Would you buy a candle scented like motor oil?

By John Toth

The Bulletin

When Sharon and I owned and operated Wicks ‘N’ Sticks at Brazos Mall, we found out that connoisseurs of fragranced candles don’t deviate much from the norm. The trick was to come up with products that stayed within that bubble. But not all the time.

Most food-scented candles were not a big hit. We experimented with a few, and they were not big sellers. When I tried to pitch them to customers, they came back with: “Why would I want to buy a candle that makes me hungry?”

The popcorn-fragranced candle stayed on the shelf for a very long time. I can’t remember what  happened to it, but we may have donated it to a fundraiser. It smelled just like buttered popcorn, and when I took a whiff of it, I wanted some popcorn.

The candle would have been perfect for movie theater concession stands with broken popcorn makers.

I thought of this misstep during our WNS days while visiting the commercial exhibit building at the Brazoria County Fair.

 I always stop by the candle booth to see what unusual scents they might have. After seven years of running WNS and dealing in scented products, I still have a nose for what a good scent smells like.

Most flower scents are a sure bet, although rose is a little tricky. If not done right, it can smell like wilted flowers that have not been tended to since they were stuck in a vase two weeks ago. But most flower scents were sure sellers. Lilac was my favorite.

The booth at the fair had all the mainstream scents, and I whiffed a few of them. Some smelled a little too strong, but most were on target.

 I came upon a scent labeled motor oil. All the years I have perused candles, I’ve never seen this one. I unscrewed the top and took a whiff. It smelled just like motor oil. I have always owned older cars since I started driving at age 16, and over the decades, I have become an expert about how motor oil smells.

This candle scent was an exact match. You didn’t have to light the wick to get the full scent. Opening the jar was enough. It smelled like a garage filled with old cars with oil leaks.

I asked Sharon, my candle scents editor, if she would smell it. She didn’t want to do it, but after I asked a few times, she finally did, and she made a face.

We didn’t buy the motor oil-scented candle for a similar reason that nobody bought our popcorn-scented candle at WNS. Why would I spend money on a motor oil-scented candle when I can just get inside one of my delivery vans?

Actually, the vans are in good shape and do not burn or leak oil. But still, the point is that these off-the-beaten-path scents have a hard time making it in the business.

A scent that I liked a lot, but it didn’t sell all that well was leather. It was a man’s smell, and most of our customers were women. Today, if you want to smell leather, just go to Brazos Mall on the side where El Chico used to be and walk past Cavenders. You’ll get a good dose of leather smell. I still like it. If you want to smell any other scent for free, just walk by Bath & Body Works.

I  browsed on my Internet machine through some off-the-beaten-track candle scents to see what the latest trend is when it comes to hard-to-sell candles. Leather was right there. I don’t understand why people don’t like that smell in a candle.

Then there was Library, My ‘90s Mixed Tape, ‘80s Rock and Campfire.

Campfire actually has a pretty good smell, as does Beachwood and Beach (it just smells like suntan lotion.)

I can imagine how the Library candle would smell (like a bunch of old books in a badly ventilated room), but I have a hard time with music-related scents.

Then there is Fresh-Cut Grass, which was another gimmicky scent, but it was a pretty good seller for us. Swimming pool, I assume, just smells like chlorine.

What is your favorite candle scent, weird or not? Send it to me at john.bulletin@gmail.com.

Tell me why it’s your favorite, and we’ll print it in a subsequent issue.