Creating the perfect scent for your candles is one of the most important things. Whether it is a gift for a family member or a product to sell, a unique and calming scent is the reason why we light scented candles in the first place. That is why it is crucial to achieve the best fragrances. But for a beginner, investing in several essential and fragrance oils can be a bit expensive. This might be the reason why so many people are looking for alternative solutions. If you are one of them, you might already had the question: can I use vanilla extract in candles? Well, if you are curious to know, keep on reading!
Can I use vanilla extract?
The short answer is yes you can, but with caution. Originally, using vanilla extract in your candles is not a bad idea. It can give your candles a subtle but nice scent, similar to using an essential oil. However, like with everything else, you have to try out first before starting to sell!
Firstly, it is worth knowing that the strength of the fragrance will be different with different waxes. Secondly, the quality of your vanilla extract is also important, so try to use good quality products. Even with that, you might not be able to achieve the same strong fragrance with a vanilla extract. Lastly, keep in mind that alcohol based products can be fire hazards, so always check the label for ingredients.
Experimenting is the key in this case, as you cannot predict the result. You might not end up with such a strong scent as with essential or fragrance oils, so you have to be prepared for that as well.
What about vanilla beans?
If we are already experimenting with homemade ingredients, you might also want to try out vanilla beans. Well, as much as it is a great decoration for your vanilla scented candle, unfortunately they won’t provide scent at all. So, even if you use it as decoration, don’t hope for a strong scent at all.
Professional ingredients
If you want to make sure, invest in good quality products which are made for the candle making process. Essential and fragrance oils are created to be used as part of candle making so you will definitely end up with strong and unique scents. This way, you investment won’t be for nothing as the result is guaranteed. You can find vanilla essential oils as well as several fragrance oils which have other scents mixed with vanilla. By using a fragrance oil, you don’t even have to experiment and mix essential oils during the process.
All things considered, adding baking ingredients, such as vanilla extract is worth a try. However, you should be prepared to end up with a candle without a really strong scent. If you want to make sure that you make quality product, you can’t avoid investing in good quality essential and fragrance oils. After all, the unique scent is the key to a great candle!
