How do I care for my candle?

1. Be Patient With The First Burn

While it can be tempting to save your NEOM candles for special moments, only burning your candle in short bursts could be causing more harm than good. The first burn of your candle is especially important, so choose your moment wisely and allow enough time for it to melt the whole top layer of wax. If you extinguish your candle too soon, you can create a ‘tunnel’ of wax – where the wax around the wick melts but the outer edges stay in place.

“Burn your candles for 2-4 hours or until an even wax pool has formed,” suggests Mirlinda, Technical and Regulatory Manager at NEOM. “Burning for less time can cause the candle to 'tunnel', which leaves a build-up of wax around the vessel's sides and acts as a 'candle burn memory' which will result in an uneven burn going forward!”

2. Avoid Draughts And Fans

While it’s important to burn your candle in a well-ventilated room, make sure you keep it away from any draughts or fans. “Any significant gusts of air can cause sooting to appear (those messy black marks on the vase), or rapid, uneven burning which can reduce your overall candle burn time and lifespan,” explains Mirlinda. Try placing your candle away from open windows or fans to ensure a clean, even burn.

3. Trim Your Wicks

You’ve probably heard it before, but we’ve all been guilty of not looking after or trimming our wicks on the regular. But there’s a good reason why taking care of your candle wick is so important to the longevity of your candle. “Long or crooked wicks can create high flames, smoking, or sooting,” explains Mirlinda, “so trimming the wick to 5mm (when the wax has set) is the easiest way to prevent this.”

4. Avoid Blowing Out Candles

While candle snuffers look fancy, they also serve an important purpose. Blowing out your candle can cause the wick to slant and move, creating an uneven burn going forward. It can also cause hot wax to be blown onto surfaces around the candle which is never ideal. If you can, use a candle snuffer to extinguish your candle and make sure to centre and straighten the wick once cooled.

5. Keep Your Candle Covered

When your candle isn’t in use, it’s a good idea to keep your candle covered. “Covering your candles with a lid will protect the quality wax from dust and cleaning sprays, which can dull its scent and cause problems during burning,” explains Mirlinda. If you notice condensation on the candle surface, wipe this away with a paper towel before use.

6. End of candle life

You may notice as the candle nears the end of its lifespan and burns down, the flame will start to become smaller and extinguish. This is a safety mechanism build into the NOEM candle with a metal sustainer at the base ensuring the wick stops 10mm above the base of the vessel. This is designed to ensure candle flame does not burn in contact with the glass vessel. Even though it may look like some wax is still available for an extra burn, this extra 10mm level of wax has been taken into consideration when designing the candle, and does not take away from the burn hours expected and is purely there as an essential part of candle safety. Make sure you stop burning your candle when 10mm of wax remains at the bottom, keeping an eye on a burning candle when the wax is low.

By following these tips you’re guaranteed to keep the health of your candle in tip top shape, allowing you to really enjoy those magical moments of bliss…