Candles – Making Scents Work for You - By: Mary Deane

Labeling the candle scent will make it more recognizable, and perhaps more desirable. Fragrance is hard to describe. And if a person smells something in and emotionally neutral situation that is not describable, the person may ignore it. Once the smell has a name, however, it is easier for the mind to process. Rachel Herz of Brown University [The Scent of Desire, Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell, by Rachel Herz, 2007 William Morrow] described an experiment that was done in the UK. An unusual odor was added to the circulating air in a laboratory. When the workers were observed from a distance, they displayed body language that indicated that they noticed the new smell. When asked directly, however, the workers said that they did not smell anything. Later, the workers sniffed a test sample of the odor and were also told the name of the chemical. Many of these workers suddenly remembered that they had smelled the chemical earlier in the lab.

The name of the candle scent matters. Labeling the scent on the candle will focus attention properly. In an experiment conducted by Rachel Herz, a new scent was used twice in a test. The first sample was labeled "parmesan cheese," and the second sample was labeled "vomit." Although the test subjects smelled the same chemical, when they were told it was cheese, they reported that the smell was pleasant and smelled like something edible. When smelling the sample that was labeled "vomit," they reported that the odor was intolerable and it made them want to leave the room. Even more surprising than this, however, is that when the subjects were told that they had smelled the same odor in both tests, they refused to believe it! Now, I doubt that you will be making any vomit-scented candles; however by labeling the scent of the candle as something pleasant, you will be setting people's expectations to smell something pleasant.

Match the color of the candle to the scent. An odor is invisible, and the human mind wants a concrete way to identify a scent. The human mind also wants congruency. A pumpkin-flavored candle that is blue doesn't meet expectations, and will probably be hard to sell.

Don't be surprised if some people don't like your candle aromas. Smells are connected to emotions. Smells that may be perfectly pleasant to some people are not perceived that way by others. If a person encounters a smell is during emotional distress (such as a child noticing the smell of roses at a parent's funeral), they will keep that association even if it is not what is typical for the rest of the community (that flowers smell lovely).

Different cultures have different notions of what smells good. Humans are not born with pre-conceived notions of good and bad odors. Instead, judgment of odors is a learned behavior. (Even an infant's ability to smell its mother is learned.) There are emotional experiences that may impact an individual or a group, as described above. There are also cultural expectations that are passed on. For example, if you were to make a candle shaped like food, it is conceivable that you would shape it like a block of cheese and would want to make it also smell like cheese. Most people from the United States would salivate at the smell of cheese. Yet, Asians find cheese utterly repugnant. Even if an Asian has never actually smelled cheese, he or she has learned that cheese is stinky, and so would be primed to expect a bad odor from your candle.

About the Author

Mary Martha Deane is the Queen of Candle Making. She knows more about making candles than most people can imagine. She thinks that Candle Making is a fantastic hobby, both for those who consider themselves creative, as well as for those folks who don’t yet know how creative they are. Learn more about making your own scented candles when you visit Candle Wax: Making Beautiful Candles

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