Candle Terms, Decoded: A Glossary for Talking Wax Like an Insider

Every hobby has a dialect, and candles are no exception. Here's the working vocabulary — everything we say around here, defined honestly, so product pages read like sentences instead of riddles.

the burn words

Melt pool: the liquid wax layer on top while burning. Full melt pool (edge to edge) = full fragrance release. Tunneling: what happens when early burns are cut short and the flame digs a hole down the middle — fixable, see the rescue guide. Wax memory: why tunneling happens; wax re-melts along its first burn's boundary. First burns matter. Trim: keeping the wick at 3–4mm so the flame behaves — the whole ritual lives on the care page.

the scent words

Throw: how far scent travels — “cold throw” is the unlit sniff, “hot throw” is the real performance (full explainer). Notes: the individual smells in a blend — top notes greet you, heart notes carry the middle, base notes stay late and do the dishes. Tap any note chip on our product pages and a popup explains it. Accord: several notes blended to read as one thing (see: amber, which is entirely an accord).

the maker words

Fragrance load: the percentage of oil in the wax — higher costs more and smells like it. Cure time: the days a poured candle rests while wax and oil marry; patience you can smell. Small batch: poured in rounds a human can quality-check — in our case, rachel in white lake, michigan (why that matters). Hand-poured: exactly what it sounds like, slightly obsessively.

final exam

“Nice hot throw on this small-batch soy — full melt pool, zero tunneling.” Congratulations, you speak candle. Practice conversationally at the all candles shelf.