Candlefind Review Board Archive

I've tried four Root scents and had positive results from three of them. I would give a 10 to their Ginger Patchouli. Now, not everyone will like this one, it is pretty intense. So intense that having two votives open in my living room is enough to create a scent that is obvious upon entry ... even if they are not lit! Update. After trying four more scents, their "Wooded Olive", "Pomander Accord", "Oakmoss" and "Japanese Cedarwood" I'm bumping up my rating from an 8 to a 10. They have marvelous & unique combinations on herbs & nature scents. Indeed, as far as interesting nature-oriented or spicy scents, I have yet to find their equal. The Japanese Cedarwood and Oakmoss were not as strongly scented, but still pretty good. I also tried a Ginger Patchouli tart in a small votive-sized warmer. WOW! This filled a 250sf room with an intense scent. To contain their scent, I had to put them into a ziplock bag when not in use, otherwise they compete with whatever candle I'm burning. I also very much enjoyed their Lemongrass-Tangerine and Grapevine. The L-T has a nice citrus smell, not as strong as the ginger patchouli, but strong enough to scent a large room. The Grapevine was quite interesting as it did smell like a grapevine, not a grape. Much more "woodsy" with a hint of grape. I don't know what prompted them to create this one, I've never seen it anywhere else, but they really nailed it. The only scent that I was not impressed with was Scotch Pine. This smelled nice in the jar, but when burned it was much sweeter than I expected with only a light pine fragrance. So my scorecard is 7 very positive scents and one so-so. All of them burned nicely, no tunneling. Now if one has a preference for bakery or floral scents, then I don't know how Root's products stack up. Note while their jar candles are soy blends, their votives make no claim of contain soy, so I think those are paraffin.

I burn a LOT of candles. Root is the ONLY candle that I have tried that earns A+ in my book. They leave Yankee, White Barn, Colonial, Village, Partylite and numerous assorted other mainstream brands I have tried far behind in the dust. Root's home base is in Medina, Ohio, a fairly short drive from my home. The company has been in business over 100 years (no that is not a typo). Which tells you they are doing something right. Candles are a soy blend. Burn CLEAN. Roots product line consists of the standard jars in 4 sizes, tins, tumblers, tealights, 10 hour and 20 hour votives, aroma mosaics (wax for melting pots aka tarts) and various types of pillars and dinner candles, and some specialty containers. I do not do pillars and dinner candles, so my review specifically excludes these. Some of the scents are stronger than others-which is intentional as not everyone wants a heavy scent experience. They all have terrific scent throw, just some of the scents are intentionally manufactured "lighter" than others. No I do not care for every one of their scents, however, that is just personal preference rather than a misgiving on their part. I despise vanilla regardless WHO produces it for example. Their "flagship" showroom is GORGEOUS. Over 20,000 SQUARE FEET of candles and candle-based decor. They dont just throw items on shelves. The items are actually displayed in attractive settings. If you live nearby (it is in Medina Rte 18), a trip is definitely warranted. Their candle accessories and holders are very reasonably priced (and frequent sales). Their displays are so perfect it is not uncommon for people to "buy" the display elements. Root sells direct at their stores and outlets, and does sell retail. My secret to Root is their Outlet. The have various outlet stores, including one nestled behind their flagship retail outlet. If the label on a jar candle is 1/8-inch off from their specifications, it goes to the outlet. If the lid has a tiny glass imperfection, it goes to the outlet. If their trademark ribbon that is tied around the jars does not lay completely flat against the jar, it goes to the outlet. A perfectly good candle. At about half (or less) of retail. They also run periodic "sales" and specials (as does their retail store). My favorite scents are Oceana (new introduction last year), Walk on the Beach (brand new introduction this year), Paradise, Lilac Glory (new re-introduction they brought back last year), Wooded Olive, Lime Serenade (unfortunately retired this year) and English Hyacinth. Other times I am in the mood for others of their scents, so I have a huge assortment of them. The only ones I truly do not like are French Vanilla, Grapevine (smells like dirt to me lol!), Eucalyptus Twist (smells oddly like a WEED when it burns), Green Tea & Rose (smells like a funeral home imho) and Ginger Patchouli (I like regular Patchouli, but the ginger just makes the scent absolutely overbearing). Unlike Yankee who regularly disappears scents, Root retires a limited number of scents. (Another bonus of outlet shoppping: you can still find retired scents as that is where they send all their remaining inventory.) Root wins hands down in my book. No question.

