Candle Review: Our Own Candle Company

by Avery Jordan

Company: Our Own Candle Company

Scents: Coconut Banana
Banana Nut Bread
Cinnamon Buns
Lemon Pound Cake
Hot Apple Pie
Apple Pie/Cinnamon/Vanilla

Price:
Mason jars – $7.00
Melt ’ems 4 cubes – $1.50

Strength: Medium+

Introduction to my scented candle review from Our Own Candle Company:

The candles I am reviewing are from Our Own Candle Company, a vendor new to me, and they have quickly zipped up to my list of “re-order” vendors.  Howard, the General Manager of Our Own Candle Company,  was great to work with!  He was very personable and enthusiastic about his company.  My first question may also be your first… what about that name?  Our Own Candle Company… Where did that come from?

As is often the case, it turns out there is an interesting story  here.  I love getting the scoop on the why’s and where’s of things. (Yep, I am an annoyance on road trips – I take books about the history of the area and look for historical markers … and stop at every one. Traveling, my favorite restaurants have the  paper menus with the “about us” stories.)

So, I asked Howard… just what was the history of that name?

Answer… several years ago, this was a company that did some importing. One item in their inventory was tin candle shades – and they had a bunch of them. Too many actually.  So, what to do with that many candle shades? The answer was, start “our own candle company!”  Little did they know that candles were their future! That decision led them to learn about the candle making process and how to develop quality candles – looking for “the best scent, color and burn”.  (By the way, you can still buy candle shades on Our Own’s website!)

The simple web design  makes it easy to look at all the clever items Our Own Candle Company has for sale.  The candles are offered in soy and in a soy and paraffin blend.   One of the more unusual candles is the “2-in-1”, this is a regular container candle and the lid holds another candle!

The candle that  Our Own Candle Company is best known for is the mason jar with the handle. Since the infamous candle shades needed a screw on top like mason jars provide, a mason  with a handle added a little twist.  These are also multiuse containers – I first saw this style of mason jar at a pizza parlor – being used as their drinking glasses!

If you are a fan of the mason jars, take note that they also carry mini masons – holding 3.5 ounces of wax. Another interesting twist ? Check out the votives!  Called Teezers, they are 1.5 ounce candles contained in a flame resistant cup.  No looking around for a votive holder that snuggly fits  this votive, it comes all decked out in its own.

I mentioned that you will find the website easy to navigate,  but one trick to know is that there is not a scent description button or list.  You can read about the scents when you pull up the Mason candles.

There is something else that caught my eye.  The prices are really reasonable! SUPER reasonable!!

What do my candles and melts from Our Own Candle Company look?

I am testing the mason jar candles with handles.  They are clear with their logo embossed in the glass.  They also have a label on the front with the fragrance name.  (On little thing that detracts from the appearance is the bar
code right on the bottom of the label. )  The usual candle safety information in found on the top of the lid, along with the weight  (net weight 13 oz.).The Lemon Poundcake wax is bright yellow, the Coconut Banana is soft yellow and my 3 layer Apple Pie/Cinnamon/Vanilla looks really attractive with tan, rose and  soft yellow layers.

When you open the lid on these candles you will find the wick is centered and held in place by one of their creations, a black plastic doo-dad  that, according to Howard ,”beats using paper clips and popsicle sticks”.  It is pretty obvious, but be sure to remove this before burning.

The Melt’ems are different than most  tarts that I have melted.  They are in a clamshell-style container, but instead of being the 6 cube holder,  they holds 4 cubes and they are priced at $1.50 for 1.2 ounces. (And watch the clearance section on the site,  the Melt’ems have been on sale for seventy five cents! Whoopie!!)

How do my candles and melts from Our Own Candle Company smell?

Coconut Banana  (soft yellow wax / candle)

I like this scent!  No plastic banana – and the coconut is mild.  This actually reminds me more of a marshmallow blend – sort of like a banana-y circus peanut candy.   It is a soft scent, and lightly scents my testing room… plenty strong for the powder room.

