Wax Melt Scent & Color

[Alexandra Van Doren]

Hi Everyone!

I've been struggling for awhile now figuring out how all the wax melt vendors have a million and one scents, I'm guessing scent blending?? Can anyone tell me how to scent blend? Also would love your recommendations on scent vendors.

And color, how do these wax melt vendors have such pretty colors?? Do they use liquid dye or chips? Wax color vendor recommendations are more than welcome as well!

 

[Parfumerie]

The Carles method of perfumery has you spend a good amount of time smelling and getting to know individual notes, and then for blending you work in dilution so as not to waste a lot of material 1:10 ratio of fragrance to perfumers alcohol or high proof ethanol (everclear) and then you start blending in parts of 10 so if you're blending 2 notes the one you want to be dominant will always be in higher proportion and on some blotting paper you'll mark and drops of each 5/5, 6/4, 7/3, 8/2, 9/1 and smell them ocassionally over the course of the next day or two and see how they develop and then choose the one that smells best and go on in the same fashion adding notes to the blend, I don't think you'll want alcohol in your final product for candles so I think then after you figure out your ratios you'd blend and add the pure fragrance or maybe dissolve in a different solvent? Im new to candle making so I have no idea if these "fragrance oils" being sold are already in a solvent or solution, if so you may have to work in full strength. Also your final product will become more cohesive as time goes on.

 

[Agilex Fragrances]

Hi Everyone!

I've been struggling for awhile now figuring out how all the wax melt vendors have a million and one scents, I'm guessing scent blending?? Can anyone tell me how to scent blend? Also would love your recommendations on scent vendors.

And color, how do these wax melt vendors have such pretty colors?? Do they use liquid dye or chips? Wax color vendor recommendations are more than welcome as well!

Hi Alexandra,

Candles or wax melt manufacturing has becoming a more profitable business.

 

[lyschelw]

Hi Agliex,
A lot of people love blending their own scents. But in candles I have only met a few people for whom it works well.

When I did try to blend my own scents it did not work out at all. I was trying to do a raspberry violet. I must have combined over 50 different combinations before I got one that I thought was ok. A lot of the combos when combined turned into something smelled nothing like either raspberry or violet. I now leave the blending to the chemists and I just come up with the ideas. What I learned is that unless you know what you are doing you will generally get a weaker scents. So if you are blending a full strength raspberry and a full strength violet you use half strength of each and tend to get a half strength scent. If you are going to blend I would suggest getting the strongest base notes as possible to start with.

But blending can be a lot of fun for people. Just not my thing.

 

[I_like_melts]

I LOVE blending scents, but it is important to note that each fragrance blends differently and can change over time. If you are new to combining scents, try making some for personal use first and see how you like them. Let whatever you make cure for a few weeks and then try it out.

You can also try using different fragrance vendors to get a wider range of scents to choose from - many have hundreds of fragrances for you to choose from that are already blended and ready to go.

For color, you have a lot of options. I started using dye blocks, but developed a love for mica, as it is easier for me to blend. I like shiny waxes and love looking at pools. Dye blocks are great for large batches and I found them easy to use.

 

[Passion Factor]

I blend my scents all the time. Those are my most popular scents. I have a Son of a Biscuit, Summer's Essience, Bermuda Triangle and more. It is easy. Once you get the hang of it, it can become addictive.
This is what you do. You have to figure out your base scent. That is the most prominent scent. Then get complimentary scents that will go well with the base fragrance. I do mine by percentage. So take for instance, you want a pina-colada scent. That smells like what. I think it has some pineapple and coconut notes. But don't forget the alcohol or the rum. The most prominent smell is coconut but coconut has a tendency to overpower so for me I would probably start off with pineapple and coconut half and half. You might have to lwer the coconut or add more pineapple. Let is sit for a day or two. See if that is the smell you want. If not, adjust the ratio. If it is good, then start adding the rum scent in .05 oz at a time till you get the aroma that is pleasing to your nostrils. You will have to let it cure because, the scent will change over time.
I hope this helped. The majority of my scents are blends because at time I have a hard time finding the right scent that I want. I have an idea of what I want it to smell like so i figure it out from there. I have made my own Peach Bellini and Rainbow Sherbet. I have never smelled those two scents in my life but everyone says it smells like the real thing.

For colour, I use liquid dye. In my opinion, liquid dye allows you to get more vibrant colours, a variety of colour options for you colour palette. It also allows you to achieve the same color over and over. Also a little goes a long way. If you add too much chips or blocks you may have a candle that is not burning properly or a clogged wick. I wouldn't use micas in a candle but it is great for wax melts. I will only use for candle if you are decorating the candle with it. I have been mica obsessed lately. I love the stuff.

 

[Passion Factor]

Hi Agliex,
A lot of people love blending their own scents. But in candles I have only met a few people for whom it works well.

When I did try to blend my own scents it did not work out at all. I was trying to do a raspberry violet. I must have combined over 50 different combinations before I got one that I thought was ok. A lot of the combos when combined turned into something smelled nothing like either raspberry or violet. I now leave the blending to the chemists and I just come up with the ideas. What I learned is that unless you know what you are doing you will generally get a weaker scents. So if you are blending a full strength raspberry and a full strength violet you use half strength of each and tend to get a half strength scent. If you are going to blend I would suggest getting the strongest base notes as possible to start with.

But blending can be a lot of fun for people. Just not my thing.

Hi. You have to choose the right companies too. Violet is a bit of a strong smell, so I would have added a little violet to my raspberry at a time till I got the right smell but you have to remember to let it cure for a bit to get the true smell. the smell changes so much over time. Sometimes I add two scent that I believe will play right together but then after a few days, it smells similar to what I am going for but still not right, so I have to add an extra smell to peak it up.

 

[jcandleattic]

I have like 5 scents that are not a blend. The rest I blend. Honestly, I just pick scents I think will smell good together, and then I start with a 1:1 ratio, and go from there. I usually put 1 drop on each side of a Q-tip, and add as I see fit until I get something awesome. Sometimes I add several scents, and sometimes I close my eyes, and just grab some scents off the shelf and start mixing.

I have great luck, and once mixed they are pretty true to the OOB scent in the wax.

My advice would be - get creative. Seriously, what do you have to lose? A few drops of fragrance is a pretty good trade-off to get something great, IMO.

 

[lyschelw]

lol, this is why I now leave the blending to those of you that love it! (and my chemists) Funny, I don't have the patience to blend my own but I will get in tens if not 100s of samples to test before I add one to my fragrance line.