I am not lying when I say I have never bought a candle from a big box store in my life, so I wanted to see what the hype was all about. Every day I see aesthetic Instagram and TikTok accounts lighting up their Magnolia candle and I wonder, are those candles really better than a small candle co's candles?
I decided I wanted to start a series on the blog where I give you an honest (sometimes brutally) review of different candles. If you have any candles you would like me to review leave them in the comments below and I'll do it!
Two definitions you'll need to know for these reviews:
Cold Throw: the cold throw of a candle refers to how the candle smells when you pick it up, unlit, in its solid state.
Hot Throw: the hot throw of a candle refers to how the candle smells when it is lit and burning. Basically, how strong or weak the scent the candle gives off is.
The candle we're reviewing today is Pumpkin Woods from Target. The first thing I noticed about the candle is the little pumpkin jar it came in which is undoubtedly cute. After you burn the candle you can use the jar for trinkets which I love, so thats a plus.
However, the next thing I noticed was that the candle is $5 for 4oz which is extremely cheap. That peaked my interest because that means Target had to cut corners somehow to get the candle in that price range. Either they use cheap labor from overseas or cheaper supplies to make the candle (wax, scent wick etc) and usually the cheaper the supplies the worse they are for your health. When I looked on the label to find out more information of the s
upplies used I found the phrase "Soy Wax Blend." Que my side-eye. Lo and behold, when I went on Target's website to look at the candle online, it states that it is a soy paraffin wax blend.
Candle Tip #1, if a candle states "Soy Wax Blend" or frankly anything blend, but doesn't state what it is blended with, then it is blended with Paraffin wax.
Paraffin wax is shit. There's no nice way to put it. It is an is a soft colorless solid derived from petroleum, coal or oil shale. When burned paraffin wax creates highly toxic benzene and toluene (both are known carcinogens).
Let's talk about the scent, all the candles I smelt in the fall pumpkin jar collection had very strong cold throws, almost overwhelming for my taste but if you LOVEEEE fall scents then they are for you. I picked out Pumpkin Woods because it smelt the most realistic and the cold throw was an 8/10, not bad.
The wick lit fairly quickly which indicates to me it might be coated in some sort of starter, which is just another unnecessary chemical. Unfortunately once the candle was burning the hot throw was almost non-existent, if I got really close to the candle I could smell it, but as for filling a small room it receives a 2/10 for hot throw.
Final thoughts: I don't believe this candle, or the threshold candle collection is worth it. If the scent was a stronger hot throw and you don't really care about breathing in known carcinogens then I would say sure go for it. But the only plus I see with this candle is the pumpkin jar and I'm sure you can find a jar like it without the chemicals inside.