{"id":883,"date":"2020-12-04T13:29:27","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T13:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/?p=883"},"modified":"2024-11-08T10:40:04","modified_gmt":"2024-11-08T10:40:04","slug":"flame-and-fortune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/business\/flame-and-fortune\/12-2020","title":{"rendered":"Flame and Fortune"},"content":{"rendered":"

If overpriced candles get on your wick, worry not\u2026! You can still enjoy the warm glow of a flickering flame and some wonderful fragrances this winter, all for a thoroughly reasonable price thanks to Victoria Boardman. Her artisan candle brand \u2013 named after her Edwardian country home, Dorrington Hall \u2013 is really glowing strong despite being a flicker over a year old\u2026<\/h3>\n
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A selection of products from Victoria’s Dorrington Hall range.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The burning question is: \u2018why are some scented candles so expensive?\u2019 Of course it\u2019s always a sound proposition to pay for quality, but even the most ordinary of mass-produced candles command \u00a320 and some upmarket brands sell for up to \u00a350. Paying for a name could get right on your wick. It certainly did for Victoria Boardman; that\u2019s why the Sleaford artisan decided to create her own range of Natural Sustainable fragranced candles, diffusers, room mists and melts.<\/p>\n

Nobody can hold a candle to Victoria\u2019s products in terms of their quality or the fair price at which she\u2019s selling them (\u00a316.50\/50hr burn; \u00a310\/25hr burn; \u00a310\/12melts). And her most successful range of melts is especially innovative, because their letterbox-friendly packaging enables you to send something thoughtful and beautifully scented right through the letterbox of your friend or relative.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a busy couple of years for Victoria, with 2018 seeing the birth of her daughter Beatrice, plus a move into the family\u2019s Edwardian country home \u2013 Dorrington Hall, which she and husband Mark are in the process of renovating. Victoria is project managing the conversion of their Coach House into a stunning holiday retreat, and then, of course, there\u2019s the creation of her new business. Life is a bit busy, to say the least, for Victoria who is also a hobby breeder of labradoodles and ragdoll cats. She also has sons Edward, aged nine and Brian, aged eight to look after, as well as Beatrice. Happily though, she\u2019s still found the time to innovate with her scent-sational ranges.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always loved being creative, and having tried the usual crafts, I found myself giving candlemaking a try in 2018, whilst I was on maternity leave,\u201d says Victoria. \u201cIt was absolutely fascinating; something that seemed so simple, initially, actually turned out to be a real skill.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI persisted with each attempt I made and completed loads of research, eventually discovering some of the secrets of the craft. Christmas was coming up and I made a few gifts for family and friends. They absolutely loved them and convinced me others would love them too, I took a leap of faith and did my first Christmas market last year and started to develop a following online. I\u2008was then approached to wholesale in some of the counties finest shops. The belief people have shown in my products and myself who I haven\u2019t even met online really helped me so much, and it made me believe I should turn a hobby into a business.<\/p>\n

Victoria didn\u2019t initially realise just how good her products were \u2013 let alone why \u2013 but as her experience of the craft has grown, she\u2019s come to realise that not all candles are created equally and that, as with so many things in life, you really do get what you pay for when it comes to a candle, albeit when you pay for quality, not for a brand.<\/p>\n

\u201cPretty early on I realised that there were two approaches to candle making; the cheap mass produced way or the quality way,\u201d says Victoria. \u201cCheaper candles use paraffin wax, but it\u2019s better to pay a little more for soy wax-based ones, which produce less soot \u2013 the reason cheap candles leave black marks on your walls. Nasty paraffin wax is also regarded as carcinogenic and can also irritate conditions like asthma. Soy wax originates from around 10 countries and Victoria\u2019s candles are based on sustainably sourced soya bean-derived wax from Uruguay the Ukraine and Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the scent itself. The source of the nice smell in a product like a candle is derived from a combination of essential oils \u2013 extracted and steam distilled from the botanical or flower itself \u2013 plus fragrance agents which are artificially created chemical compounds.<\/p>\n

There are about 4,000 \u2018stock\u2019 fragrances which have been made by olfactory scientists, and it\u2019s either impossible, impractical or just financially less viable to create a scent from essential oils alone. Fragrances, whilst synthetic, are more stable and more practical. Not all essential oils burn as well; some for instance can clog wicks. Speaking of which, did you know there are hundreds of different permutations of wicks, either cotton, paper, plastic or zinc with baffling designations from like HTP136 or CDN28?<\/p>\n

