When one of my loyal customers Tisha told me about how she was hoarding Sanna’s Cider (one of my discontinued candles from 2017) “like a miser,” I couldn’t help but laugh. Tisha, like many others, is a candle hoarder. “No one is allowed to light it except for me,” she texted me, making my day.
I do love it when customers adore my candles, but when customers save my discontinued ones or even their favorites for last, it brings a smile to my face. And only true candle hoarders will understand this act of perpetual saving— there will always be a special occasion when a specific scent is needed!
Candle hoarders are a rare breed, you see. They’re fiercely protective of their favorites, loyal to particular scents, and real damn stingy when it comes to determining when it’s okay to light those in the hoard! And this isn't a bad thing at all...it's quite endearing.
I think some of the reasoning behind candle hoarding is that scents may never return and there is the possibility that candles’ packaging could change. There is definitely a consensus on savoring each special candle while you can and making each candle last!
I know many candle hoarders and…candle addicts as well, like my production assistant. She is constantly burning candles with reckless abandon and loves when I send her home to clean out containers from the many tests I do for candles. She was over the moon when I sent her home with 20 testers last month!
Although she is a convert to Book Scents candles, she totally can’t resist following her nose into small boutiques where candles are on display or roadside flea markets. Wafts of heavenly candles seem to draw her in, prying open her nose, heart, and wallet…and she’s frequently left walking out with big bags under her arms and a paper-thin wallet.
How about you? Can you relate? Are you a candle hoarder or a candle addict? Still can’t tell? Here are 3 signs you’re a candle hoarder and 3 signs you’re a candle addict just for fun!
Candle Hoarders:
1. Have a most prized candle in their collection.
2. Stubbornly shield their candles from being used too often or by others.
3. Know exactly how many candles they have in their collection/ know the weight of their collection (there are people out there with 125lb of candles!).
Candle Addicts:
1. Can’t resist the urge to buy new candles (there must be something in the wax that triggers something in our brains and makes us get just a little crazy for candles!).
2. Each scent is unique and “I must have it!”
3. You can’t pass up a good deal at a flea market.