photo by jswieringa

Here’s a quick science lesson for you: Scented and colored candles often contain plasticizers, which make them burn much hotter, i.e., way too hot for your sweetie’s fleshy parts. Black candles and beeswax candles burn the hottest of all. (Besides, what are you doing with black candles anyway? That’s so Trenchcoat Brigade.) You’re better off with the plain white paraffin candles sold at grocery and hardware stores for “emergencies” — but buy extra, please; no filching from your actual emergency supply kit! Better still are soy candles, which burn cleaner and at an even lower temperature than paraffin. (Even better, the soy candles sold at GoodVibes turn into massage oil when the melt onto your skin. We recommend avoiding the sweeter scents.) The stop, drop, and rolls of hot-wax play: Blow the candle out before dripping the wax; test the wax on the back of your hand first; once the wax hits your partner’s skin, rub it in to disperse the heat; do not drip the wax on your partner’s face or delicate mucous membranes (you know, those areas where STDs and infection get passed the most); and, finally, do not indulge in candle play on your brand-new Tempur-Pedic bed with your $500 Calvin Klein sheet set, because we have no freakin’ idea how to remove wax stains.