This page may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure here.
Do you know the toxic truth about candles?
If you don’t know already, most of the popular candle brands use toxic ingredients that can be carcinogenic. Most candles are made of paraffin, which is a petroleum waste product- when it burns, it lets off the same chemicals as diesel gas. On top of that, they add synthetic fragrances that are also terrible for our health. So candles might seem innocent, but they are just another thing that is in our environment that can cause us health issues.
Biggest issues with popular candles:
- Can emit lead when burning if the core is lead based (source)
- Carcinogenic soot from paraffin wax candles (source)
- They produce similar chemicals to cigarette smoke (source)
- Increase indoor pollution, especially because of the synthetic fragrances (source)
- Increase risk of asthma, eczema, and skin complaints (source)
- Plus: once you start cleaning up your life, you can just start to FEEL the toxic effect of things like candles. The smell can become unbearable!
So what do I recommend for Cleaner Candles?
1) Recently, my favorite candles have been coming from New Moon Beginnings. I LOVE their whole selection- crystals, herbs for energy cleansing, and their amazing homemade candles.
My fave candles from New Moon Beginnings are:
- Unicorn Dreams– trust me, this scent is SOOOO dreamy!
- Solar Plexus Chakra Candle
- I love their Birth Month Candle collection too.
New Moon Beginnings also has an amazing website to order directly from!
2) When I first researched this issue, I found Root Candles. Root Candles use 100% pure beeswax and natural essential oils for their candles. They have both beeswax and soy blends for their candles, they use essential oils for their fragrances, they have cotton wicks, and some of their candles have an 80 hour burn time. I’ve used about 5 or so of their candles, and I love them! Root has interesting scents like Macaron or traditional scents like English Lavender, so you won’t be missing those usual unique scents that would be from a more toxic brand.
3) For super fancy candles, Rese and Co are amazing. A friend of mine got me one of their candles for Christmas and I LOVE it. It’s such a clean, enjoyable scent and it burns so nicely. They are called luxury candles for a reason- they are definitely luxurious! These candles are made with beeswax, pure essential oils, and they have a wooden wick.
Avoiding all environmental toxins is a hard thing to do, but it is our responsibility to do what we can to fix what we CAN control. We vote with our dollars as well: if we stop buying from these huge companies that care more for profit than our health, then slowly things will continue to change and we’ll have even more better options.