As a sustainable candle brand from London, we know there is no better way to spend a warm summer’s evening than over a bottle of wine with good friends. With Covid-19 meaning more and more of us are heading out to parks, gardens, and roof terraces, we think it’s about time that outdoor candles have their moment. After months of being kept apart, reunions deserve an extra treat.
There are so many options when it comes to choosing your ideal outdoor candle scent. Though we do have our favourites. Our Kana x Evermore London collaboration was designed in our bestselling summer scents of Light and Flore for a reason. These capture the headiness of never-ending sunny evenings perfectly. But there is more to outdoor candle-scaping than you may think. From windproof candle wicks to keeping your ceiling soot free, we take a quick look at some key factors.
Scents of summer
When it comes to outdoor candles, there’s a definite balance between aesthetics, function, and scent.
We love recommending ways to reuse all our vessels – you can see some empty jar inspiration here – so it’s important to pick something that suits your lifestyle. For example, our KANA collaboration is designed as large ceramic bowls in pink and orange gingham. Perfect sizes for serving up summer meals like pasta and salads. This was important to us as a sustainable candle brand. Having them as bowls also turned them into windproof candles, with the high edges designed to protect the wicks from any pesky breezes.
Once you’ve chosen a style or design, we recommend looking for those candles with the strongest scent throw for outdoor dining. The best outdoor candle scent, in our opinion, is one that doesn’t overpower but also has longlasting fragrance.
A dinner party candle needs to elevate your meal as well as relax your guests. Treat it a bit like wine, white pairs well with fish and so it goes. For us, this makes our Light candle ideal. With top notes of bergamot and grapefruit, it’s reminiscent of fragrant citrus trees and we can see it pairing perfectly with summer berry puddings and an ice-cold Aperol spritz.
Picnics by candlelight
Garden candles are a great outdoor lighting idea for any romantic picnics you’re planning. For us, the ideal summer picnic candle is one which intensifies your surroundings. Whether you’re in the park or your garden, try to find candles with floral top notes like lilac blossoms and deep base scents like thyme or figs. Scents that will take your mind back to those spring walks and lazy days.
As we move further away from the summer solstice, night picnics by candlelight will be a great way to keep the party going. Our Kana X Evermore London Light outdoor candle has an impressive seven wicks to cast your gathering in the warmest of glows. But we have a soft spot for our Flore outdoor candle. With it’s uplifting floral scent (a delicate union of petitgrain and cloves makes for the best summer picnic candle) it also has an impressive 100 hours of burn time – so there’s no rush to beat the night closing in.
Bring it inside
Whilst some are jetting off on holidays, driving to staycations, and others are still just crossing their fingers, we’ll likely all be subject to that temperamental British weather at some point this summer. This is why we designed the KANA x Evermore collaboration to be an indoor & outdoor scented candle. Candle aficionados will know that many cheaper outdoor candles rely on paraffin wax to extend their scent throw – leaving black soot up and down your walls as well as making whatever vessel they’re in unfit for reuse. This is why non-toxic candles, free from phthalates, need to be on your radar for your summer candle purchase.
As a luxury natural candle brand, all our candles are paraben free and blended with a traceable wax mix of soy and rapeseed. This also makes them vegan candles, as they’re not made with beeswax, as well as natural non-toxic candles. There’s a definite sinister side to outdoor scented candles (when paraffin is involved at least) which is why we always recommend doing your research.
