Clean Promise

 Every candle I make is free of the chemicals and soot-producing ingredients commonly found in mass-produced candles known to cause irritation and environmental buildup: paraffin, dyes, metal-core wicks, phthalates, and chemicals that require a California Prop 65 warning. These widely used ingredients are considered the worst offenders to health in the candle industry. Excluding them is why my candles are considered clean and safe for sensitive people. 

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Paraffin is a byproduct of petroleum manufacturing and the most commonly used candle wax on the market. Cheap, accessible, and excellent at throwing scent, it also burns quickly and releases toxic VOCs including formaldehyde, toluene, and benzene. Soy wax, on the other hand, is renewable, burns slowly, and combusts fully with minimal to zero VOCs. If your candle doesn’t say what type of wax it’s made from, it’s likely paraffin.

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Dyes contribute nothing to burn performance – they actually often hinder it – and are made using industrial solvents that release toxic volatile compounds into the air, both when burning and unlit.

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Lead-core candle wicks were banned in 2003, but zinc and tin-core wicks remain the most popular in mass-produced candles today. Designed to keep the wick upright no matter how deep the melt pool gets, these feature cotton braids around a thread-like metal core. Burning them releases particulates and trace metals, which is why I use cotton wicks with a paper core instead.

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Phthalates are cheap chemical plasticizers found in most commercial candles that enhance low-quality fragrances by allowing them to stick to and penetrate surfaces they otherwise couldn’t – including your skin and nasal membranes. While phthalates themselves break down within hours, many of the chemicals they help transport across the skin barrier do not and today’s consumers are constantly exposed. Phthalates are also known endocrine disruptors and can trigger allergies, sinus pressure, and migraines – they’re used in the fragrance industry purely as a cost-saving measure.

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Prop 65 Chemicals are substances California has identified as known carcinogens or reproductive toxins, often present in commercial candles as byproducts of fragrance manufacturing. When paired with phthalates, these chemicals have an easy access pass to the inside of our bodies.

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Using soy wax, no dyes, paper-core cotton wicks, and fragrance oils made without either phthalates or Prop 65 chemicals means  I make the cleanest candles you can enjoy, based on science.