Fragrance load in candles is the percentage of fragrance oil to wax, measured by weight. Ardeluz formulates every candle at 8%. The industry range runs from 4% to 12%. Most mass-market candles sit between 4% and 6%. The difference is not subtle. It determines how a candle performs from the first burn to the last.
This is a transparency post. It explains what the number means, what it controls, and why the published specification matters more than the marketing claim.
What Fragrance Load Actually Is
Fragrance load is a mass ratio. If a candle contains 100 grams of wax and 8 grams of fragrance oil, the fragrance load is 8% by weight. The calculation is consistent across the industry. The disclosure is not.
The number controls one thing: how much scent compound is available to evaporate from the wax matrix during a burn. Higher load means more aromatic molecules in the wax. Lower load means fewer. Everything else, including hot throw, cold throw, burn quality, and consistency over time, depends on getting this ratio right for the wax type and the fragrance composition.
Soy wax has a maximum fragrance load it can hold without separating. For Golden Brands 464, the wax we use, the manufacturer specifies a maximum of 12%. Above that point, the wax cannot bind the oil, and the excess oil migrates out. This is where you see sweating on the surface, beading on the sides of the jar, or a wet film at the wax-glass boundary. The candle still burns, but the fragrance behavior becomes unpredictable.
A candle fragrance ratio is therefore not a marketing variable. It is a chemistry constraint with measurable boundaries.
Why 8% (The Test)
We tested fragrance loads at 6%, 8%, 10%, and 12% on the same wax, the same vessel, the same wick, and the same fragrance compositions used in BRASA and NACRE. The pour temperature was held at 135 degrees Fahrenheit across all tests. The cure time was 14 days. We covered why those two variables matter in our pour temperature post and our 14-day cure post.
At 6%, the cold throw was acceptable. The hot throw was thin. The scent reached the immediate area around the candle but did not fill a 200 square foot room within two hours.
At 8%, the cold throw was strong. The hot throw filled the test room within 90 minutes and held character from the first burn to the eighth.
At 10%, the cold throw was slightly stronger than 8% but the hot throw plateaued. The wax began showing minor surface oiliness within 30 days of pour. The improvement in scent throw did not justify the formulation instability.
At 12%, the wax showed visible separation within two weeks. The hot throw was no stronger than 10%. The candle was not stable.
8% was the point where hot throw was maximized and the formulation remained stable across the full cure and burn cycle. We chose the specification because it tested as the upper bound of stable performance, not because it sounded high.
What Happens Above 10% (Oil Saturation, Weeping)
A candle formulated above the wax's binding capacity will fail visibly. The failure modes have specific names.
Sweating. Small droplets of oil appear on the surface of the wax. They reflect light. Some manufacturers describe this as a sign of natural oils. It is a sign that the wax cannot hold the fragrance load.
Weeping. Oil migrates down between the wax and the inside of the glass. It pools at the bottom. The candle looks wet through the jar.
Blooming. A grainy, crystallized layer forms on the surface as the unbound oil oxidizes. The texture changes from smooth to chalky.
Wick clogging. Excess oil saturates the wick fibers, choking the capillary action. The flame becomes small, weak, and irregular. The melt pool cannot reach the edge.
Inconsistent throw. Because the oil is no longer evenly distributed, hot throw becomes location-dependent within the candle. One side is strong, another is weak. The customer experiences this as the candle "fading" partway through its life, when in fact the formulation was never stable.
These are not aesthetic concerns. They are evidence that the fragrance ratio exceeded the chemistry. Above 10%, the risk of one or more of these failures becomes too high to ship. Above 12%, the failure is essentially guaranteed for soy wax.
What Happens Below 6% (Weak Throw)
The opposite problem is harder to spot because the candle looks fine. It just does not perform.
A 4% to 5% candle is what most mass-market scented candles are built around. The fragrance load is low enough to guarantee surface stability and reduce raw material cost. The candle smells acceptable when you put your nose to the jar. Once it is lit, the scent stays close to the flame.
