Monday, March 16, 2009

Is The Scent Gone?

When we make our scented candles the fragrance is added to the liquid wax prior to pouring it into the molds or glass jars. So the candle is scented the same strength from top to bottom. This is how most candle manufacturers make their candles. Occasionally we get a customer that says when they first light a candle it smelled but after a while the scent was gone. The easiest way to explain this is the "fish analogy". If you have ever cooked fish in your kitchen you instantly smell it as it heats up and for a long time after it has been eaten but eventually you stop noticing it altogether. The fishy smell is gone. However, if someone else comes into your home they can instantly tell you cooked fish for dinner. So why can they smell it and you cant? The olfactory receptors in your nose that detect smell become accustom to it and have stopped sending neurological signals to your brain to tell you that fish is in the air. One of the easiest ways to get around this issue is to use multiple conflicting fragrances, one at a time. Burn one fragrance for a while then switch to another and so on. This helps to continually stimulate the sensors in your nose and trigger the signal to your brain. There are some poor quality candles out there that don't have a very strong scent, you're on your own to figure those out. Just remember, you can get a great smelling candle without spending a ton of money on a name brand.

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