The Candle Wax Showdown: Beeswax vs. Soy vs. Paraffin

When you light a candle, you’re doing more than just adding light and fragrance to a room. You’re releasing its components into the air you breathe. But have you ever stopped to ask what’s really in your candle?

Let's pull back the curtain on the three most common candle waxes to help you make an informed, healthy choice for your home.

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Paraffin Wax: The Mass-Market Default

What It Is

Paraffin is a soft, colourless solid derived from petroleum, coal, or oil shale. It is the cheap, abundant sludge left over from the crude oil refining process.

Health & Environment

Paraffin is the leading wax used in mass-produced, budget candles. A 2009 study from South Carolina State University found that burning paraffin wax releases known carcinogens like benzene and toluene into the air. It’s a non-renewable fossil fuel, and its black soot can stain surfaces and irritate airways.

Performance

It has a fast burn rate and requires chemical or synthetic fragrances to smell like anything, adding to the cocktail of chemicals released when burned.

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Soy Wax: The "Natural" Alternative?

What It Is

Soy wax is a vegetable wax made from the oil of soybeans. It is often marketed as a natural, eco-friendly alternative to paraffin. While it is certainly a step up, the story is more complex.

Health & Environment

The vast majority of the world's soy is genetically modified (GMO) and grown in enormous monocultures that contribute to deforestation and require significant pesticides. To turn soybean oil into a hard wax requires a chemical process called hydrogenation. So while its source is a plant, the final product is not as "natural" as you might think.

Performance

Soy wax burns cleaner than paraffin, but it has a lower melting point and burns more quickly than beeswax. It also doesn't hold scent well, often requiring fragrance-enhancing chemicals to have an effective scent throw.

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Beeswax: The Gold Standard

What It Is

Beeswax is the only naturally occurring wax used in candle-making. It is a remarkable, renewable resource created by bees to build their honeycombs. It requires no chemical processing, bleaching, or hydrogenation.

Health & Environment

Beeswax is non-toxic and burns clean and soot-free. It is a byproduct of a vital industry, beekeeping, that supports the pollination of our food crops. It is entirely biodegradable. When you buy a pure beeswax candle, you are supporting a healthy ecosystem.

Performance

Beeswax has the highest melting point of the three waxes, meaning it burns the slowest and longest (by far!), giving you significantly more value. It has its own beautiful, subtle honey scent, requiring no artificial additives.

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A Final Note on Wicks & Fragrances

It's not just about the wax.

Wicks

Lead-core wicks were banned in Australia years ago, but they can still appear in cheap, unregulated imported candles. We exclusively use 100% natural organic hemp wicks.

Fragrances

The term "fragrance" on a label can hide hundreds of synthetic chemicals, including phthalates, which are known endocrine disruptors. We believe in the simple purity of beeswax's natural scent.

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Quick Reference Guide

We've developed this quick, handy guide so you can assess the relevant factors when making your purchasing decisions. It makes it really easy to see why beeswax candles are simply the way to go!

Wax Type	Beeswax	Soy Wax	Paraffin Wax
Source	Natural byproduct of bees	Hydrogenated soybean oil	Petroleum byproduct
Renewable?	Yes	Yes (but much of it isn't - be sure you know the source)	No (Fossil Fuel)
Burn Time	Longest	Medium	Fast
Scent	Natural, subtle honey	Little to no natural scent	Unpleasant chemical scent
Air Quality	Clean, soot-free	Mostly clean	Releases known carcinogens
Eco-Impact	Positive (supports pollination)	Negative (deforestation, GMOs)	Negative (fossil fuel)

The choice is clear.

A candle should be a simple pleasure, not a chemistry experiment. By choosing 100% pure Australian beeswax candles, you are investing in a product that is better for your health, kinder to our planet and brings a truly comforting ambiance to your space. 

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