ABOUT CANDLES:

• Candles are used in 7 out 10 U.S. households.
• Votives, jar candles, and pillars are currently the most popular types of candles with American consumers.
• Two-thirds of candle purchasers say they use candles once a week or more often.Americans have a passion for fragrance and scented candles are the number one choice of U.S. consumers for home fragrancing.
• Scented candles are great for any room in the house, but unscented candles are best for dining.
• Scented candles can conflict the aroma and enjoyment of your food.

POPULAR SCENTS

• Kitchen Aromas: Vanilla and vanilla based aromas have remained the most popular candle scent for almost a decade. Other favorites in this category include cinnamon, coffee, mocha, gingerbread, pumkpin, apple pie, brown sugar and hazelnut.
• Fruits: Fruity fragrances generally form the second most popular scent grouping for candles. Citrus and apple scents offer an especially broad range of fragrance notes, from light and breezy to warm and conforting. Other popular fruit scents include peach, black cherry and melon. Florals: Soft and light floral scents continue to be in favor, with special emphasis on lavender, lilac, rose, peony, jasmine and gardenia.
• Spa/Zen: This category features scents associated with relaxation and mood enhancement. Popular candle scents in this category include ginger, mint, eucalyptus, sandalwood, green tea and ylang ylang.

WICKS:

• Lead wicks were banned from the U.S marketplace in 2003, and for several years before that were found primarily in inexpensive foreign candle imports.
• The purpose of  a wick is to deliver fuel (wax) to the flame. Acting like a fuel pump, the wick draws the liquified wax up into the flame to burn. Different wick sizes allow for different amount of fuel to draw into the flame. Too much fuel and the flame will flare and soot, too little fuel and the flame will sputter out.
• All wicks consist of a bundle of fibers that are either twisted, braided or knitted together. These fibers absorb the liquified wax and carry it to the flame by capillary action.

CANDLE-USER PREFERENCES

• The majority of U.S. consumers use their candles within a week of purchase.
• Nine out ten candle users say thay use candles within a week of purchase.
• Candle users say they most frequently burn candles in the living room (42%), followed by the kitchen (18%), and the bedroom (13%).
• Approximately one in five women say they use candles to decorate the yard, patio or other exterior areas, as well as the interior of their home.
• Both men and women consider candles to be an always-acceptable and highly appreciated gift for a wide variety of occasions.
• Candle purchasers say they view candles as an appropriate gift for the holidays(76%), as a house warming gift (74%), a hostess/ dinner party gift (66%), a thank you (61%) and as adult birthday gifts (58%).