I have been burning Root for years. I have tried many scents and have liked most of them. they do not overpower a room. they always have burned evenly and clean and their Collinetts and Tapers burn long and are dripless

I had gotten several Root Candles a while ago. The price is way over the top. Since they are made in Ohio, you would think they would be easy to find in Ohio. They are very hard to find in my area which is a few hours away from Medina. (where they are made) For great fall scents I have gotten the 8oz. Queen Bee Jar in Plum Pudding and Pumpkin Spice, they are both long lasting and fill my entire house. The other 8 oz. jars I have are Apple Harvest, very nice, year round scent. I have gotten Pecan Praline and Fresh Peach, these may be discontinued because I can't find them on their web site anymore. They are both awesome. They fill my whole house. The price for the 8oz. jar is $14.50, they do last a very long time and they burn very well, but still overpriced. The only scent I wouldn't buy again is Martha's Sugar Cookies. I had gotten this for a gift in the 5.5 oz. mini jar. (the price is $10.00) There was very little scent at all for me. Some people may like the weak scent, but I like my whole house scented. Except for the Sugar Cookies, I would recommend Root Candles.

I have seen Root candles sold in higher end stores for way more than I'm willing to spend. But, occasionally I will find them at discount outlets like Tuesday Morning or Ross. I have purchased their tapers which burn beautifully (dripless, lasts a long time) and I just tried their Metrolight candle in Winter Pine. Nice subtle scent, not overpowering. The glass container is beautiful and classy, would make a nice vase afterward. Retail is $22, but I got it for $9.99.

I decided to splurge on some luxury candles a few months ago from ScentsandSprays.com. (You might already know this if you read all of my reviews here on the board.) One of the candles I bought was by Root a.k.a. A.I. Root....a company I knew of for a couple years since I started Candle Find. I was always curious about this company. It got the impression it was a "luxury" brand, for the candle lovers who have extra money to blow. :-) I think Root Candles makes many different types of candles, but the only candles that ScentsandSprays.com offered at the time of my order was their Vanilla scented collection. Each candle is this collection is 12oz. and is a combo of Vanilla and some other scent. I got their Peach Vanilla scent. The candle is in a GORGEOUS frosted etched tumbler glass. It's so classy and just looks SO luxurious. These candles, at least this collection, are made of a soy wax blend. Blended with what you ask? I don't know, but it's a nice creamy smooth cream colored wax...no artificial colors in this candle collection I don't think. One more detail before I move onto my scent review... These candles have 2 wicks. I didn't burn mine all the way yet, but so far, it's burning very clean. I thought the scent would be stronger than it is, but as I always say...we all have our own views of what a "strong" scented candle is. For me, I would rate this scent as medium, but you may think it's just enough for you. I was burning it in my kitchen. It's not a huge room, but it's a nice size and the candle only really filled half the room with scent. The scent was pleasant though. I guess I would describe it as soft and kind of feminine. Normally you only hear of people describing floral scents as feminine, but for some reason, this scent is feminine to me. It's not a huge peach or vanilla scent, just a nice subtle mix. I'm wondering if the other candles in this vanilla collection are soft like this. I'll have to try another one one day to see. Since it was not a super-strong scent, I put it in my powder room and it was perfect in there! Just enough scent to really fill the small room with a wonderful, but still soft, feminine fragrance. The jar also looked great on my counter by the sink. On looks alone, this candle is gorgeous and would look great in a room decorated in the shabby chic style. By the way, that's not the decor I have, but I can just picture this candle blending nicely with shabby chic. If you like scented candles that are not "in-your-face," super-strong scents, but just fill part of an average size room with a very pleasing, softer scent, I think you'd enjoy this candle. I'm interested to try more candles from Root to see how the scent throw compares to my candle. I'm not giving up on Root yet...I've only just begun to experiment. That's always so much fun. :-) Carolyn

