The three candles on the After Dark shelf are poured in coconut apricot wax. The three on Open Hours are poured in soy wax. People ask what the difference is, and the honest answer is smaller than the internet makes it, so here it is in plain words.
What each one is
Soy wax is made from soybean oil that has been hardened until it holds its shape and will take a wick. It is a vegetable wax, it has been the everyday wax of small candle makers for a long time, and it is probably what you picture when you think of a plain, unfussy candle in a glass jar. Coconut apricot wax is a blend. It is built on coconut oil, with apricot kernel oil in it, hardened the same way, and it sets smoother and a little softer than soy.
What they have in common
Both are soft waxes, made to be burned in the jar they were poured in, which is why every candle of ours comes in glass with a lid. The wick in every jar is cotton. The care is the same on either shelf too, which means a first burn that reaches the glass all the way round and a wick that is kept short. And on the question people most want answered, we are not going to tell you that one wax is better than the other, because we do not believe it. They are two good waxes that behave a little differently, and that is the whole of it.
How they differ
The plain differences are the ones you can see. Soy wax often looks a little frosted or uneven on top once it has cooled after a burn. That is what soy does, and it changes nothing about how the candle burns. Coconut apricot wax tends to set smooth and stay smooth. The burn times are a little different as well, and we print them as the makers state them. An After Dark candle burns for up to fifty hours, and an Open Hours candle for about fifty to sixty. Both figures depend on a trimmed wick, because a long wick burns any wax faster.
On the Open Hours shelf you will see the size written as 9 oz, and then 7.5 oz of wax. That is one jar and one candle, not two sizes. A candle is never poured right up to the lip, so the jar holds nine ounces and the wax in it weighs seven and a half.
Why the shelves differ
The two shelves are poured by two different candle makers in the USA, and each one pours in the wax and the jar it does best. After Dark comes in amber glass with a gold lid and a black label. Open Hours comes in clear glass with a white lid and a parchment label. Rather than pretend the two are the same, we print the wax on the label of every candle, right after the Pours line, along with the words poured in the USA, so the jar in your hand tells you exactly what is in it.
If you want to choose a shelf by its wax, that is a fine way to do it, and the label will not let you get it wrong. Most people choose by the hour instead. The After Dark candles are written for the deep end of the night, and the Open Hours candles for the fire burning down and the first light coming in.
