What's the True Story on A & B Grade Candle Fragrances?

This question is a valid one. This is a topic that will pay you to understand!
You need to get the best quality candle fragrance for your hard earned money to be able to make your products as successful for yourself as possible.

A Grade vs B Grade Candle Fragrance Controversy has been alive as long as we introduced the option to customers in smaller quantities in 1998. People have scoffed at the notion and we do not take offense. It simply is a misunderstood concept by people who do not understand how fragrance is made.

We believe that no reliable supplier intentionally "cuts" their candle fragrances, However.... the fact that most do not want you to find out is that fragrance is sold at different "Price Points". Some suppliers are selling candle fragrance that is "Uncut" from the manufacturer that only cost them 4.00 per pound, others sell a 6.00 price point, others still, sell a 8.00 and up price point. In reality each fragrance will vary. This is how suppliers can sell a similar smelling "Uncut and Pure" fragrance ( very cheap in some cases, expensive in others) that will sometimes "Throw" great from one place, and not 'Throw" at all from another. Both will be honestly stating that their candle fragrances are "Pure and Uncut". Neither practice is dishonest or shady, but it varies wildly from one supplier to another. It is not always true that an expensive fragrance will throw better than a cheaper one, in some cases a cheaper fragrance from a better supplier will throw better than an expensive one from a supplier who overcharges! It depends solely on the supplier.

There are many examples of this in the industry you are aware of, but possibly haven't correlated to your candle fragrance purchases. Have you ever considered 1 and 2 percent Milk, Vitamin D Milk, 1/2 and 1/2 cream?? Is the 2% milk cut?? No not really, thats the product you want, less fat, same milk taste and calcium right?? It has been properly modified for the product you expect. It will have added vitamins and other components to make it a valuable and worthwhile product you can use. Does the grocer "cut" the milk? No its full strength, uncut milk right from the processor. What part of the 2% milk is not milk?.......Lets face it...its all milk.

You need the proper product to fit your application. For example, if you wanted to make butter, you would want to buy whole milk. You would have to work alot harder and use alot more milk to make butter from 2% milk. For your candles, in many cases you have been trying to make butter with 2% milk. Sadly, theres no easy test for the common user to determine fragrance concentration except to test output in the final application.

Another common example is that most department store sold Name Brand perfumes are only 5-20% active fragrance ingredient. They are very strong at that concentration, and that is normally the concentration that smells the best and is what you expect. Some base perfumes can cost 1500 to 2500 and up per raw pound. Once they are made into the perfume, they sell for 20.00 and up per ounce. The same perfume base is sold in lower concentrations for "toilette water" and other products in lower concentrations. Is the perfume "cut"? No it is made into the product it is intended for and what you would expect.

Candle Fragrances and Cosmetic Fragrances are similar, fragrance can be purchased at 40.00 per pound, or 3.00 per pound, depending on the concentration. Neither are considered "cut", they are formulated with more or less of the expensive active ingredients. The higher the concentration of the most expensive ingredients included in a formula, the better the fragrance will throw in the candle. Although it is a simple concept, it is actually a very complicated procedure and series of calculations to modify a fragrance. Fragrances can have 50 or more components that have to be adjusted to properly make a lower price point in a fragrance. Theres no other magic, its as simple as that. A higher Concentration is always going to smell stronger in your application. Try not to be lured in by gimmic names or marketing schemes like "Booster, Super Thrower Series, etc, or etc". Its very simple and basic, its just more or less concentrated.

There is a happy balance though! During our extensive testing, we have found that above a certain threshold of concentration, the "Throw" is not much if any better and its simply a waste of money to use a higher concentration. Each Fragrance is unique and we test and evaluate each candle fragrance. When we have reached that "Highest Concentration" point of the individual fragrance, we sell that as the A grade, Triple Strength concentration. We do not go by a Fragrance price point at all in this evaluation. Some candle fragrances will make the A Grade standard at 14.00 per pound, others will take 27.00 and up. Wherever that threshold is, thats where we sell it. You will notice this reflected in our A Grade pricing. This is why our pricing will vary so much from one to another. You can trust that the A Grade candle fragrance will be excellent at the stated price point. We test them here first so you can feel confident and your products will be more successfu!.

A Grade candle fragrance is in most cases much more concentrated than anything that people are used to using. It is not necessary to use 1.5 oz. of fragrance in a candle. Many of our customers use 1 oz in 5 lbs but your formulas will vary. In most cases with the A Grade Strength,, you need only use 3/4 to 1 oz per pound, for an extremely strong candle and fragrance that fills your whole home.

B Grade We also sell an excellent concentration we call our "Manufacturers Grade" or B Grade Candle Fragrance . Compared to our extremely high A Grade Candle Fragrance  concentrate it is still an excellent product. It is consistently priced at 12.00 per pound, or 11 for 2+ lbs of the same fragrance. This is designed for, and makes pricing calculations for your product line easy and consistent. In most cases the B Grade Candle Fragrance is still a higher concentration than most are used to purchasing. We recommend 1 oz per pound of the B Grade for an excellent throw.

We have found that people who are used to using 1.5 oz to even 2 oz of candle fragrance , can use 3/4 to 1 oz of our A Grade Candle Fragrance  to achieve the same Throw. Using this senario, it is much cheaper to buy a higher concentration and use less of it.

We have noticed one common misuse. We are not being critical because it is a common tendency among us all. It is so tempting to use "just a little more" Fragrance.....thinking...... "it makes it better" and the A Grade is often over used. It is hard to make yourself use less, but to use too much especially with the A Grade Candle Fragrance is sometimes just a waste of money.
Try 1/2-3/4 oz per pound of most any of the A Grade fragrances, you will be shocked at how strong they really are at that level. It is not necessary to over use the A Grades, they truly are more concentrated and they will save you money if you can discipline yourself and use less of it.

Since there are several other factors to a strong fragrance throw in a candle, please read the instructions in the "Frequently asked questions" category about "How to make a candle throw". It should be informational if you are interested in making candles that fill your whole home with the fragrance of your candle.

If you have any other questions concerning this topic or other items of question you think would benefit others, please e-mail us at [email protected] and we will be happy to assist in any way possible.