It never fails: the weather heats up and everyone starts clamoring for coconut candles. Four of these coconut candles have become our summer favorites, and each one shows a different side of the coconut, from fresh and creamy to floral and fruity.
Our favorite coconut candles for the heat
A tropical oasis comes to the rescue from the obliterating heat. Here are our favorite coconut candles:
Archipelago Botanicals Fiji – Fresh
If you are looking for something more along the lines of suntan lotion, this is it. It’s not as over-the-top and obvious as that, though. It’s more refined and sophisticated, like delicate cookies.
Take real coconut meat and shred it so the essence is amplified. Stir in some real cane sugar to sweeten it just a tad and top with a quick squirt of lemon juice and a bit of lemon zest for freshness. Perfection!
Simpatico Meringue – Creamy
If Seda Citron du Sud is fruity and Archipelago Fiji is fresh, Simpatico Meringue is creamy. The name for this one is perfect.
Think of a decadent coconut cream pie that makes you feel so good inside. Creamy milk, a touch of sugar, fresh coconut and a meringue top that is perfectly toasted.
Bonus for this one: a beautiful hobnail glass holder that you will want to reuse for years to come with pens, makeup brushes, flowers, candles….
Voluspa Bella Sucre – Floral
You just walked into the atrium of a luxurious hotel in Hawaii. They immediately decorate you with a Hawaiian lei and offer you a tropical drink served in a coconut. The smell of the tiare flowers around your neck mingles with the creamy coconut drink, refreshing you… ahhhh!
Voluspa Bella Sucre is decadently sweet with demerara sugar and soothing with coconut milk. The touch of tiare flower whisks you away to your favorite tropical vacation spot. A necessary and well deserved indulgence.
Available in a scalloped candle, 3-wick tin, large jar and mini diffuser.
Seda Citron du Sud – Fruity
Imagine a fresh summer fruit salad. The bowl brimming with juicy pineapple and bright apricot. On top there’s a generous sprinkling of clean coconut shavings. That is Seda Citron du Sud. Slightly fruity. Intensely summer.
What’s your favorite coconut fragrance to soothe the summer heat?
How to choose between coconut candles
Coconut is a flexible note, and the four candles above prove it. The easiest way to shop is to decide which food or drink you are craving. If you want something cool and clean, go fresh. If dessert sounds better, go creamy. If you daydream about a vacation, go floral. If you want a fruit bowl on the table, go fruity.
Think about the room too. Fresh and fruity coconut candles work in kitchens and sunrooms, where lighter scents feel at home. Creamy and floral ones suit a living room or bedroom in the evening, when you want something richer.
Coconut also has a reputation for smelling like suntan lotion. The review of Fiji deals with that directly, saying the candle goes for a more refined take than the obvious sunscreen smell. If you have been put off by coconut candles before, that is a good place to start.
Burning coconut candles in hot weather
Summer heat affects candles. Wax softens in a warm room, and a jar left in a sunny window can heat up before you even light it. Keep your coconut candles somewhere cool and out of direct sun so the scent stays true.
Open windows are lovely but drafty. A draft makes a flame flicker and can cause one side of the wax to burn faster, so burn candles where the air is calm. A table in the middle of a room is usually better than a spot right beside the window.
Trim the wick before each burn, and let the wax melt across the surface on the first lighting. If the flame gets tall or sooty, put the candle out, let it cool and trim the wick again.
Little extras that make coconut candles feel like a vacation
Coconut candles work best when the room agrees with them. Put a bowl of citrus on the table, open a bottle of something cold, and let the candle do the rest. The Simpatico Meringue is a good example of how a pretty container turns a candle into part of the decor, since the hobnail glass is made to be reused.
If you want to read more about the fruit itself, the Wikipedia page on the coconut covers where it grows and how it is used in food. That helps explain why coconut candles pair so well with sugar, cream and lemon notes.
Looking for more summer reading? Try our post Cool Down with Coconut, then browse Ocean Candles for Summer for a breezier take on the season.
