Essential Oil Candle | Coconut & Rapeseed Wax

Poured by hand in Gloucestershire from a blend of coconut and rapeseed wax, scented with nothing but pure essential oils.

No synthetic fragrance. No paraffin. No soy.

Most scented candles use fragrance oils, because they're cheaper, they throw harder and they hold their scent for years. Essential oils are none of those things. They cost more, they behave differently in wax, and getting a blend to smell as good at the end of the burn as it does cold takes a long time to get right. I use them anyway, because I want the scent doing more than smelling nice.

Scent reaches the limbic system, the part of the brain tied up with emotion and memory, before you've consciously worked out what you're smelling. I've written about why that happens here. It's also why I layer several oils into each blend rather than building around one or two notes.

The scents

Green Calm
Rose geranium and petitgrain up front, neroli and bergamot underneath, sandalwood holding it all down. Green and floral to begin with, soft and grounded as it settles. Made for the end of the day rather than the start of one.

How it's made

93% coconut and rapeseed wax. 7% pure essential oils. That's the entire ingredient list.

Each candle is poured by hand in small batches, then cured for two weeks before it goes anywhere. Curing matters more than most people realise. A candle poured yesterday will not smell like the same candle a fortnight later, which is why I stopped testing mine at 24 hours.

I burn tested this one across five wick sizes before settling on the one that gives a clean, even melt pool from the first burn to the last.

The details

240g
Amber glass, roughly 6cm across
Single cotton wick
Approximate burn time [ADD HOURS]
Hand poured in Gloucestershire

Getting the best out of it

Give the first burn two to three hours, long enough for the melted wax to reach the edge of the glass. Candles remember their first burn. If it tunnels the first time, it will tunnel every time after.

Trim the wick back to about 5mm before each burn, and don't burn for more than four hours at a stretch.

Never leave a burning candle unattended. Keep it away from children, pets, draughts and anything that catches.

When it's finished

The glass is worth keeping. Score a grid across the leftover wax with a knife, then lever it out from the edge and it comes away in pieces. Wash in hot soapy water and it's yours for whatever you want to put in it.

What it arrives in

A hand-stamped cardboard box, rice paper, a gold wax seal and a scatter of dried flowers. Shredded card instead of plastic filler, which costs me more and is worth it. The only plastic anywhere in the parcel is the label.

Allergens

Essential oils contain naturally occurring allergens, and this candle declares linalool and linalyl acetate, with citronellol, geraniol, limonene and santalols also present. If you know you react to any of those, this one may not suit you. Here's exactly how I handle allergens and why I keep levels low.

Full safety and CLP information is printed on the base of every candle.

If you like this scent, it also comes as a cold diffusion, which fills a room without a flame.