Why this matters for hot throw: aromatic molecules need to reach a certain partial pressure in the air for the human nose to register them at distance. Below 6% in soy wax, the rate of release during a burn is not high enough to saturate a normal-sized room. The candle works, but only as ambient scent within an arm's length.
This is why a $25 store candle and a $80 designer candle can both list "fragrance" on the label but perform completely differently. The disclosure does not include the load percentage. The customer cannot verify what they are paying for.
We cover the physics of hot throw in more detail in a separate post. The short version: hot throw is the result of fragrance load, wick selection, melt pool diameter, and pour temperature working together. None of these variables alone produce a strong throw. But fragrance load is the ceiling that the others cannot exceed.
How To Read A Label
Most candle brands do not publish fragrance load on the product page. The information is usually buried in a manufacturer's safety data sheet that the customer never sees. Here is how to evaluate a candle when the brand does not disclose:
If the brand publishes burn time but not fragrance load, the omission is deliberate. Fragrance load is the easier number to publish. Burn time is harder to verify. A brand that publishes one but not the other is treating the customer as someone who wants to feel informed without actually being informed.
If the brand uses words like "highly fragranced" or "long-lasting scent" without a number, the claim is unverifiable. Highly fragranced compared to what.
If the brand publishes a fragrance load and it is above 12% for soy wax, be cautious. Some brands publish high numbers without testing whether the wax holds it. The stated load may not match the actual stable load.
If the brand publishes 6% to 10% with the wax type stated, the candle is likely tested. This is the range where stable formulations live for soy and coconut-soy waxes. CandleScience publishes a comprehensive fragrance load guide that confirms these working ranges for common waxes.
The label should give you the wax, the fragrance load percentage, and the burn time as a tested range. If two of those three are missing, the candle is asking for trust without offering verification.
The Specification
FRAGRANCE LOAD 8%
WAX Soy (GW 464)
WAX MAX LOAD 12% (manufacturer spec)
INDUSTRY RANGE 6 to 10%
MASS-MARKET RANGE 4 to 6%
POUR TEMPERATURE 135°F / 57°C
CURE TIME 14 days
WICK Waxed cotton
NET WEIGHT 198g (7 oz)
FRAGRANCE WEIGHT 16g (0.56 oz)
BURN TIME 40 to 50 hours
Every ardeluz candle ships with this specification on the Calibre Card. The number is not aspirational. It is the formulation. You can read more about how every variable was decided on our process page.
Why The Number Is The Credential
The specification is not a marketing flourish. It is the candle category equivalent of what watchmakers do with calibre numbers, what whisky distillers do with PPM measurements, and what skincare brands do with active ingredient percentages. The published number anchors the claim. The reader who understands what 8% means is informed. The reader who does not will learn, and then they will look at competitors differently.
When a brand commits to publishing fragrance load on every product, two things happen. First, the customer can verify the claim against the burn behavior. Second, the brand cannot quietly drop the load to reduce cost. The disclosure is the lock.
This is why ardeluz publishes fragrance load on every product page, every Calibre Card, and every box insert. The specification is the standard. Burn behavior is the proof. The 8% number is not the answer to every formulation question. It is the answer for soy wax with the fragrance compositions in BRASA and NACRE, tested across the full cure and burn cycle.
The fragrance percentage you choose at formulation is the ceiling for everything that happens after. Pour temperature, cure time, wick selection, and vessel diameter all sit below that ceiling. They can fail a good fragrance load. They cannot rescue a poor one.
We chose 8% because it tested as the upper bound of stable performance for the wax we use. We publish it because the customer is entitled to know. The decision is the credential.
If you want to see how the specification translates into a finished scent, BRASA tells the story of how 8% fragrance load reads in caramel, jasmine, and smoked sandalwood, from cold throw to the eighth burn.
ardeluz. Precision-craft candles. Montreal.