3 candle hacks to ensure a gorgeous scent in your home for Christmas

Scented candle season, aka Christmas, is upon us.

And if you, like us, are spending your evenings floating around in a fog of fig and sandalwood, you might want to know about these clever hacks for making your gorgeous (and expensive!) candles work even harder. Get ready to have your home smell even cosier and more inviting for the duration of the festive season: 1. Place candles lower down You know the way you keep putting the candle up on the mantel? Well, you might be better off putting them on the windowsill or floor even, especially if you want to make your home smell nice in a hurry (you know, when guests are announcing they are around the corner). “Fragrance rises, so place candles lower down and you’ll smell them sooner,” says candle guru Jo Malone. In conversation with Red Magazine, she said: “Fireplaces work well, especially in large rooms with high ceilings, which are hard to fill. Or put one at the foot of your staircase with a glass cylinder over the top to throw the fragrance even higher.” 2. Get your timing right This next hack is good to know, especially if you are expecting guests. "Light candles an hour before your guests arrive," advises Malone. "But put them out after two as the scent doesn’t get any stronger after this.” The point is to harness the especially intense fragrance candles release as they cool. If you really want to infuse your home with a particular scent, Malone explains that the best way to go about it is to place three to four candles strategically around, and light every few hours for the entire night. 3. Make your candles last We have all been here: You start burning a brand new candle and discover after having lit it a few times that you have just ended up with a hole down the middle of the candle around the wick, and a whole lot of wax around the sides of the glass. What you need to do in order to make your candles burn down more evenly and therefore last longer, is to ensure that you let the entire surface turn fully liquid before you blow them out. "Also, trim wicks to around 5mm between burns," says Malone, “and keep the inside of your votive clear of soot. Try a dab of washing up liquid on a kitchen towel”.