Fragrance Oils vs. Essential Oils for Candles

With the wellness industry on the rise, products featuring buzzwords like “clean” and “natural” are in high demand. Since essential oils are often touted for being 100% natural and have therapeutic benefits, using them for your candles sounds like a no-brainer, right? Think again!

Here are some reasons why you may want to think twice before substituting fragrance oils for essential oils when making candles:

• Many essential oils lose their therapeutic benefits when they are burned in a candle
• Essential oils can be trickier to work — they dissipate faster and are not chemically formulated to stabilize in melted wax.
• Fragrance oils are much more affordable than essential oils (it also takes a lot more essential oil to achieve a potent scent)
• Essential oil candles may have a good cold-throw before you light them, but once they start to burn they may have little to no smell (or even a fuel-like smell)
• Some essential oils are even toxic to humans (and pets!) when inhaled at certain levels, while fragrance oils are thoroughly tested and scientifically approved to be safe for use in candles 

In our opinion, essential oils just aren’t compatible and that is why we chose high quality fragrance oils for our Premium Candle Making Kit!

That being said, one of the best things about candle making is that it’s completely personal and fully customizable. If you really want to make essential oil candles, you do you!

Here are some articles to get you started on how to do it safely:

The Spruce Crafts | Essential Oil Safety

The Spruce Crafts | Toxic and Phototoxic Essential Oils