I've got a suggestion about the scarring from your wax play. Use cheap emergency candles or a jar candle with soft wax.
The scarring comes from wax that's hitting at greater than 140 degrees, I would guess it's closer to 160. Here's a bit rambling that I hope will help.
Parafin - 120-140 or so.
Hard dinner candles - 160
Beeswax candles - 145-155
Jar or can candles - 115-130 (usually)
..... All these temps can vary depending on colors (not much difference) or other additives.
If you're using dinner candles that are hard and rigid, they likely contain stearine which makes the candle more rigid, raises the burn temperature, and makes them last longer and burn to hot for play.
Beeswax also burns much hotter than parafin and will also cause burns.
The distance you use between your sub and the candle can make a difference, but not much. It works out to be about 5 degrees for every 3 feet or so, depending on the air temperature, and the amount of wax you're pouring at one time. Of course, the higher you pour from, the more hot wax splash crap to worry about, so be careful with eyes and hair.
The place where you drop the wax matters too. Some areas burn more easily, and take longer to heal. This could interrupt your play schedule for a while.
Jar or glass bowl candles have a bit more mineral oil in them and burn at a lower temperature, but added coloring and scents can bring it back up. Even so, encased candles tend to have softer lower melting point wax as a rule (except when soot gets into the wax).
The black soot that comes from the flame coming in direct contact with the wax as you pour will greatly increase the temp of the next wax you drop, so try to pour from the same side of the candle once you start, to minimize the amount of soot in the wax.
Lastly - candles with soft insides and harder, painted, or otherwise decorated outer shells are not usually good for wax play because when you drip them, the flame melts both the inner and outer shell, causing two different materials (and temperatures) to fall on your sub.
Here's a link that can help, aside from anything else you might Google.
http://www.kufs.org/waxplayinfo.htm
Also...
http://www.peter-masters.com/wiki/index.php/Practical_Wax_Play
Now that I think about it... I think there's something in the Beginners FAQ thread too. But I already wrote this, so hope it helps.
