If you've thought about switching to natural candles, be careful. You may be surprised by what companies are allowed to advertise as natural. Very often, candles advertised as all natural contain artificial fragrances, paraffin, led wicks or other non-natural materials.
Differences between aromatherapy candles and essential oils candles.
One thing you should know about aromatherapy candles is that they are NOT necessarily essential oil candles. Many people consider these terms to be interchangeable. To be clear, essential oil candles are always aromatherapy candles, but aromatherapy candles are not always essential oil candles.
Aromatherapy, as concisely as it can be said is the use of essential plant oils that are used for physical or psychological therapy. One thing that is often not understood is that essential oils are necessary for all types of aromatherapy. If you are not using essential oils, the practice cannot be considered aromatherapy.
What you should look for in essential oil candles & aromatherapy candles.
When looking for high quality aromatherapy candles, you must always make sure not simply that the candle contains essential oils, but that the candle contains ONLY essential oils and absolutely no other perfume grade artificial fragrances. These fragrances will interfere with the essential oils and the therapy will not be as effective.
Just as important as find aromatherapy candles with pure, therapeutic grade essential oil is finding the right type of wax as a carrier. Soy wax burns completely cleanly, does not emit carbon based soot and it odorless when burned. For these reasons, soy wax is the best option for aromatherapy candles.
Using essential oil candles with paraffin is a bit like buying organic produce and spraying on a nice, thick coating of pesticides before eating your healthy piece of fruit. It just doesn't make sense. Paraffin is a byproduct of petroleum and emits harmful petro-carbon soot when burned that can nullify the healthy effective of the essential oils.
Soy wax and only soy wax.
Just like with the essential oils, you must make sure that the soy wax is pure soy wax. If the candle says "made with soy wax," all that means is that there's soy wax in the candle. It could be 10% soy wax - you don't know. If the candle really contains 100% pure soy wax, it will say so. If the label appears confusing or misleading, contact the manufacturer and they're obligated to tell you the truth.
Having said that however, I'd like to make it clear that not all soy wax blends are inherently bad. Many candle companies actually do use completely natural additives such botanical oils like palm oil. If you're comfortable with these natural additives, that's fine. An easy way to tell if the soy wax is pure is if there is a white frosting on the top or the outside of the candle. These are the natural oils rising to the surface.
If you do opt to use a soy wax blend, make sure only botanical oils are used in conjunction with the soy wax. Make sure that paraffin is not one of the additives. Again, if you are confused about exactly what's in the candle, I would recommend contacting the manufacturer.
What type of wick is used?
This is one that most people over look. It's also very difficult to tell what type of wick is used since it rarely says anywhere on the label. That being said, you should also use a cotton wick. Paper wicks and wicks with metal cores will affect the aroma of the essential oils.
All-in-all
To wrap things up, the one thing you should remember is that your aromatherapy essential oil candles should contain only natural ingredients. Non-natural additives such as paraffin and artificial fragrance will reduce the healing effect of aromatherapy.
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