Not such a match made in heaven?

Do you recognise this? Have you ever had a bit of a nightmare trying to salvage the ends of a candle? Had to sacrifice matches in the battle?

I came across this poor candle when I rented a house with friends recently and the sight of this made me sad. It smelt beautiful but had hit a very sad end to it's life after a bit of mistreatment. Ok, sorry I'm talking as if this candle is a person so I'll calm down a bit now.

Basically it's easy to avoid this sad end if do a few little things outlined below...

Buy some long matches or a nice cook's lighter like this one from wayfair. They mean you avoid potentially hitting the end of the match before the wick is lit and then dropping it in (!), and also are a bit safer as you're hand is further from the flame.

Secondly, really do try to trim the wick before each time you light the candle. This is not a myth, it makes the candle burn much better and will avoid any excess smoke to come from the candle. 5-8mm is the size you want, no less or you might hinder the burn. Between half and two thirds of a nail is quite a good point of reference!

Thirdly, if you drop a match in as you're lighting a candle then blow the flame out & remove the match (being careful if it's hot of course) then re-light it. If you drop it in and leave it it wont just burn off, it could catch fire again, cause the wax pool to change or at a minimum turn your lovely cream candle a nasty shade of black or grey!

Rant over, thanks for reading :)

Oh, and you'll see in this photo the black soot on the container...if you get this on your candle then it's likely that it's because the candle has been burning for longer than advised and there's a VERY simple way to get rid of them. Blow the candle out, wait until the container has cooled and then get a piece of tissue or kitchen roll and wipe the black off. It'll be as good as new.