I've poured hundreds of jar candles and thousands of tealights since starting this journey, and I've been testing them the entire time. Today....just my third day in business....I tested a candle that was an epic failure. I knew it was bad within minutes of lighting the wick. The flame started out strong and quickly shrunk to such a small flicker I had to walk back over to it to make sure it was actually still burning. I saw the problem right away. The wax around the wick started melting and revealed an air pocket just below the top layer of wax. This caused the candle to tunnel down and the flame to nearly drown in the wax. I knew it would be impossible to save the candle without some major surgery. The flame was just far too weak to provide enough heat to melt the wax across the top. And just like the sinkhole in my candle, my stomach dropped. I started to panic. How can this be happening? I've been testing candles for months and have never experienced this before. What if this happens to a customer? Oh my goodness. I could've easily continued with this panic and self-doubt, but I took a deep breath and this is what I came up with.....
1. There is a lot that goes into making candles. Pouring temperature. Temperature at which fragrance oil is added. How carefully you stir. When to pour. Don't pour to fast. Temperature of the room. Humidity level. You get the point. It's not easy. One slight change in any of these factors, or the many others I didn't even mention, can create a change in the candle.
2. Soy wax is 100% natural. I don't use any additives to help perfect appearance of the wax. I could, and it would probably make things easier. But I absolutely love the simplicity of my candles. I love that they're poured by hand and that they can be burned around kids and pets with no worry about them breathing in anything that's harmful.
So here's the deal....this candle business is my baby. I've spent so much time creating it, and I want everything to be perfect. It would be gut-wrenching for someone to have a bad experience like I had today. But these candles aren't made in a perfectly controlled setting with machines pouring each one. They're made in my home and poured by my two hands. If a customer gets a bad candle like I experienced today, I'll do everything I can to make it right. After all, the only thing that can really save a bad candle is excellent customer service...and a replacement candle of course.