Many of us know that candles in the bedroom can add a sense of ambience, especially when in the throes of passion. Some people in the BDSM community add another level to this by using candles and their wax in a different way, by using specially made candles for dripping onto our skin. Wax is used as part of sensation and temperature play, it stimulates the senses with different colours, scents, heat, and touch, wherein the wax can be used in sensory focused activities to stimulate the senses.
I went on the hunt for a new set of play candles recently. I decided against the tapered paraffin table candles (way too hot) already in my extensive candle collection and finding the soy wax candles I had were pleasant and warm on the skin but not painful. Painful was what I was after, not that bad kind of pain where you burn your hand cooking but the exciting, and thrilling kind of pain you get from a proper wax play candle. I was after something professional between the two.
About Doc Johnson Japanese Drip Candles
I found Doc Johnsons Japanese Drip Candle 3 pack, in it, you get 1 tapered candle in each of the 3 colours red, black and purple, a perfect colour combination for creating some beautiful wax artwork on a partner’s body or on yourself.
Buying my candles and getting them home I read the back of the packet “Perfect for pleasure and pain”, “warning for experienced players only” these candles are exactly what I wanted, I couldn’t wait to try them out on a partner. Of course they sat in my room full of BDSM toys and equipment a good few months before I had a bunch of kinky friends over for drinks, suddenly I remembered them sitting in my drawer unused. Among my friends were some very keen kinksters whose hands shot up in excitement when I suggested we have a wax play session before we down too many drinks.
Side note: My rule is if I’ve had too many drinks to legally drive my car I’m too intoxicated to play. This was early in the night and we were still on our first round of drinks. This also goes for obtaining other people’s consent. I especially advise against play with fire and or wax while intoxicated.
My Experience With The Doc Johnson Japanese Drip Candles
I lit up the red candle first and started out holding the candle about 30-40cm away from her bare skin, the first drop elicited a sharp intake of breath, I held the candle upright to make sure it wouldn’t drip again and asked if she was ok, she said yes just that it was very hot, she has done wax play before and has a high pain tolerance, an indication I think as to how hot the Doc Johnson Drip Candles are. I dripped a nice amount of wax all over her back which would act as a layer of protection for the next round, I used black next and held the candle closer, the closer you hold the candle the hotter the wax is when it drips onto the skin. She said the heat was much nicer after she got used to it and relaxed a little, especially with the initial layer down.
Keep in mind that the darker the candle the slightly hotter it will be, so a black paraffin candle will be slightly hotter to drip than a white paraffin candle, so start with the white if you are new to wax play.
My other friend couldn’t handle the Doc Johnson Drip Candles directly onto her skin, she needed a layer of a soy candle I had which had a much lower burning point before I could drip on any of the Japanese Drip Candles onto her skin. So please be aware that these do burn at a reasonably high temperature as they are paraffin! After I was done with the wax I used a blunt butter knife to scrape it off their backs, which added to the whole sensation play aspect of the experience.
This was just some light fun between friends, but if you want to kick it up a notch why not add some blindfolds or bondage into the mix, after all wax and bondage go hand in hand!
The Doc Johnsons Japanese Drip candle set is made of a non-toxic paraffin wax and are just over 15cm each. These candles are not really for beginners and I advise reading up on wax play safety before going ahead with using them or any other wax or temperature play. For more information, read our wax and temperature play guide.
Author: Erin is a consultant from Oh Zone Adult Lifestyle Centres
Jennifer is a marketer at Adultsmart! Embracing a non-judgmental stance, she believes in pleasure without limits—if it feels good and right, why not?