Of course, read the reviews first. But, after some quite disappointing recent buys, I purchased 2 candles and mainly what the company calls Aroma mosaics (tarts). First I ordered a 22oz [b]Ginger Patchouli[/b]-this is VERY heavy on the ginger-so be forewarned-not as strong a thrower as I thought. Good candle for covering up scents in the kitchen i think-not an everyday scent!! Second I got a 22oz [b]Aphrodisiac[/b]-there was no description of this scent, but I liked the name and it was a fire engine red color. This is a nice thrower-started to smell this one right after I lit it!! It is kind of difficult to describe-I would say green with some floral undertones-I really like it and would buy this one again. I have only tried two of the mosaics: Sea Salt Scrub-clean, fresh with good, although short lived throw and Amaryllis/orange with very light throw. Overall, pretty happy, I still have a few more Mosiacs to try including: Sampaquita, Wooded olive, Oceana, and Walk on the Beach. So far, I really like the Aphrodisiac candle-crazy name! :wink:

these are tried and true candles. they burn evenly and some scents are strong while others are nondiscernable--to me. my favorite: grapevine, mulled wine.

Although this company touts itself as one of the better candle companies, I was unimpressed by the actual burning scent throw of their jar candle and melts. I spent $20.00 (on sale) on a pear scented jar that looked nice and smelled good in the container only to notice almost no scent while burning to its smoky conclusion. The candle did last a long time but needed constant wick maintenance and, by the end of cycle, the whole thing appeared very messy. The tarts (Ginger/Peach, Patchoulli, Pear) also smelled good in the package but did not make much of an impact, even in a smaller room. Overall, I think there are many better companies out there.

My favorite all time scent from Root is their Lavender Vanilla. It's really pretty and it's one of the strongest I've tried from them. I've had many candles tunnel in the past so I tend to only buy when they have sales or I get smaller candles such as their honey bee jars which are perfect for bathrooms.

OK, so I only sampled one and I am less than impressed. I'm willing to give them another try, but at this point, I wouldn't recommend them. I had read some pretty awesome reviews of Root Candles, so maybe my hopes were too high? I purchased a Lavender pillar. Normally I do like jars, but the store I was at didn't carry them. I figured I couldn't go wrong with lavender, it's such a safe, restful scent. I tried in vain to get a whiff through the plastic wrapping at the store, and that should have tipped me off right then. Well, maybe it has to be lit first, I told myself. In all fairness, I liked how the flame burned. Flame? Yeah, the flame. I'm not big on frisky flickerings, I like a quiet, bright light. And this Root candle did that well. The wax, though hard, liquified fairly quickly and gave a nice scent pool in no time. Only thing is, the scent throw wasn't quite as impressive. Oh, I smelled the scent, but I had it burning in a bedroom with little air circulation, and it still wasn't strong enough for my liking. I tried in vain to hug the sides of my pillar at the appropriate time. The edges just broke off, they were so hard! I'm talking about an eighth of an inch that wouldn't mold(?)! I would like to try a jar in their Wooded Olive scent and give them another try. But no more of their pillars for me.

I buy candles for scent. Root had hardly any. I bought a tumbler in a pumpkin scent, and tins in hosta, hollyberry, and frosty mistletoe. All burned cleanly; I could barely smell any of them.

I found these is a specialty grocery store. The scent throw is non existent.

I have tried 2 different candles from them and neither threw the scent well, I had to stand right over them to smell anything. And I recently bought a couple aphrodisiac votives and burned them in the bathroom .... and again, no scent throw.

A NOTE FROM CAROLYN: (webmaster of Candle Find) Since I've created this review board to replace the old visitor candle review section of CandleFind, I have to move old visitor reviews here to the board. I had a few visitor reviews of Root Candles that I am posting below. Each review is by a different visitor of Candle Find. I've included their name along with their review. Visitor Review of Root Candles by Diane : (Added: 10/31/04) "I love Root candles more than any other brand. The Pumpkin Spice is one to scent the entire room and not become offensive."