Candle Connection

Musings on one of our best sellers.

Candle gift sets are consistently among the best sellers on wicksworks.com. They are particularly popular during the holiday season, but they are a favorite year round. Like candy and flowers, candle gift sets are something that nearly everyone appreciates getting, and it doesn’t take very much effort to find one that’s just right for the recipient.

But for me, the really cool thing about candle gift sets is that they last a lot longer than candy or flowers. Yep, candy or flowers will survive a week or so at best, but candle gift sets can stick around for many months. I like knowing that the person I give one to will enjoy her gift for a prolonged period.

This probably isn’t a mainstream behavior pattern, though. Instead of focusing on the long-lasting aspect of candle gift sets, I think most people who buy them key on a combination of features. Perhaps the most important of which is that they are already wrapped and ready to give. No muss or fuss. Way cool!

The diverse scents and candle styles to choose from also make it possible for these people to personalize their gifts to some degree. For instance, if they know the candle preferences of the person they are gifting they can be right on target with selections such as an aromatherapy pillar candle gift set or a coffee votive candle gift set. And even when they’re a little fuzzy about the gift recipient’s preferred candle styles and fragrances, they can choose something safe like a bakery combination candle gift set. How far wrong can they go with that? Not very!

I can’t say that it is a big surprise to me that there is so much demand for candle gift sets. They’re fun to give and fun to get, and that is a winning combination. Hey, I even have fun vicariously by making it all possible for so many people. Life is good.

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A glimpse behind the scenes in the candle wars.

Coinciding with the growth of the Internet was a proliferation of candle companies specializing in natural wax candles. One explanation for this is that the Web offered an accessible venue outside conventional distribution channels to reach consumers open to such products. The collective success of those online chandlers’ marketing efforts can be seen in the ever-increasing presence of natural wax candles on the shelves of small and large retailers throughout the country.

For many people the appeal of the candles these companies produce is that they are not made from paraffin, a petroleum byproduct. But a desire to reduce the world’s dependence on oil or to be an eco-friendly consumer is only part of the equation; natural wax candle fans also appreciate not having to breathe in soot and toxins while they enjoy the simple pleasure of burning a candle.

This feature particularly resonates with those who regularly use aromatherapy candles to help them relax or meditate. To them the prospect of breathing a mixture of pure essential oil and petrochemical fumes fails to please. A growing number of homeowners and rental property owners are also becoming aware of the upside of burning natural wax candles as word of the “ghosting” phenomenon, often associated with soot build-up on walls and furniture as a result of frequent paraffin candle usage, spreads.

From the outset natural wax candle makers aggressively touted the features and benefits of their wares while criticizing the shortcomings of paraffin candles. At first established candle manufacturers were either unaware of the slurs against their products or simply ignored them. But as the chorus grew and natural wax candles started to become more popular, a major candle industry association felt compelled to publish on its website a defense of paraffin candles that contained a slam against soy wax candles, which noted, among other things, that chemical solvents are used in their manufacture.

In a classic example of strange bedfellows, a large palm wax candle company now uses the same argument about soy candles to differentiate its products as the most eco-friendly available. Neither competitor has tried to suggest that soy candles aren’t good products per se, they just use this fact to diminish the public persona of soy candles to their advantage.

Whether any of this really matters to consumers is difficult to gauge. How many of the relatively few people exposed to soy candles’ “dirty” little secret will care since it doesn’t affect them directly? After all, soy candles do in fact burn virtually soot and toxin free, which is why they buy them.

Conclusion: It’s tough shopping green when there are so many shades of gray.

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Beware, we are tempting foodies with chocolate, coffee and bakery scented candles.

In the early days of wicksworks.com, one of our main product categories featured candles that were replicas of various foods and beverages. Unfortunately, several years ago the person who made those candles for us retired and we were unable to find someone to take her place. Albeit on a smaller scale, we are once again able to offer some cool faux food candles on our new Chocolate, Coffee and Bakery Scented Candles page, whose name we shortened to Candles For Foodies on the navigation menu of all our pages so it would fit better.

Chocaholics, coffee junkies and anybody with pleasant memories associated with smelling something yummy baking in the oven will enjoy these new additions. Both the chocolate and coffee scented candles are housed in a stylish glass mug, respectively mimicking a cup of hot chocolate or coffee. The chocolate candles are available with a choice of three scent blends and the coffee candles with a choice of five. The bakery scented candles are fashioned after a Bundt cake. They come in eight different mouth-watering fragrances. Please don’t hate us for tempting you with deep discounts for purchases of one candle of each scent in any one category or a coffee and bakery scented candle gift set.

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