I Want to Launch Full-Size Candles, Mini Candles and Wax Melts Using the Same Fragrances — Can the Same Fragrance Percentage Be Used Across All Three Formats?

Same oil, similar starting point, separate approval

It is tempting to fix one load, say 8%, and use it for the full-size jar, the mini and the wax melt. It simplifies buying, labelling and training. As a starting point for testing, it is reasonable. As a final specification, it rarely holds, because the three formats are constrained by different things.

A full-size jar is limited by the wick: too much oil and the flame struggles or soots. A mini is limited by its small pool, which releases less fragrance per minute, so makers often want a little more oil there. A wax melt has no wick at all; it is limited by how much oil the wax can hold without weeping, and by the oil page's own stated range. Same oil, three different ceilings.

There is a second reason, specific to some oils: the percentage changes the character, not just the strength. Bergamot Amber's product page gives an intensity guide: at 6% the bergamot leads, at 8% it is balanced, and at 10% the amber comes forward and the vanilla and musk base becomes more prominent. If you run it at 8% in the jar and 10% in the melts, a customer may notice the melts smell warmer and less citrus. That is a brand decision, not just a technical one.

First, get the percentage basis right

CSI product pages phrase fragrance load as a percentage of wax weight. This series calculates load as a percentage of total candle weight, oil included. The two numbers are not the same, and the difference grows as the load rises. To convert a total-weight load to the page's basis, divide the oil grams by the wax grams.

Bergamot Amber's page states soy 6–10%, on the wax-weight basis. A 9% total load (9.89% of wax) sits inside that; a 10% total load (11.11% of wax) does not. Going the other way, the page's 6–10% range is 6 ÷ 106 = 5.66% to 10 ÷ 110 = 9.09% of total weight. That conversion sets a hard ceiling for every format, including wax melts, however much oil the wax itself can carry.

One oil worked through three formats

Take Bergamot Amber across a 200 g jar, a 50 g mini and a wax-melt clamshell. CSI publishes no clamshell fill weight, so the melt figure uses an illustrative weighed fill of 80 g per pack (weigh your own). Loads are suggested starting points chosen to stay inside the page's range.

Notice that the mini and the melt both sit at 9%, the top of what the page allows in total-weight terms once rounded down, while the jar sits at 8%, where the page describes the profile as balanced. That is a sensible opening position: the jar has the largest pool and the wick to protect; the mini and melt need help from the oil. But these are hypotheses to test, not conclusions.

The wax can differ too

A container wax such as CSI 464 suits the jar and the mini. For melts, the format needs clean release from the clamshell and good fragrance retention, so test CSI 468, the coconut-soy blend with a stated melt point of 50–53°C, against CSI 464. Changing wax between formats is another reason the same percentage can smell different.

A test plan that settles the question

Telling customers what to expect

If the approved loads end up different, you do not need to explain percentages to customers. You do need the products to feel like the same fragrance. Describe the scent once, in the same words, on every format, and let the format description do the rest: a candle for the room, a mini for a desk, a melt for quick fragrance with no flame. If testing shows the melt is noticeably warmer in character, either bring it back to the jar's load or describe it honestly as the richer version.

Plan oil by your expected sales mix. If you expect to sell, say, 30 jars, 60 minis and 40 melt packs a month (your figures), the oil need is 30 × 16 g + 60 × 4.5 g + 40 × 7.2 g = 480 g + 270 g + 288 g = 1,038 g, which is a 1 kg pack plus a small top-up, not three separate purchases.

Buy this to test, then buy this once validated

Check the total: ₹560.00 + ₹507.40 + ₹325.00 + ₹295.00 + ₹354.00 + ₹129.80 + ₹118.00 + ₹94.40 = ₹2,383.60. Once each format has its approved load, the oil order follows from the units-per-kilogram column: a kilogram covers 62 jars or 222 minis or 138 melt packs at the loads above, so plan your oil by the mix you expect to sell, not by a single blended guess.

Where this page fits

CSI already has guides that cover parts of this question. This page turns the product above into a raw-material list; these go deeper on the rest:

Three things to buy for this job

Frequently asked questions