Burning candles is one of the easiest ways to create ambience at home.  I've always had a thing for candles, but once I moved into my new place, I really leaned into this obsession.  If I'm home, there's probably a candle or two burning.  It makes my place seem warm and cozy (which is crucial considering every single wall in my place is still bare).  Despite my love for candles, I recently discovered that I'd been totally slacking in the candle care department.  Here's a list of what I've learned to keep those expensive candles looking and smelling their best:

1. Trim the wick before each use.  Failing to trim the wick means the candle will smoke, diluting the scent and possibly staining the gorgeous candle holder that you want to recycle and repurpose later.  I just use scissors, but you can get a fancy wick trimmer here.
2. Let the candle burn until the whole surface melts.  Every single time.  To make sure that the candle burns evenly, it's super important to let it burn long enough so that the entire surface liquifies.  Otherwise, as you use the candle, the middle part will slowly melt away while the outer edges continue to stay solid.  This is known as "tunneling."  It really decreases the longevity of a candle, and it's not pretty either.  Now, when I want to burn a candle, I'll think about how long I'll let it burn.  If it'll only be for 30 minutes or so, I'll burn one of my mini votives, but if I know that I'll be home for a few hours, then I bust out one of my Jo Malone or NARS candles (yes, NARS has candles and they are fab!).
3. Snuff the candle.  This is one rule that I don't always follow, but snuffing the candle, with a special tool or just the back of a spoon, lessens the amount of smoke that comes when a candle is extinguished.  This allows the scent to linger longer and not get over-powered by a smokey smell.  Check out a Diptyque candle snuffer here.

I love white floral scents, so my current favorites are Jo Malone in Orange Blossom and NARS in Oran, which is a gardenia scent.Shop the post below:[xyz-ihs snippet="candles"]Like what you see?Like beautyluxelife on Facebook here.Follow along on Bloglovin' here.