Tips on Scent and Candles

So you want to set the mood with scented candles. May it be a fun gathering, family visit, a date or just a home alone relaxation, there are some things that you should note:

For the Candles:

1. When selecting a candle by scent, don’t smell the wax. Smell the inside of the lid or container because that’s where the scent collects. The full body of the scent drifts up and collects in the underside of the lid.
2. Although candle warmers work well for releasing scent in large dosages, you’ll be left with unscented wax after a few uses. So, burning a candle is a more efficient way to release scent into a room. Scent will continue to be released throughout the entire life of your candle.
3. Plan ahead if you’re counting on having a room enveloped in a candle’s fragrance. A candle’s scent is released through it’s wax pool, and it can take 15 to 30 minutes to develop a pool sizeable enough to fill a room with fragrance.
4. To combat soot keep your candle away from drafts, keep your wicks trimmed to 1/4 inches and use a candle topper.
5. To increase the life or your candle, burn it in longer intervals, two, three or four hours at a time. Burning it in short, frequent intervals – ten minutes here, 30 minutes there – actually decreases a candle’s overall number of burn hours.

Now we move on to selecting a scent, sometimes the sales person is helpful and sometimes they are not. Here are some of the effects of different scents according to Dr. Hirsch, otherwise known as Dr. Smell.

– Lavender: Studies show that the smell of lavender triggers alpha waves in the posterior part of the brain associated with a relaxed state. Use this scent when you want to create a relaxing mood in the bathroom or in the family room areas.

— Jasmine: Jasmine’s scent triggers beta waves in the front of the head, which stimulates alertness. Jasmine has been proven to help focus and increases hand-eye coordination. Jasmine should be used at work stations or while studying or doing homework.

— Roses: There are over a hundred varieties of roses and not only is this flower a symbol of romance, but the scent of roses also increases olfactory-evoked nostalgia that will bring happy moments back to memory. Dr. Hirsch recommends using roses in social areas as well as when you have a visitor at your house.

— Violets: Dr. Hirsch’s studies also showed that violets enhance learning speed by 17 percent, and improve concentration when used in study rooms. Violets can be placed on studying and working areas, when reading or doing homework. The fragrance of violets on clothes is a good way to take this flower essence with you to places where you need to stay focused.

— Lilies: The scent of lily has been proven to increase wakefulness and help you stay alert. An arrangement made of lilies in the study area or living room can do the trick when you want to stay alert.

— Cinnamon: According to Dr. Hirsch, cinnamon may also bring happy moments back to memory and may lift your spirits. You can use in your kitchen area after cooking to evoke joyful memories.

Empire State Building to ‘Glitter’ for Mariah Carey

This weekend the Empire State Building is going to lit in pink, lavender, and white. This is because the largest phallus in New York state is honouring (wait for it…drum rolls)…Mariah Carey for a day.

According to a press release, that’s apparently the color ‘motif’ of the new album E=MC², it’s also the colour of dreams, delicate flowers, and the aura of unicorns — which seem to appear in literally every single one of her music videos.

Mariah herself will be turning the Empire State Building to those three colours, giving it the adorable, soft glow that way-too-modernist skyscraper has needed all along at 1 pm tomorrow.