For best results: trim wick to ¼ of an inch before each use. Always try to burn your candles for about 2 hours at a time. This allows a nice, warm wax pool to develop that fully releases the fragrance. It sounds counter-intuitive, but it also acts to lengthen the life of the candle; repeated lighting and then extinguishing before a large melt pool develops can cause the wick to “tunnel” down into the wax, starving the wick of oxygen and causing it to self-extinguish or underperform. If you’re burning a nice candle, you’re going to see a mushroom-like ball form from time to time on the top of the wick. When that happens, don’t become alarmed – just trim it off as part of the normal trimming process (or carefully pinch it off using a tissue). That mushroom-like shape is made up of the remnants of the complex blends of fragrance oils and/or essential oils that are being gently drawn up through the wick to scent the room. The more concentrated the oils are that are used to make the candle, the more this occurs. So it’s a good thing, not a bad thing. And then, some fragrance oils – like natural Patchouli, Sandalwood or Oud – that tend to be a little thicker and heavier than, say a citrus essential oil, tend to leave a little more of those carbon deposits behind than the others. Always light your candles a full two hours before your guests arrive. The goal of home fragrance is to create an unmistakable ambiance that subtly, if not subconsciously envelops and welcomes your guests the moment they enter your home.