We have introduced two new beeswax candles to our collection, and we’re excited to share them with the world! Our two newest products are the Pyramid and the Small Pillar. Often customers are curious how we decide what new beeswax candles we will create.
There’s a lot that goes into launching a new product. It starts with a concept, where we decide what we are going to make. We receive many requests and suggestions throughout the year and we continually collect your ideas and combine them with many of our own to come up with the next Honey Candle. With each new idea we consider a number of things including, how well the candle will burn, if there are obstacles in making it that cannot be overcome, if the final product will be too delicate to ship and is there enough demand for this new product.
Once we decide what new beeswax candle we would like to craft, the next step is determining how. Will the candle be hand-dipped? Will it be hand-poured into a beeswax mold? If so, what will the mold be made of? Does the mold already exist, or does the new beeswax creation require a custom mold?
After we determine how to make the beeswax candle, we need to determine how it will burn. This is where wick testing comes in. Often, we can deduce approximately what size wick we will need by the style and diameter of the candle, but we always test several varieties. Here at Honey Candles, wick testing looks like trays and trays of candles, with different cotton wicks, all labelled with wick type, and start times. We test intermittent burning, continuous burning, even different temperatures and environments. And beeswax has such long burning times that this can take days and days!!
Once we have determined the optimal way to create the candle and the best wick size and style, we look for efficiencies in the handcrafting process. This isn’t something that happens overnight, but rather something that we are continuously improving upon over time.
Sometimes candle making stops there, but for us it continues into decisions about labels – graphic design, materials, ordering, application and then packaging – we need to ensure it will get to our customer in perfect condition! We strive to do this with efficient packaging, to keep our carbon footprint low, to reduce costs, and to conserve resources and streamline shipping. We source all our labels and packaging from the Pacific Northwest so our products are creating more jobs than just those at Honey Candles.
We are proud of covering all our bases when we create something new. We want every one of our candles to perform well. This care and attention to detail does hinder our ability to make one time custom candles, but the end result is that each Canadian made beeswax candle we produce can be trusted to burn for long periods, effectively and brightly.
