Candle-making with Bryluen Botanicals

Firstly, let me introduce myself. I’m Sam, and I co-own Orange Roofs in St Ives. Our holiday accommodation company works hard to provide a top-class and note-worthy service to our St Ives cottage owners and their guests. I like to support local businesses that are as authentic and want to make a real difference in other people’s lives.

For this reason, I chose to attend a candle-making workshop at Bryluen Botanicals shop on St Andrew’s Street in St Ives. I wanted to experience something for myself which I could share with our valued guests, website users and email subscribers. There’s nothing better than getting a personal recommendation!

2 pm – candle-making in St Ives workshop start

My workshop start was 2pm so I made my way from our office on Park Avenue to 17 St. Andrew’s Street and arrived punctually to be greeted by Magnus. A rather dashing, muscly, grey haired hunk. Okay, he is a French Bulldog but I love dogs so he was a joy to see. Victoria who owns Bryluen Botanicals welcomed me with a warm and engaging smile and I felt instantly at home. The workshop area is at the rear of the shop on a beautiful oak table decorated with seasonal table garlands and row upon row glass jars of essential oils. The shop itself is beautifully decorated and presented with soft classical and jazz tunes inducing a state of happiness and relaxation. There is row upon row of candles, reed diffusers or room scents offering some form of aromatherapeutic benefit whether you need uplifting, relaxing, soothing or energising. Each handmade by Victoria which I have learnt takes an enormous amount of time, thought and consideration.

Top, middle and bottom notes

Victoria started off by letting me know the fundamentals on candle-making. That was the difference between essential oils and fragrance oils plus the importance of understanding top, middle and bottom notes. Fragrance oils are synthetic, chemical and put simply, bad for you or bad value for money. Essential oils are concentrated liquids extracted from plants that contain the natural chemicals that give the plant its distinctive scent and flavour. They last, by far, much, much longer and carry real health and well-being properties.

Top notes

Citrus and herbs are part of the top note family and examples of these would be Mandarin, Lemongrass, Sweet Orange and Bergamot. A top note essential oil describes the very first scent you will pick up when burning your candle (so the first 15-20 minutes once lit). In most cases, top notes tend to be light and fresh, bringing your senses to life before the note fades.

Middle notes

Flowers and spices make up the middle notes in essential oils. Best described by Victoria as the ‘gravy on a roast’ as they combine and bring all other notes together beautifully. Think of cloves, cinnamon and black pepper. Middle notes are often used to ease anxiety and stress, lasting for up to 2 hours in some cases.

Bottom notes

A base note lasts the longest when burning a candle due to them containing heavier molecules, so your senses will be aware of the note long after the middle and top notes have evaporated. Examples of base notes are cedarwood, vetiver and sandalwood.

The most important message I received from Victoria when choosing between the many essential oils on offer was to choose the oils we need rather than what we want. By sniffing each oil, the reaction from our senses and emotions will direct us to which essential oil we need.

So, after learning about the essential oils, my first task was to sniff every essential oil on the counter within the top, middle and bottom note categories. The ones I got most drawn to, I dabbed a drop on a paper stick and labelled it.

The science of candle-making

After I had spent about 15 to 20 minutes dreamily sniffing the many essential oil jars, I made my selection of top, middle and bottom notes. The next step was to gather them up, fan them out and then waft them underneath my nose. I had created mint chocolate! The combination of the smells was just bliss and extraordinary how all of them combined to create a delicious aroma.

Victoria then ordered each scent into an order of top, middle and bottom notes and explained that ideally you look for between 1-4 of each in candle-making but you can have a maximum of 5. Sadly, I had too many in both the top and bottom notes and so needed to exclude some in order to get a better balance.

This was my final selection which we then needed to apply brain-matter in order to calculate how much of each was to go into my candle.

When candle-making, 90% of the mix is wax (and in Bryluen Botanicals case, it’s soy wax) and 10% essential oils. I had chosen a 200g brown glass (suitable for wax candles) and 160g of which should include the combined wax and oil mixture. That meant that 16g of that mixture was going to be made up of my essential oil selection. However, to make the calculations a little more complex, of that 16g top notes make up 30% of it, middle notes make up 60% and 10% of bottom notes. Thankfully, Victoria was way ahead of me and had calculated what I needed and we made a note on my workshop note sheet. I decided to call my candle ‘Hug in a candle’ as that is just what I experienced each time I smelt my creation.

The perfect mix

I painstakingly weighed out each of my chosen essential oils to the exact gramme and then added the melted soy wax. In candle-making, the wax needs to be 185 degrees Fahrenheit to mix with the essential oils with continuous gentling stirring for two minutes to ensure all of the combined aromas mix well. The wax and oils then need to cool to between 145 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit before pouring it into the special glass made for wax candle-making. The key is not to have the wax and oils too hot or too cold. If it’s heated too high, it burns the oils and if it’s too cold, they don’t successfully mix. While waiting for my perfect mix to cool, I stuck the wick into the glass and placed it into a special wick holder ready for pouring. The sense of love and achievement I had for my candle as I gently poured the mixture into the glass was soul-enriching. All I needed to do now, is wait for my candle to set.

Bryluen Botanicals magic

I left my workshop feeling throughly relaxed and happy. Victoria had imparted such knowledge and love for the power of essential oils and their aromatherapeutic qualities. I left the candle with Victoria so it could set and have a beautifully designed label attached with its very own name ‘Hug in a candle’. On collection of my candle, it comes with a full list of the oils used and what benefits they bring to those who burn it. I had intended on gifting it to a friend for Christmas but I just can’t part with it! Having said that, Victoria and Bryluen Botanicals now has my unique recipe on file and I can order as many candles, room diffusers, pillow sprays or room sprays as I like. I think this Christmas, many of my friends and family will be receiving a Hug in a candle with love.