As a sensory experience, not only are candles visually stunning, but they often carry aromas that are able to transport you to a different place or time. So the ultimate question is how can you design packaging that communicates your product quality, adds to your consumer’s experience and helps to tell your brand’s story?
Whether it be minimalist kraft hang tags for your smoky campfire oak-scented candles or elegant rigid boxes for your calming eucalyptus-scented candles, your candles’ packaging can be a key player in helping your product stand out from the shelves. Packaging options for candles are endless allowing you to get creative and find the type of packaging best suited for your products. With the infinite options for packaging candles, here are a couple of custom packaging solutions you can consider for your next candle packaging.
1. Keep It Simple With Custom Tissue Paper
Tissue paper is often used to wrap candles for protection during transport. By customizing the tissue paper, you’re able to create packaging that is not only protective but also promotes your brand. Tissue paper with a repeated logo and branded pattern can be used not only to wrap your candles but may also be used as void fillers if you choose to package your candles in boxes. Alternatively, completely omit packaging boxes by printing product information directly on the tissue paper.
Keynvor is an eco-conscious UK-based candle company that creates candle fragrances for those who love the wilderness. The packaging for their candles features their candle’s fragrance name, key aromas along with other brand information. Their kraft tissue paper packaging is an eco-friendly alternative that minimizes waste and overall impact on the environment.
2. Box It Up With Custom Folding Cartons
Folding cartons are a great choice for those who want to use lightweight and easy-to-store packaging that their candles can be boxed in. Shipped flat and made of sturdy paperboard, they are an economical solution that can create structure around your candle without adding too much weight to your product.
Binnie & Clode Co is a consumer brand making candles and donates proceeds to animal rescue. They choose to package their vegan and cruelty-free candles in kraft folding cartons. Their packaging features fun black and white cat cartoons allowing them to effectively communicate their brand’s purpose and values and catching the eye of consumers with pops of color featuring the candle scents.
By creating a product box for your candles, you can also open the possibilities to different visual packaging alterations such as foil stamping, embossing, spot UV and die-cutting. The Munio is a brand that specializes in aromatic products and organic ingredients. They keep the print on their candle packaging simple but feature a large die-cut window so that consumers are able to see the candles within which are beautifully decorated with real flowers.
3. Maximize Elegance With Custom Rigid Boxes & Cardboard Tubes
For those looking for packaging that exudes opulence, custom packaging made with more rigid materials can get the job done. Packaging solutions such as rigid boxes, magnetic rigid boxes, rigid drawer boxes and cardboard tubes can help to create the ultimate unboxing experience that luxury packaging often comes with.
Boheme is a well-known fragrance company selling luxury candles. They use shoulder and neck rigid boxes with foil-stamped details to house their deluxe candles that are as aesthetic as their candles.
Similarly, Noble and Lore, a Switzerland-based plant-powered wellness company uses rigid drawer boxes with thumb notches as well as cardboard tubes designed by A PROJECT BY YAN for the ultimate revealing during unboxing.
4. Get Reliable Protection With Custom Box Inserts
Many candles are poured into ceramics or glass jars making them quite fragile, thus making protection a highly valued quality for candle packaging. Custom box inserts are used to ensure your product is secure in your box and additionally allow your products to be beautifully presented.
Custom box inserts give you more real estate to add branding designs, and provide valuable product information whilst protecting your products making them a true packaging triple threat. Though often an addition to pre-existing packaging, this crucial detail shows that you are attentive to your consumer’s experience and thus can make buyers feel valued.
Lavune is an LA-based candle company specializing in luxury hand-poured candles with custom soy-blend wax. Their stunning packaging screams quiet luxury with the minimalist design of the rigid box and custom box insert. The insert acts to protect the candle and its glass encasing as well as beautifully center the candle within the packaging.
As a slightly different approach, Peony Melbourne, a boutique perfumery, uses the custom insert to secure the candle within the packaging such that it remains standing. The dramatic unveiling of the box reveals that the candle is secured to the base to minimize any moving around within the packaging.
Custom box inserts can also be extremely helpful if you plan to have multiple candles within one box. Aluminate Life created a custom insert with our structural design service to create packaging designed around the candles. The custom box insert securely cradles their candle set, ensuring that they don’t hit each other and allowing them to be presented in a specific order.
5. Ship Directly In Your Packaging With Custom Mailer Boxes
If you’re looking for packaging that can also be used as a shipping box, mailer boxes are the way to go. Best for PR packages or e-commerce, mailer boxes are made of corrugated materials making them your product's packaging and a shipping box all in one. MIM Studio designed a groovy mailer box packaging for Vella Ella’s candle and match set with a custom box insert making it ready for shipping directly.
6. Minimize Packaging with Custom Stickers
Custom stickers are an excellent choice for those who are looking to minimize packaging but still looking to add some branding to their candles. Stickers are extremely versatile, you can directly adhere them onto candle jars, use them to seal tissue paper wrappings and packaging boxes, or provide them to consumers as a packaging insert. Their versatility makes them a budget-friendly option for those who do not require protective packaging or for those who are looking to turn to them for various use cases.
Taking a unique and eco-friendly approach, Seattle-based Kundalini Candles uses stickers to package their candle refills that consumers can purchase to repurpose and cement vessels previously purchased from them. The stickers allow the company to effectively communicate the product’s scent, burn time, and materials.
7. Get Sustainable with Custom Hang Tags & Dust Covers
Prefer not to use stickers? Hang tags are a wonderful alternative allows you to add additional branding. Those looking to go for the ultimate sustainable option may choose to opt for hang tags. Not only do they minimize packaging waste, as they are paper-based they can also be easily recycled. Additionally, their lack of adhesive makes them easily removable from candle jars, enabling consumers to easily reuse and repurpose candle jars.
With hang tags, you’re still able to take advantage of various packaging design technologies. With the ability to be foil stamped, embossed, and even laminated, they are an excellent choice without having to sacrifice the ability to utilize visual depth and tactile textures. Similarly, dust covers are commonly used for packaging candles as a minimal packaging solution that still allows companies to include branding elements and product information.
Saide is an Australian-based brand creating luxe and unique home fragrance products. Some of their ceramic candles include a minimally designed dust cover that embodies their priority to minimize impact on the environment.
Closing Thoughts
Finding a packaging solution that satisfies your brand and product’s needs is crucial in the packaging design process. As a result, different companies have used a plethora of different packaging solutions for their candle products. If you’re still not sure which solution is best suited to your needs, a sample kit allows you to explore the various packaging solutions.
Explore more of our packaging solutions or get started with configuring your packaging on our platform today!