Here comes a candle

Spark your creativity by making your own wax melts and candles. Ebi and Emmanuel Sinteh show how it's done

- ANDRÉA CHILDS

CITRUS GROVE WAX MELTS

MAKES APPROXIMATELY 16 WAX MELTS

A wax melt is like a candle without the wick, designed to be used with an oil burner. You can control the strength of the aroma by adding or removing melts to your burner.

100g soy wax flakes

1g candle dye, colour of your choice

3ml bergamot essential oil

2ml lemon essential oil

5ml mandarin essential oil

Silicon candle moulds (an ice-cube tray works too)

Metal jug or heatproof bowl

Saucepan

Digital thermometer

Glass beaker

Pipette (optional)

Wooden spoon or spatula

Oil burner

1 Place the metal pouring jug on your scale and tare the weight. Weigh out your wax and melt using the doubleboiler method – place the jug into a saucepan half-filled with water and heat until simmering. Stir until all the wax is melted. Once the wax is completely melted, remove the jug or bowl from the heat and rest it on a heatproof surface. Check the temperature and let it cool to 65 °C.