How To DIY Your Own Mood-Enhancing Candle

There’s nothing more relaxing – especially during the holiday season – than lighting a candle and getting cozy. Plus, depending on the scent, candles can even help calm, energize, or uplift your mood. Our only hang-up is they can be kinda pricey and one candle is never enough! Even at Bath & Body Works, we can put a major dent into our monthly budget! The ultimate solution? DIY your own! Not only can you cater the scent to your personal taste or vibe, but once you have the ingredients it’s also more cost-effective and it’s super quick and easy. It’s also a super fun activity to do with a friend or even on a date. Candles are also a great budget-friendly gifting idea for the holidays. Now we have your attention, here’s our tried-and-tested DIY candle recipe.

What you need:

Soy Wax
Essential Oils
Candle Containers (empty glasses or old candle tins work perfectly)
Crayons (optional)
Candle wicks
Wick stickers (not essential)
Wick holder (or wrap the top of the wick around a pencil instead)
Pouring pot
Scales
Tweezers
Spatula
Measuring cups
Thermometer

How to DIY Your Own Candle 

Measure 1lb of wax and transfer it into a pan. Melt the wax on high heat until it forms a clear liquid. While the wax is melting, combine approximately 1.5 ounces of your chosen fragrance oils and mix well. Pour the fragrance mixture into the melted wax slowly and mix well. If you want a colored candle, at this point, melt 12-15 crayons into the mixture. Choose crayons in the same color family to create the prettiest hue.

Next prep your candle by cleaning it thoroughly with a paper towel. If there’s any dust in the jar, the wick will not stick to the base and will fall once you put the wax mixture into the jar. Next, attach a wick sticker to the bottom of the wick and place the stick it to the bottom of the glass candle container (if the jar is small, a pair of tweezers can help) and press it down so it sticks. Once again, this is super important otherwise the wick will fall when you pour the wax in and you’ll be unable to light your candle.

Slot the wick through the wick holder and balance the wick holder on your glass jar (or wrap the wick around a pencil and balance on top of the jar. Once the wick is standing upright, trim the wick so it’s roughly 1cm longer than where the wax will sit. Finally, when the temperature of the wax has reached 140 degrees (or it has completely melted), pour the melted candle mixture into the glass jar. You can also add dried flowers into the jar for a cute finishing touch. Leave it to set, et voila!

If you need some inspiration for the scent, here are three of our fave essential oil combos depending on your mood.

Our Fave Calming Candle 

1 Tbsp of bergamot oil
1 Tbsp of lavender oil
1 Tbsp of ylang-ylang

2020 has been a stressful year to say the least, so we find ourselves burning this candle constantly thanks to its calming and soothing effect. According to a 2006 study on nurses, inhaling a blend of ylang-ylang, lavender, and bergamot lowered stress and anxiety levels, blood pressure, heart rate, and serum cortisol, which is where we got our inspiration. All we’re sayin’ is you can’t deny science.

Our Go-To Energizing Candle 

1 Tbsp of lemon essential oil
1 Tbsp of sweet orange essential oil
1 Tbsp of rosemary essential oil

If you’re working from home or just feeling the 2020 fatigue, this candle will leave you feeling uplifted and energized. Lemon and sweet orange are known to boost your mood while rosemary is proven to sharpen your mental focus and enhance your memory, making it the ultimate WFH desk accessory.

The Ultimate Christmas Candle

1 Tbsp of cinnamon oil
1 Tbsp of nutmeg oil
1 Tbsp of coconut oil

Last but not least, our Christmas candle, because let’s be real, who doesn’t love a Christmas candle? This rich, festive scent is perfect for long winter nights and will instantly lift your spirit.

For more amazing DIYs, check out how to DIY your own signature scent.