Candle Safety Guidelines

At Unicorn Fairy Circles, your safety is our top priority. Our candles are crafted with care using traditional methods that prioritize both magical potency and real-world safety. Please follow these guidelines to ensure a safe and enjoyable candle-burning experience.

Essential Safety Rules

Before You Light Your Candle

• Trim the wick to ¼ inch before each use. This prevents excessive flame height and reduces soot.
• Place on a heat-resistant surface away from drafts, vents, ceiling fans, and air currents.
• Keep away from flammable materials including curtains, books, dried flowers, and loose papers. Maintain at least 12 inches of clearance above the candle.
• Never burn a candle on or near anything that can catch fire such as furniture, bedding, carpets, or decorations.
• Check the container for any cracks or damage before lighting.
• Ensure the room has adequate ventilation
• Keep out of reach of children and pets (including familiars, emotional support animals, and that cat who thinks they're in charge)

While Your Candle Is Burning

• Never leave a burning candle unattended. Extinguish all candles when leaving a room or before going to sleep.
• Keep burning candles within sight at all times.
• Keep candles away from children and pets. Place candles where they cannot be knocked over or reached by curious hands or paws.
• Maximum burn time: 4 hours. Allow the candle to cool for at least 2 hours before relighting.
• Never touch or move a burning candle. The container will be hot. Wait until the wax has completely cooled before handling.
• Stop use when ½ inch of wax remains at the bottom of the container. Burning beyond this point can cause the container to overheat.
• Keep the wax pool clear of wick trimmings, herbs, matches, or cosmic debris

Extinguishing Your Candle

• Use a candle snuffer or carefully blow out the flame. Never use water to extinguish a candle.
• Don't extinguish by putting the lid on while the wick is still glowing—this can create smoke and soot inside the jar.
• Make sure the wick is no longer glowing before leaving the candle unattended.
• Allow the wax to cool completely before moving or handling the candle.

Product-Specific Guidelines

🫙 Container Candles (Jars & Tins)

• Stop burning when ½ inch of wax remains at the bottom
• The container will become hot during use — use caution when handling
• Never burn on heat-sensitive surfaces without a proper heat-resistant barrier
• Do not use if the glass is cracked, chipped, or damaged in any way
• Allow the container to cool completely before touching, moving, or relighting

🕯️ Bare Candles (Pillars & Votives)

• Remove label before burning (seriously, the label will catch fire)
• Always use a proper candle holder that fits the candle size and catches dripping wax
• Place holder on a stable, heat-resistant surface
• Never use near flammable materials or on unprotected surfaces
• Monitor for uneven burning or excessive dripping — extinguish if this occurs
• Stop burning when 2 inches of candle remain or when candle becomes unstable

🌸 Wax Melts

• Use only with approved wax warmers (not a candle, not a pot on the stove, not "whatever works")
• Do not add water or any other liquid to the wax
• Keep warmer on a flat, stable, heat-resistant surface
• Unplug or turn off when leaving the room or going to sleep
• Do not touch melted wax — it's hot (yes, really)
• Keep away from children and pets

Beeswax Candle-Specific Care

First Burn Is Critical

For jar candles, the first burn sets the "memory" of your candle. Burn until the wax pool reaches the edge of the container (typically 1-3 hours depending on size). This prevents tunneling and ensures an even burn throughout the candle's life.

Natural Variations

Beeswax is a natural product and may develop a white film (called "bloom") over time. This is normal and doesn't affect burn quality. You can gently buff it with a soft cloth if desired, or simply light the candle and it will disappear.

Hemp Wick Care

Our candles use natural hemp wicks. These may mushroom slightly at the tip after burning—this is normal. Simply trim the mushroomed portion before your next burn.

🌿 Herb-Infused Candles (All Our Candles)

• Real dried herbs are infused into our beeswax — this is intentional and normal
• Herbs are for aromatic and magical purposes only — not for consumption
• If you have plant allergies, review the ingredient list before use
• Some herbs may create small sparks or crackling as they burn — this is normal for botanical candles
• Keep the wax pool clear of loose herbs that may have surfaced

Why Our Candles Are Safer

No Embedded Botanicals

Unlike decorative "salad candles" with dried flowers and herbs on top, our candles use a traditional infusion and straining process. We steep herbs in the wax for hours to extract their properties, then strain out all solid plant material. This method:

• Prevents dangerous flaring from combustible botanicals
• Eliminates popping and crackling from seeds and stems
• Reduces soot and smoke from burning plant material
• Ensures a steady, even flame
• Maintains the magical properties while prioritizing your safety

According to the National Candle Association, candles with embedded botanicals can experience secondary ignition events and multiple large flames—serious fire hazards. Our infusion method gives you the benefits of herb-infused candles without these risks.

