The Humble Rock Dove

I just want to capture my relatively fresh enthusiasm for a home fragrance option revolving around warming little chunks of perfumed wax.

First-of-all, I would like to give some context: I have been a smoker of rolly cigarettes for many years, and the best incentive I have ever found to reduce the level of tobacco I inhale, or even quit at times, has been to recognise the smell of burnt tobacco as something unpleasant.

Once upon a time, I watched a YouTube video on hypnoisis, and it came packaged with a pseudo hypnotherapeutic example of what it’s like to train someone away from smoking. What I discovered was, first of all, the fact you cannot really undergo a hypnotic trance that is fully affecting, if you do not allow it to happen. Hypnosis seems to work by getting the patient (or victim) to willingly fall all nice and relaxed into your spell. Then, their subconscious becomes like putty in the hypnotists hands.

In my specific example, the YouTube video told me a narrative or story, about (if I can remember correctly), visiting a beloved childhood environment, enjoying life, when (oh-no!) a smelly cloud of cigarette smoke comes along and ruins everything. The emphasis of this session, before being snapped back to reality, was to show the cigarette, and the smoke it produces, as thoroughly undesirable.

I mention this tale, as I believe, now, that there is something to this method. Almost without realising, the next day, I had maybe one or one cigarette, or at the most, one and-a-half. When this dawned on me I guess I really did think “maybe it works after all”.

So now, a few months down the line, (no, I didn’t do another hypno-session), I am not smoking nearly as many cigs as I usually do. And why? Because I have again realised, only this time without a magic YouTube video, that smoking smells rank, especially to wake up to on an otherwise lovely morning. I remember one morning in particular, entering my living room, only to think “bugh, cigarette smoke”, followed by “UGH! CIGARETTES!!” after defiantly lighting one to smoke. So, gradually, (it is an addictive habit after all) I whittled down the smokes, back to an average of maybe 5 a day.

So, this is where my new(ish) wax melter comes in to play. And where did it come in? As in, where did my interest in such an everyday appliance come from, and manifest itself into being in my life? Well, just as my sense of smell slowly and surprisingly came back, post smoke-addiction, I became more fascinated by subtler smells. I owned a case of various essential oils (as many respectable citizens do), but until this period of adaption to appreciating the subtler side of scents and smells, my rotation of oils centered around quite earthy, yet bold ones. That is to say: pine, eucalyptus, lavender, and so-on. With my senses now equipped with extra smelling potential, now, I was able to appreciate things like what differentiates basil from rosemary, or, the full appeal of some scent more subtle: the sweet majoram.

So although I can’t tell you exactly where I first heard about, or saw, a wax warmer, I can tell you all about my first attempt to join in on the scene. I got myself a hold of what I guess you’d call an “oil burner”. You know, the ones that hold a tealight and have a little ceramic crucible on top. When I got it home, I had some wax ready, even, to try that out in it. It wasn’t one of those fancy bars of melts either; it was stuff I had salvaged from an old Yankee Wood-Wick.

So the next step was to get a little tealight lit, stick it in the bottom, and have it warming the dregs of my lovely scented candle. I did this, and sat back with my nostrils flared, I began to enjoy the aroma, and then appreciated the absurdity and irony of the situation: I was burning a candle, to heat the remains of another candle. Well, what works, works, I guess! That evening, and a few afterwards, became evenings of experimentation. I would add a bit of essential oils and such things, even a little bit of delicious wax from a small apple/cinnamon candle. So my house smelt rather heavenly during these few days, I have to admit that to myself.

How I ended up buying a wax warmer, then, was a logical process from this one of experimentation. Although it’s very popular for people to put wax on top of another candle, to heat, for me it seemed a bit silly, and I was doing more and more about my forays into different scent sources for the house. My favourite way to use the oil burner was to put a little bit of water in it, and (lo-and-behold) oil! It seemed to be a way of spreading the oil’s fragrance in a warmer, more natural fashion than the hypersonic aroma diffusers I’d used previously. Though those diffusers I have used and loved, they had filled the void when I fancied a different thing! They didn’t fill the room the way a scented candle does, and incense was beautiful (still is), but I still dislike its short intensity and smokiness.

Wax warmers, as they are known (not wax-melters, as those are factory machines), fill the room in the exact same way a candle will, but without flame. Charmingly, it is easy to chuck or recycle the wax, and replace it with new stuff all the time, and of course, it’s a “flameless candle” you can switch on or off at will. Safety wise (and this info is supported by nearly all research I did) they seem to be as safe as slow cookers. Power-consumption-wise, they apparently cost roughly £36 a year, to run 8 hours a day! (That’s super cheap imo) But don’t take my word on this, research it yourself, as it will be different for different wattages that your own warmer will use.

So what we have here is a more versatile, eco-friendly, flame-less, smokeless candle, that will cost you less than some light bulbs to run, and less to buy outright, than some Yankee candles. It seems to be as safe to leave on, while you go briefly elsewhere, as a slow cooker. Overall, I think they look cool, aside from smelling great, and there is something calming about watching the cubes or shapes of wax melt down to a shiny liquid.

I have to say, in conclusion to reviewing such a product, I totally get it. I can see why this fad, is so popular right now. Long live my heightened sense of smell! Long-live wax warmers in particular, but overall, viva la homecare revolution!!

Peace,

– Richard (Humble Rock Dove)