Victoria\u2019s candles utilise cotton wicks which burn better (softer) with soy wax. They can self-trim but Victoria always recommends trimming your wick to ensure an even burn.<\/p>\n

The quantity of scent used also varies from product to product. Two of Victoria\u2019s similarly-sized candles, for instance, can vary dramatically in the quantity of essential oil or fragrance used, according to their scent.<\/p>\n

Victoria reckons that in the process of inventing a new product she has to make around 12 candles until she perfects the \u2018recipe\u2019 and the process for each individual scent. Each oil or fragrance has to be fine-tuned because each has a slightly different burn profile \u2013 known as the heat throw \u2013 and produces a different sized \u2018burn pool.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI usually have around 16 different fragrances but this varies from season to season,\u201d says Victoria. \u201cVictoria Plum & Rhubarb, Noir and Fig & Berry are popular right now, and the wax melts have proved especially popular during lockdown as they come in boxes or six or 12, comprising of a single scent or a mixed selection. I\u2019ve created a sharer box of 40 melts too, one or two of which have been sent to hospital wards to be shared among the staff following a patient\u2019s stay in hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMelts have been publicised quite heavily by the cleaning expert Mrs Hinch and my eco friendly packaging ensures they can be sent through a recipient\u2019s letterbox. Each one burns for about 20 hours, so they\u2019re quite economical, and they can be used with any wax burner.\u201d<\/p>\n

As well as her melts, Victoria also produces candles that burn for around 50 hours, plus reed diffusers and room mists, hand soaps and lotions. Creating around 1,500 wax melts and 100 candles a week takes considerable time and quite a bit of space too. Although it is Victoria\u2019s business it\u2019s also a family affair, with the children and Victoria\u2019s 83 year old mum all helping out.<\/p>\n

As soy wax is a natural product, every batch that is delivered is different and has to be thoroughly tested on its own, making candles and melts from each new batch.<\/p>\n

A bit like chocolate, wax must be melted gently and carefully. It turns to liquid at around 85\u00b0 but must be cooled to the right temperature before essential oils and fragrances are added \u2013 sorry, but we\u2019re not allowed to be too specific on the details as it\u2019s quite the trade secret!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a secret to adding the wick in such a way as to ensure it\u2019s central in the vessel, too, which isn\u2019t simply a matter of aesthetics for the finished product, but also determines how evenly the burn pool melts the wax and how many hours use you\u2019re able to derive from the candle.<\/p>\n

Adjusting and tightening the wick is a crucial if rarely-considered (at least by the consumer) part of getting a candle to look and burn correctly. This requires intervention from Victoria as each batch of candles cure. Initial setting occurs within three hours but Victoria intervenes within that time to ensure no air bubbles are present.<\/p>\n

To complicate matters further Victoria likes to incorporate home-grown botanicals and foliage, from Pyracantha to Hydrangea, Roses or Lavender from her garden depending on the time of year.<\/p>\n

Needles from the pine trees in her garden even end up in her Christmas melts, with her botanicals all harvested by hand and dried by the old boiler in the property\u2019s outbuildings before being added at just the right time\u2026 another trade secret, I\u2019m afraid.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of my products are created using sustainable ingredients and all are pet friendly, cruelty-free and vegan,\u201d Victoria says. \u201cI\u2019m selling them online and I\u2019ve been approached by a local farm shops and gift retailers across the whole of Lincolnshire. I\u2019ve also created a bespoke branded line for one of our retailers. I\u2019m also looking forward to starting a subscription box facility in 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wax melts are selling exceptionally well with customers at the minute. Being letterbox-friendly, customers are ordering them and having them delivered to friends and family this year instead of Christmas cards with handwritten personal messages.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something nice about being a part of someone\u2019s Christmas,\u201d she adds. \u201cWinter is seen by some as being a bit gloomy but actually the flicker of a candle or a tealight in a burner creates a really nice atmosphere and with a gentle scent. It can be a real source of comfort, which I think we all deserve after 2020!\u201d<\/p>\n

Victoria Boardman is the creator of Dorrington Hall Estate home fragrances with Soy wax candles, wax melts, reed diffusers and room mists, plus luxury hand soap and hand lotions which can be purchased for yourself or sent to a loved one. See www.dorringtonhallestate.co.uk.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If overpriced candles get on your wick, worry not\u2026! You can still enjoy the warm glow of a flickering flame…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":884,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[169,167,170,27,168],"class_list":["post-883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-artisan","tag-candle","tag-craft","tag-lincolnshire","tag-wax-melt"],"acf":false,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":886,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883\/revisions\/886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}