These Expert Candle Tips Will Elevate Your Home & Mood
Everyone loves a candle, not just because they smell good and look cute! Studies have actually shown that beyond creating a soothing ambiance, they calm the mind, improve your mood and even stimulate your memory. And what did we learn over the last two challenging years? Self-care and creating a comforting environment are core to mental health. Clearly, the science shows that candles can help with that!
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So if, like us, you’re just a little obsessed with candles, then prepare to elevate your relationship because we have some seriously interesting and juicy tips for stepping up your candle game at home.
We recently discovered Nomad Noe, a vegan, clean, and 100% cruelty-free brand committed to creating candles of exceptional quality with sustainable blends and high-quality fragrance ingredients from Grasse in France (AKA, the fragrance capital of the world!). They immediately stood out to us, not just for the beautiful porcelain designs, but in the way they told a story of each candle fragrance so that it instantly transported us to a tranquil, almost tangible place. We decided we had to speak to the Founder, Corentin Hamon, who is also the nose behind Nomad Noe, to find out all we could about turning our home into an idyllic haven with candles.
Corentin tells us that he traveled the world as part of LVMH’s fragrance division (the leading luxury fashion group) when he decided to turn the places he discovered into a collection of scented candles infused with extraordinary stories. He told us, “The power of scent is truly transformative. There are multiple scientific studies that suggest that 75% of our daily emotions are influenced by smell. Our mood may improve by 40% after being exposed to pleasant scents. The right scented candle can elevate your senses and bring you a sense of wellbeing.” Who hasn’t experienced being transported to a memory or a place by a familiar scent?
Tips for Scenting Your Home:
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A firm believer that “Your environment affects your mood,” Nomad Noe has carefully paired their candles with a scent for every room. The idea is that having a fragrance suited to each room helps enhance its functionality and allows you to give each space a distinct personality, and we have to say, we immediately clicked with the concept.
For Your Living Room:
“Your living room scent should be something that you just can’t get enough of. It should create a sense of peace,” Corentin says. He suggests, “Natural woods such as cedar hold calming and grounding properties for both the mind and body, so they make a great accessory to any living space.”
The candle: DREAMER in London, $65
Smells like: A grand old theater or library of a different time: delicious firewood, tobacco, cedarwood, and a hint of vanilla.
When guests enter your living room, one of the first things they’ll notice is the smell. With notes of cedarwood, vanilla, and clove, DREAMER in London is the candle that makes you want to curl up on the living room couch and snuggle by the fire. It is a truly delicious scent that won’t be forgotten. Disclosure: your guests may not want to leave!
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For Your Bedroom:
Your bedroom should be a place of complete calm. Like us, Corentin believes in the importance of sleep and that “quality sleep is one of the best ways to take care of your body, which means your bedroom has to feel like your sanctuary.” So for the bedroom, Corentin recommends calming and relaxing scents like jasmine or gardenia.
The Candle: POET in Hangzhou, $65
Smells like: A lake of white flowers. Sweet jasmine, creamy tuberose, and gardenias.
With a heart note of creamy tuberose, POET in Hangzhou blends fresh yet rich notes to help you wind down at the end of the day. The candle has an effortless sense of romance that’s uplifting and sensual.
Scenting Your Kitchen:
The Candle: REBEL in Bahia, $65
Smells like: Fresh bergamot, neroli, mysterious incense, and organic orange slices.
Scenting Tip: The kitchen calls for a fresh citrus scent, one that’s subtly uplifting yet powerful enough to mask any unwanted smells. REBEL in Bahia has notes of orange blossom, making your kitchen smell as if you’ve just recently sliced open a fresh tangerine!
Tips for Buying Candles Online
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Location location: “The first thing to consider is where you plan to burn the candles. In a living room, you may want to choose a woody, cozy scent, whereas in an office setting, a citrus scent may help you to feel energized and focused. In a bedroom or bathroom, floral scents make the perfect choice,” Corentin says.
Mood-setter: As well as evoking memories, scent can completely transform your mood. Corentin says, “I would focus on the experience you want to create for yourself and what you want to attract. A rose scent is restorative and has a grounding effect. A fresh sea salt scent can work as a creativity booster.”
Décor boost: “I also believe that a candle should go beyond the scent. It should be entirely part of your decor and should inspire you long after the candle is fully burnt. Our candles are hand-poured in a porcelain jar and come with a lid that will bring a pop of color to any interior,” Corentin says.
And we have to agree with him when he says that “Burning a scented candle is like a ceremony; it transforms the atmosphere and generates so many positive emotions.” It sounds dramatic, but we all know that feeling!
Tips for Looking After Your Candles
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Is there anything more annoying than buying yourself a gorgeous candle only to have a soot mark appear on the glass as soon as you light it? It instantly ruins the look. So, we asked Corentin to share his top tips for avoiding this and how you can keep yours burning beautifully: “I recommend trimming the wick each time before lighting a candle; never trim right after burning the candle. The key is to always use a wick trimmer, regular scissors make it difficult to reach the wick properly, and they tend to leave debris, which will disrupt the burning.” He also recommends burning candles for about four hours at a time to ensure the wax melts evenly.
What’s the Definition of a Clean Candle?
Clean has become a trendy word in the beauty world, but still, it offers very little clarity on what it actually means. Corentin says it’s the same with candles and that “the definition of clean can differ a lot from one brand to another. We use a blend of vegetable waxes that is non-toxic, and all our fragrance oils are free of any harmful chemicals such as parabens, sulfates, phthalates and mineral oils.”
How does lighting a candle make you feel? Let us know in the comments below.
Disclaimer: Every product we review has been independently selected and tested without bias by our editorial team. We never take payment to review products, although some brands allow affiliate links, so we may earn a commission if you purchase a product by clicking on one of our links.
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