Candle Review: Ten Digit Creations – Peace & Love Baby!

by Avery Jordan

Company: Ten Digit Creations

Type:
8 oz soy candle – $8.00
Muffin melts – 1/$1.25, 4/$4.50

Scents:
Woodstock
Nag Champa
Peace, Love & Patchouli
Egyptian Dragon

Strength:
Candles – light
Tarts – medium +

Introduction to my review of scented candles and melts from Ten Digit Creations:

Feelin’ Groovy?… Then, far out, man! Grab your tie-dyed threads and find your love beads! C’mon with me…we are going retro – back to the psychedelic 60’s. Let me lay these heavy names on you: Peace, Love and Patchouli, Nag Champa, Egyptian Dragon and Woodstock. Can you dig it? Well… let’s tell it like it is!

The 60’s had its own language, its own clothing styles, its own historical music, and you only have to mention the fragrance “patchouli” to get the hippie jokes started. Ten Digit Creations has a great selection of scent blends, brimming with patchouli, sandalwood, and the musky smells we associate with that decade. Of course, other non-funky scents can be found on their scent list as well!

Here is a gold star for this vendor – the site has a discontinued scent description list! (Have you been in this situation? You finally melted some wax you were hoarding and loved it! You went to the site – only to find that it was old news… not a trace of it found. You have no idea what the notes are! How will you ever figure it out? TDC, we thank you!)

Ten Digit Creations is an Etsy vendor and they also have a web store. Their site graphics are… well, outa-site! (Now really, how could I resist that one?) The heading banner is done with blues, dark brown and rust. The genre is sort of “batik meets kindergarten”. Seriously, it sounds odd from this description, but it is really artistic and unusual and I like it! Amber and Ken, the owners, say the products are handmade (Amber crafts the home scenting and some bath and body, Ken does a lot of the bath and body as well), so the logo of hands is an appropriate symbol for their business.

We are reviewing both the foil wrapped tarts and the 8 oz jelly jar candles in all the above scents. The tarts are in a little foil cupcake-style wrapper. The wax is dye free, and single tarts come in their own little self-seal bags with the Ten Digit handprint label on top.

The soy wax in the jelly jars is also dye-free. They are standard jelly jars and have the natural brown label (complete with handprints – ten digits, get it?) on the side.

How did my candles from Ten Digit Creations smell?

Nag Champa

“A combination of patchouli, sandalwood, and dragon’s blood”

I remember trying this scent only once before and it was so dark and musty that I was not anxious to try it again. Ten Digit’s was a pleasant surprise! It was softer, and though it was a sultry scent, it was so much nicer than what I remembered that I liked this scent a lot. This Indian scent is a well known incense fragrance, originating from the Champa flower, part of the same genus as Frangipani/Plumeria. The description of Dragon’s Blood includes “asian florals”, and these notes blend with the rest to make it a soothing scent. (It is still earthy enough, however, that Bob Dylan is reported to have to burned it at concerts.)

The jelly jar candle is 8 oz., but it is narrow so you have a fairly small melt pool – it scented a small bedroom lightly. The tart was stronger – I tried it in a room that was 15 x 17 and it was pleasantly strong.

Woodstock

“The earthy aroma of true herbal patchouli and sandalwood”

This is another fun scent, and it was the lightest of the scents I tried. The small melt pool on my candle was only up to scenting a my powder room. The tart being stronger, lightly scented a small bedroom. What a great scent! And though it is a lighter scent, that is not all bad – one of the biggest complaints about Patchouli is that is it too much, too intense. So if you like it… but not in big doses, try this one!

The patchouli is clearly there – and perhaps it is the “herbal” part that is giving the low note a woodsy/smokey quality. The sandalwood gives it nice depth, making it feel very mystical.

This really does tap into those old scent storing areas of the brain and conjures up the feeling of those old Woodstock days. Playing Santana? Greatful Dead? You need this scent to make it an authentic experience!

Peace, Love and Patchouli

“An earthy blend of fresh patchouli, herbal sandalwood, with hints of strawberry and raspberry with a down of fresh vanilla and peppermint leaf”

Oh good! My nose had not failed me! The scent of this candle and tart seemed to have a minty finish. And there it is, listed in the description.

There’s that patchouli again! It is the scent people love or hate. Lovers descriptions tend to be “earthy, mossy, mildew-ish” while those who are not fans see it as smelling more like “potting soil, or dirty laundry”. It is pretty much synonymous with being an oil or incense used by hippies, but did you know that in actuality patchouli is a perennial herb, a member of the mint family?

If you like the idea of patchouli but it overwhelms you, this scent might be another to try. The vanilla and mint notes balance out the sweet pungent smell of patchouli and somehow is ends up being an earthy mint… if there is such a thing? Who would have thought that you could refer to a patchouli blend as refreshing?

Egyptian Dragon

“Unique blend of myrrh, dragons blood, and patchouli, with floral notes of rose, jasmine, and base notes of woodsy musk”

This is not to be confused with Puff, the Magic Dragon – another icon in the 60’s! This was the strongest of the scents I tried, and I thought it was a very good one! It was the kind of scent where you keep opening the door so you get blasts of scent! I am betting this scent is good for those who like the “darker, sultry” scents, but feel that “hippie scents” aren’t their thing.

It is a crossover scent – Egyptian Dragon can’t be listed only in the incense category. This is the gothic novel of scents: mysterious, romantic…and just a little racy! Its cold sniff is mainly the amber from the Dragon’s Blood, and that gets stronger when melting. It is evened out with the other notes, the jasmine and musk giving it that romantic feel.

The candle in this scent is a little stronger – covering a 12 x 12 room just fine. The tarts easily scented the large master bedroom and headed into the hallway.

How do my candles and tarts by Ten Digit Creations perform?

The jelly jar candles were problem free – a total melt pool, no wax remained on the sides. Minor trimming is needed on the wick.

The soy tarts? I used my tealight melter and they melted easily – it took about 30 minutes for the scent throw to really get going. Most lasted about 5-6 hours. The paper peels easily off the sides of the tart, and it removes easily from the melter.

Closing my review on Ten Digit Creations:

This review was so much fun! I really enjoyed these unusual scents – and if you are ready for a change, bored with melting the usual pink sugar and lavender vanillas, you can find a whole new world of scenting here! Of course, the “usuals” are also available as well. 

Ten Digit Creations have super owners, great scented waxies, and a cool site. It seems that all that is left is the “deal”!  So, check out their Facebook fanpage page if you are interested in getting the scoop on any promotions, and  subscribe to the newsletter as well.

So…peace, brother (or sister!)… and happy candle smelling!

~ Avery

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