts.

½ ounce of fragrance oil per pound of wax is called standard scenting.
1 ounce per pound of wax is called double scenting.
1.5 ounces of fragrance oil per pound of wax is called triple scenting.

Care must be taken however when double and triple scenting because some varieties of wax and/or fragrance cannot be used in higher amounts.

At Once Upon A Time Candles, we are widely known for our excellent scent throw. We triple scent our candles whenever possible and the full fragrance amount is always mixed completely throughout the entire candle. It goes without saying that we only use the very highest quality fragrance oils.

Container

The most important part of a candle container is its heat tempering. Most drinking glasses and many glass containers do not go through such a process. At Once Upon A Time Candles all of our candle containers are designed to be used in candle construction. Our Mason jars resist hot and cold shock and can be reused in a variety of applications such as drinking jars, storage containers, terrariums, etc.