Why You Should Use Candles & Use Them Often
If you’re not keeping a constant supply of candles in your house, you’re a little bit behind the times. Candles have been around since the 8th century B.C. (some say even earlier) and used by the ancient Romans as a source of light for travelers and a symbolic instrument in ceremonies. While candles do still come in handy for the odd power outage here and there, the main reason we use candles nowadays is slightly different. Here are two reasons why we use candles on a daily basis and why you should too.
To Make a Space Cozy
We all know what this one is about. What do you do when you want to get all curled up in a fur blanket with a hot toddy and wistfully look out the window (besides cranking down your AC to an arctic level)? You light a candle. There is some science behind why we do this. Turning off artificial lights and replacing the light source with a dim, warm light can promote a relaxed and positive mood.
Additionally, the capability of a lit candle to instantly make a room feel cozy is somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy. An overwhelming majority of candle users—9 out of 10, to be precise—say that they use candles specifically to make a room feel more comfortable and cozier. The flickering of a candle flame is reminiscent of a fireplace, which we all know is the ultimate accessory to a cozy room.
Aside from the statistics, we all just have an instinct towards having a candle be in a cozy space. The warm, dim light that comes from them and the way they seamlessly blend into our space just inherently makes a room with candles feel more welcome than room without.
To Make (or remember) A Special Mood or Memory
Candle fragrance is the most important characteristic of buying a candle, and it’s no surprise when you consider how large of a role scent plays in our daily lives. Our sense of smell is the strongest of all our five senses and 75% of all our emotions are triggered by smell. Candle-buyers are increasingly buying candles for their aromatherapy-like use. What we smell day in, and day out, can literally change how we feel, making us stressed out, anxious, more relaxed, or happy. There’s a reason why good realtors will try to make their houses smell like freshly baked cookies!
When you decide to light a candle in your space, you choose the scent purposefully: fresh and citrus-y scents for summer; complex and spicy scents for fall; balsam and sweet scents for winter. Having an affinity for a particular scent profile depending on the season is not a coincidence. We remember 1% of what we touch, 2% of what we hear, 5% of what we see, 15% of what we taste, but a whopping 35% of what we smell. So, you probably prefer fresh and citrus-y scents for summer because they remind you of fresh squeezed lemonade and desert flowers; complex and spicy scents for fall because they remind you of pumpkin patches and apple cider; and balsam and sweet scents for winter because they remind you of Christmas trees and Santa’s cookies.
Thus, when choosing to light a candle, the scent is imperative to what you want to associate with that fragrance for years to come. Or perhaps you’re lighting a candle specifically because it brings back a memory that you need to feel close to. We’ve had customers purchase our candles precisely because the smell reminds them of their Papa, or their husband’s cologne, or the scent of their mom’s fall decorations.
So, when we say you should use candles, and use them often, we’re not just saying that because we want you to be a return customer (although we would love that). We’re saying that because studies have shown how simply having a candle lit can improve your mood and how having a good smelling candle lit can do even more. So, whether you want to make a room cozy or make a special memory, we encourage you to let St. Brown & Co. candles help you do that.