Virginia Candle Brand – RibbonWick Review

RibbonWick Candle Review – WoodWick Candle

Type: RibbonWick, and +PlusWick container candles

Introduction to my review:

From the minute I learned about the new RibbonWick candle from Virginia Candle Company I knew I had to have one. I’ve burned my share of their popular Woodwick candles but this was something altogether different. This candle had the most unusual wick I’d ever seen. It was one long curved ribbon-like wick, hence the name. The wick was designed to burn down the entire length in one continuous flame, but more about that later.

You may be familiar with Woodwick Candles. They are available at many gift shops all over the United States. What you may not know is that Woodwick is not the name of the candle company, but rather the name of their popular “crackling” wicked candles. Virginia Candle Company is the force behind the innovative wick design and luxurious fragrances, and they have been pouring candles in Virginia since 1990. What started as a garage business in Lynchburg, Virginia has grown into a large manufacturing facility employing hundreds of Virginians today. Their distinctive wick design has set them apart from other candle companies over the years, and now they’ve gone a step further by creating the new RibbonWick candle.

Success story aside, I had to get my carbon soot charred fingers on one and see what the new RibbonWick was really all about. Sure, I could have shopped at a local retailer to get my Woodwick fix, but I’m an internet baby so I took my quest online. Virginia Candle Company has a beautiful website with tons of products and scents available. From candles to diffusers, vent clips to melts, Virginia Candle Company had me covered. I made a pit stop in their sale section of course and skimmed their gift ideas too. Hey it’s never too early for a little holiday gift shopping. My point is that there is plenty to see on their website and each candle is more tempting than the last.

What do my candles look like?

Both of the candles I tried were absolutely gorgeous! The first candle I tried, and admittedly the one I was most excited about, was the brand new RibbonWick. These candles come in several shapes and sizes with the one common element being the RibbonWick style wick. For this review I chose the large Decor White RibbonWick candle. I liked how the fluid shape of the container mimicked the flow of the wick, and I liked that this style offered a wide selection of fragrances.

The RibbonWick candle was scented in Citrus Salsa and had sunny yellow wax in a white ceramic container. What struck me first when I opened my box was how gigantic this candle was. It looked huge! I knew it was a 36oz candle but for some reason I was still surprised by the size of it in person. The candle wax was protected by a disposable plastic cover and the candle was encircled with a removable cardboard RibbonWick label. The candle container was meant as a showpiece so it had only a small standard label on the bottom. The candle even had tiny felt pads underneath to protect my tabletop… nice.

The 10 oz +PlusWick candle looked like the regular WoodWick candles that I’d tried before. The Velvet Woods scented wax was dark forest green poured into the distinctive WoodWick clear hourglass jar. This candle had a wooden lid with a tight fitting rubber seal. The jar had a puffy raised WoodWick label on the side that was not coming off and the WW logo printed on the lid. There were two stickers advertising the +Pluswick design which I easily peeled off right away. The wick looked similar to the Woodwick wick but instead of a flat piece of wood it was a crisscross design or a plus sign.

How did my candles smell?

Citrus Salsa

This scent description from Virginia Candle Co. looked refreshing:

“An energizing combination bursting with notes of citrus, pineapple and mango finished with the scent of cool melon”

When choosing a candle, it’s usually all about the scent, but this time I was gaga over the bright yellow wax. Yep, instead of debating over what fragrance notes were in this one, I simply liked the cheery look of it. That’s not to say I didn’t at least glance at the fragrance description. Luckily, the scent description matched the festive color… and my mood… so in the cart it went.

This may be a surprise but my initial cold sniff was not love at first whiff. It was a more sophisticated scent than what I expected and I wasn’t too sure about it. Now, we all know cold sniffs can be deceiving so I shrugged it off and placed this beauty front and center in my living room.

I planned to let it sit untouched and admire it for at least a few days, but as soon as the night air turned cool, my husband made his case for lighting this candle right away. He claimed the wick was so long that the flame would be enough to heat the house. He’s a funny guy (eye roll) but I had to take full advantage of any candle enthusiasm from my better half so I dutifully lit it up.

As the candle burned I got a better dose of the intended fragrance and it was really good. Where the cold sniff held only a slightly bitter melon, the warm fragrance gave me a much sweeter and stronger pineapple note. I could smell all the tropical freshness of the pineapple, citrus and mango. When lit, the melon faded to the background. I was quite pleased with this fragrance and it turned out to be a fruity crowd pleaser.

This candle had a great scent throw. I could smell it all through the main living space in my home and clear down the hallways. Keep in mind that this was from the largest 36 oz size, but with the two inch long RibbonWick, this candle had an Olympic sized melt pool.

Velvet Woods

“A handsome blend of velvet moss, rich mahogany, and dark molasses”

I should have known going in that this would most likely be an earthy, masculine scent and Velvet Woods did not disappoint. However, what drew my attention to this scent description in the first place was the promise of a dark molasses finish. I mean it was as if my eyes read “blah, blah, blah, MOLASSES” when I chose this fragrance. What was I thinking?

Needless to say, I didn’t detect much molasses in my jar. Any hint of molasses was surely overcome by the mahogany and moss as one would expect if one weren’t completely bonkers for molasses. Ahem. This scent was a brooding, dark, woody explosion for the senses. The mahogany sat heavily in the air as if the wood were actually burning in a fireplace.

It was a super strong thrower in my largest room. I was impressed with how much scent this bad boy put out. I could smell it as soon as I entered the house and even after being around the candle for a while, the scent was still noticeable with every sniff… it was relentless! Twice, I capped this jar in order to avoid a scent headache. If you have a large room and enjoy earthy, masculine scents, this is the candle for you. It’s a big thrower and a manly, fireside type of scent.

How did my candles burn?

My candles burned beautifully. Literally, they were beautiful to watch. The wicks were extraordinary. The flame crackled and flickered making that sound of real wood burning. Neither wick required any trimming. Light after light, the +PlusWick flame stayed bright and hot. The crisscross wick design wasn’t much different than the older style Woodwick candles in appearance and crackling sound, but the +PlusWick burned with an improved, more consistent flame than what I’d experienced with the older style.

The Ribbonwick flame was smaller, at times it glowed more than it flamed, but the melt pool was there and the wax burned down fairly evenly leaving only a small amount of wax in the corners of the huge rectangular container.

With the extraordinary wick design of the RibbonWick candle, I wish I had purchased the clear container style. The candle I chose was in a white ceramic container and as the candle burned down, I had to look down into the candle to see the wick. From across the room, it didn’t appear as special. A clear container would have better highlighted the uniqueness of the RibbonWick design. Next time, I’ll go for a clear container style.

Closing to my review…

I sure enjoyed checking out these two new candle styles from Virginia Candle Company. The fragrance from both the Citrus Salsa and Velvet Woods were big room fillers. I’ll be on the lookout for more. I recommend either of these candles to anyone with an adventurous soul and a large room to scent. That means you, my candle loving friend.

Happy shopping.

~ Julia

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