Read our full blog post: Why We Strain: The Magic (and Safety) of Infused Candles

Clean-Burning Ingredients

We use only:

• Pure beeswax - burns cleaner than paraffin or most other waxes
• Hemp wicks - natural, lead-free, and clean-burning
• Real herbs - no synthetic fragrances or petroleum-based additives

Emergency Procedures

If Your Candle Flares Up

1. Do not panic. Stay calm and assess the situation.
2. Never use water to extinguish a candle fire—water can cause hot wax to splatter and spread the fire.
3. Use a metal lid or pot to cover the candle and deprive the flame of oxygen.
4. If the fire spreads beyond the candle, evacuate immediately and call 911.
5. Keep a fire extinguisher nearby if you regularly burn candles.

If Wax Spills

1. Let it cool and harden completely. Don't try to clean hot wax.
2. For hard surfaces: Gently scrape off hardened wax with a plastic scraper or old credit card.
3. For fabric: Place a paper towel over the wax and iron on low heat to absorb.
4. Remove residue with a cloth dampened with rubbing alcohol or white vinegar.

Storage & Care

• Store in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight and heat sources.
• Keep lids on jar candles when not in use to preserve scent and protect from dust.
• Avoid extreme temperatures which can cause the wax to soften or crack.
• Store pillars upright to maintain their shape.

Legal Disclaimers & Ridiculous (But Real) Warnings

Unicorn Fairy Circles LLC is not responsible for:

🔥 Houses that burn down because you fell asleep next to your candle, left it burning while you ran to the store, or thought "it'll be fine for just a minute."

😈 Fires caused by summoning fire-hungry entities, salamanders, or djinn who took your invitation a bit too literally.

🐉 Property damage from angered dragons, phoenixes, or other fire-associated mythological creatures who objected to your ritual work.

🎭 Candles used for purposes other than prayer, meditation, intention-setting, or ambient lighting — if you're using our candles for arson, insurance fraud, or as makeshift weaponry, that's on you.

⚫ Candles used for malicious magical purposes including but not limited to: hexes, curses, bindings intended to harm, love spells without consent, or any workings that violate someone's free will. (We're serious about consent culture, even magically.)

🐈 Cats, dogs, or other pets knocking over your candles because you left them unattended. Your familiar knows better. You should too.

📿 Spiritual or magical results — our candles are tools for intention and focus. We're not guaranteeing that your ex comes back, your manifestation works, or your deity responds. That's between you and the universe.

👻 Hauntings, possessions, or unwanted spiritual attention resulting from your ritual work. Cleanse your space, set your boundaries, and maybe don't invite random spirits into your home?

🌙 Rituals performed during inauspicious timing — we provide herb correspondences and intentions, but if you're doing banishing work during a waxing moon or love magic during a void-of-course moon, that's your call, not ours.

🏚️ Damage to altars, furniture, or surfaces from improper candle placement. Use a proper holder. Use a heat-resistant surface. Wax is hard to clean and burns leave marks.

👃 Allergic reactions to natural herbs — we list all ingredients. If you're allergic to mugwort, don't burn the mugwort candle. Revolutionary concept, we know.

🎪 Using candles as juggling props, birthday cake substitutes, or outdoor tiki torches — these are ritual candles, not circus equipment.

🔮 Misinterpretation of flame divination — if you're reading meaning into how your candle burns, that's between you and your intuition. We're not certified pyromancers.

⏰ Candles left burning while you "just went to grab something" three hours ago. Time works differently when you're hypnotized by a flame, but fire doesn't care.

🌊 Attempting to use water to extinguish wax fires despite this being mentioned approximately 47 times in these warnings. Water + wax fire = explosion. Chemistry is real.

🎃 Using our candles as Jack-o'-lantern lights, camping equipment, or emergency home heating — they're candles, not survival gear.

🧙 Disagreements with your coven, family, or roommates about what constitutes "proper candle safety." Show them this page. We're on your side.

💸 Financial loss from manifestation work that didn't pan out — candles help with intention and focus. They're not lottery tickets. Do the actual work.

🏛️ Historical inaccuracy in your recreated ancient rituals — we're making candles based on traditional herb correspondences, not archaeological reconstructions. Your ancestors probably didn't have beeswax votives in cute tins either.

Additional Resources

• National Fire Protection Association - Candle Safety
• National Candle Association - Fire Safety
• NCA Report on Botanical Candles

Questions About Safety?

If you have any questions or concerns about safely burning your Unicorn Fairy Circles candles, please don't hesitate to contact us