Luminessence Scented Wax Melts (Dollar Tree)

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Wax melts and wax warmers are popular with people who don’t like to burn candles for various reasons. They are an easy way to add pleasant fragrance to your home, and wax melts don’t produce smoke or soot like candles do. Wax melts also don’t pose the same type of fire risk that candles do, since they don’t have open flames.

I bought a plug-in wax warmer from Aldi a few years ago, and I typically buy wax melts from Aldi when they sell various scents as limited-time specials. You can also buy wax melts at major retailers such as Target, Walmart, or Amazon. I’ve also heard people talk about wax melts at Dollar Tree. When I spotted some during a recent shopping trip, I picked up a pack of apple cinnamon melts to try at home.

Luminessence Scented Wax Melts cost $1.25 at the time of publication for a 2.5-ounce package (50 cents per ounce) that contains six wax cubes that break into sections. These are the cheapest wax melts I’ve seen anywhere. They’ll cost you more at Target ($1 per ounce) or Walmart (about 89 cents per ounce), and while Aldi wax melts lately have been around 68 cents per ounce. You might be able to buy wax melts in bulk on Amazon that are closer in price per ounce to Dollar Tree melts, but the brands and quality may vary.

My local Dollar Tree had scents including vanilla, eucalyptus, pumpkin chai, fresh linen, beach rose, and palo santo. I didn’t care for most of those scents, and I chose to go with apple cinnamon, which isn’t great but seemed like the best of the bunch.

Luminessence is a Dollar Tree private label that encompasses candles of all sizes and shapes (tea lights taper candles, pillar candles, jar candles, battery-operated candles, etc.), wax melts, candle holders, potpourri, and fragrance oils. The Dollar Tree wax melts are made in India and carry the Greenbrier International label, which is a Dollar Tree exclusive.

The package does not give any indication of what these melts are made of, but Scented Wax Melt Reviews says DT melts are made of paraffin wax. Paraffin is a good wax for issuing a strong scent, also known as “throw” in the world of candles and wax melts. In addition, paraffin is one of the cheaper types of wax, but some people don’t like that it’s a byproduct of petroleum oil processing.

Directions on the back. (Click to enlarge.)

The instructions on the package state to break off one melt, place it in the top fragrance tray of your warmer, and light the tea light beneath your wax warmer to heat the wax and release fragrance. While the directions are only for using tea light wax warmers, you can also use these wax cubes in electric wax warmers, which is what I have.

These melts easily break off into individual cubes, and they melt just fine in my wax warmer.

As far as the scent goes, the apple cinnamon melts I bought smell okay, but I’ve smelled better apple cinnamon wax melts and candles. My family and I had a hard time putting into words what seems off about this scent, and the best we can come up with is that it smells cheap. It reminds me of an air freshener I might smell in some public restrooms. The apple scent is not as sweet as some apple cinnamon candles I’ve smelled. The cinnamon notes might be a bit more dominant than the apple scent, but it’s a mild cinnamon scent.

I also think these melts have a weaker throw, meaning they don’t put out as strong of a scent as some of my other wax melts from retailers such as Aldi. After letting one sit melted in my wax warmer for a couple of hours, it was hard to smell it unless I got close to it.

Dollar Tree wax melts aren’t the worst, but I think you’re getting what you pay for. They don’t smell as good or have as much throw as other brands.

The Verdict:

Luminessence Scented Wax Melts from Dollar Tree are the cheapest wax melts we’ve seen in any store. They melt well, but their scent throw is weak, and we don’t care much for the scents that are available. If you really need wax melts, they’ll work in a pinch, but we prefer other brands.