Your guide to picking the perfect candle

Candles have traversed a long way from being a simple source of light used over centuries to still being in existence. Today they help enhance the ambiance of a place through mood lighting, uplifting your senses through the perfect blend of fragrances by adding an element of beauty to decor in your interior or exterior spaces. And unlike many things in life, candles are here to stay. 

How then do you pick that perfect candle that suits your taste, scent that uplifts your mood and choose between the many types available? We provide an easy guide to picking the perfect candle and help you shortlist the elements that mean the most:

1. Types of Candles: While there many different styles that candles are available in, they can broadly be classified into 4 categories
1. Taper Candles : Usually thinner and longer variants that are used with accessories to adorn your room. Taper candles go well with candlesticks and candelabras and can help control the intensity of light you want to add to your ambiance by increasing the number of candles you burn at any given time.
2. Pillar and Votive Candles : Broader candles that are available in multiple sizes with varying widths and heights, pillar candles although traditional add an air of sophistication to your room. 
3. Jar Candles : More recently jar candles are becoming the choice of candles in many households. They add a modern contemporary chic look and come in a variety of eco friendly waxes that have lower melting points, making it perfect to burn in a jar. Jar candles also restore the melted wax hence saving any wastage. 
4. Wax Melts : Melted in a warmer, wax melts are completely wick-less and a great way to bring about fragrance. They are mostly used with scented waxes that dissipate aroma and are better known for their burn times.
2. Scents and Fragrances : Scented candles are becoming more and more preferred as the choice of candles in today’s households which not only light up your space but also adorn them with a scent that can evoke a memory. While there are many types of fragrances available, each one is created of 3 notes : top, central and base. The very first aroma to get noticed is that top note, followed by the core central notes while the more dominant notes are the base which develop over time. A more generic classification of fragrances is as below: 
1. Musky : Earthy notes of bitters that provide an intoxicating mix of coniferous woody and spicy hints are usually enjoyed by both genders. This fragrance blend evokes animalistic feelings of courageous and coziness. Signature notes include cedarwood, patchouli, juniper, sandalwood, oak moss, pine, musk, leather, white oak, balsam fir, cypress and more. 
2. Floral : Scents from flowers is one of the most common categories of candle fragrances. Evoking calm, romantic and soft feelings to the soul, floral scents come in a variety of fragrances of which lavender and rose are the most common. Signature notes include jasmine, peony, lavender, rose, lilac, hibiscus, chamomile, ylang-ylang, neroli, gardenia and more.
3. Fresh and Clean : Fragrances that encompass all things vivacious, energetic, bright and invigorating feelings that are associated with breezy, sunlit summer days. Creating an uplifting and energetic atmosphere, these fragrances that speak citrus, clean and herbal aromas speak cool,light and are simply fun. Signature notes include bergamot, lime, lemongrass, eucalyptus, citronella, angelica, basil, rosemary, thyme, clary sage and more. 
3. Types of Wax : There are many variants of candle waxes that are available in the market and each one differs from the other based on properties such as fragrance throw, clean burn, burn time and smoke-free flames.
1. Paraffin Wax: More commonly used, paraffin waxes allow for a strong fragrance to burn. They are getting to be less popular under the notion of being made from left overs of the refinement process of crude oil. However they are still widely used and are great to enhance added fragrance oils and colors.
2. Soy Wax: Known for their longer burn time, soy wax is slowly becoming the choice of candle wax due to their clean and non-toxic burn. Made from natural, renewable and biodegradable soy beans, soy wax is soft and works best with jar candles. 
3. Coconut Wax: The newest candle wax available, coconut wax provides a great scent throw and a clean burn. They are more expensive to source but are slowly becoming the choice for eco-friendly options.
4. Beeswax: One of the oldest types of wax found, beeswax comes with its own unique honey-like fragrance. It provides the cleanest burn and is one the healthier options especially for those with allergies. However, beeswax are not known for a great fragrance throw, and usually need to be blended with other waxes to achieve a greater scent. 
5. Blended Wax: Most brands out there use blended combinations of the above waxes to attain the best of each waxes properties. The better combination out there is soy or beeswax blended with coconut providing a great burn time and a very good fragrance due to the addition of coconut. 
4. Types of wicks: Despite being the smaller element of picking your candle, wicks are what ensure your candle wax burns cleanly and soot-free. Depending on the size of your candle you can have a single wick or multiple wicks that further help with a great fragrance throw making your entire room aromatic with a vibrant glow. We use eco-friendly wicks made out of 100% cotton to provide that clean burn.
5. Candle Burn time: The time taken to burn an entire candle defines the burn time. This varies based on the quality of the wick, the number of wicks you use, the wax, the type of candle itself and the candle etiquette you follow. Read all about how to care for your candle here. While it's economical to purchase a candle with a larger burn time, it's not always necessary that you will get the best candle mix. Candles that use more wicks achieve greater fragrance throw and hence compromised burn time. 
6. Cold and Hot Throw: When you pick up a candle off the shelf and smell it, the fragrance you experience is called the cold throw. Whereas the hot throw is what you smell when you burn the candle. These two vary largely for candles and you’re not always guaranteed the same beautiful fragrance you smell when the candle is not lit. A good hot-throw is achieved by candles that use blended waxes or paraffin wax that help carry a better burn throw.

At Inuqi, we use the best of the above combination to provide you beautiful looking candles that can instantly accentuate your interiors and yet create different moods based on the fragrance you choose. Our choice of pillar and jar candles are created with unique concrete elements that will add additional beauty to your interior and exterior spaces. Available in a variety of shapes and colors, our concrete candles provide a mid-century modern feel while our glass candles provide a more traditional look. We chose the best eco-friendly blend of 100% soy and coconut waxes to provide you a clean, non-toxic and soot-free burn. Beginning with a simple line of fragrances we attempt to capture every mood that can evoke a memory that's easy to associate with. Having done extensive research, we have managed to provide the best hot throw that can fill up a large room with your scent of choice. Learn more about our fragrances here.  All our wicks are 100% eco-friendly cotton based that provide smoke-free burns. Burn times vary from 30-60 hours depending on the type and size of candle you choose. 

Inuqi candles are your answer to ultimate escapism creating a multi-sensory experience along with a heightened ambiance.