Banana Nut Bread

(nutty brown , melts/used 2 cubes)

I have never been a big fan of banana nut bread, unlike Julia or Andrea.  My first BNB was not a very good one, and it has been one that I have not been able to get past. I lit with and open mind, and found this BNB is actually pretty good.  It is more of a nut bread with banana.  (My introduction to this scent was more of a toasted plastic banana … and this one is not even close to that!)   I used  2 cubes – tealight melter, lasted about 3 hours, and it had a great throw!

Lemon Pound Cake

(bright yellow / candle)

I think this is a favorite of many candle burners.  The lemony scent is the top note – but to keep it from being too fruity, the cakey note follows and balances it out, with slight hints of coconut.  The scent is moderately strong – lightly scenting a 12 x 12 room. I tried it in a small powder room, too – but it was too much for that small room.

Lemon Pound Cake melt

I used  2 cubes in a tealight melter to test this one.  I lit it up, closed the door and came back about a half hour later.  When I opened the  door I immediately had a visual of a ginormous lemon muffin – ala Costco.  It was moderately strong – enough for the testing room!  It is definitely a bakery lemon – sweet not  puckery citrus.  The cake is the strongest scent, just like in the candle.  The melts lasted for about 4 hours.

Cinnamon Buns

(gooey cinnamon roll brown/melt)

I tried this one on two occasions, both times using two cubes.  Once again I used a tealight melter. The first 2 cubes were very strong – It reminded me of the gooey inter-centers of a cinnamon bun.  (I know I am not alone here.  Don’t cinnamon rolls taste even better when you unroll them and eat them in one long strip? That way you get part  of the  sticky, spicey, buttery filling on every bite.)

The second round did not seem quite as strong, but still it was scenting the testing room with moderate scent.  Since there was a lapse of a couple weeks and we were heading into spring, the difference may have had to do with the change in air currents once the weather changed. Warm weather is a tough one for my home – lots of chasing scents going the wrong way down the hall!

Hot Apple Pie (tan/melt)

I usually like apple scents, both fruity and bakery.  This one did not disappoint me!  There is the clear smell of the apple and spice, finishing with the pastry note – it smells like it came right out of the oven!  This scent lasted about 3 hours in the test, moderately scenting my  room.
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Three Layers – Apple Pie,  Cinnamon and Vanilla Candle

I saved one of the best  sellers for last.   This is one time I wished my candle would tunnel – envision a molten waxy tube of these three scents , all mixing together.   Mmmmm… that sounds really good to me!However, as I mentioned, these candles burn nicely – so I had to wait until the layers got close together to melt and mix.  The top layer of Apple Pie was lighter in scent than most of the other candles I tried.  The cinnamon had a medium throw – nice and spicy, and it blended very nicely with the vanilla layer.  The vanilla won the throw prize – (were you saving the best for last, Howard?)  It is a full, buttery vanilla and it easily scented the testing room.

How do my candles and melts from Our Own Candle Company perform?

These candles burned  just fine!   I did wick trimming prior to relighting, and monitored the length of the wick. Long wicks = soot.  Be sure you have a nice sharp wick trimmer or scissors with long blades when you burn candles like this – as the wax gets low, it can be a challenge to trim if you don’t have the right accessories in these narrow mason jars.

The melts are somewhat soft, they melt quickly.  I used tealights most of the time, but I did try them in a 25w bulb melter with good results!.  Since the wax is pretty soft,  I poured it out when it was done. ( It was still a little gooey in the iced state to come out cleanly.)

Final thoughts on Our Own Candle Company:

As I mentioned at the beginning, I have taken a likin’ to this company.  It is a great place to buy good quality, everyday candles, and a great place to load up on melts.  While I enjoy a high end, exotic candle occasionally, most of the time my budget leads me to  a vendor like this that makes candles I can burn every day.  It seems I’m not alone.  Checking the reviews on the website, there were 77 posted.  Almost all of the reviews posted gave them 5 stars, and it is easy to see why.  Our Own Candle Company candles have a nice throw and an even burn – and – the price is right!

~ Happy candle shopping!

Avery

Visit Our Own Candle Company