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Only Beeswax Candles

“To produce one pound of beeswax, a worker bee eats about 10 pound of honey, flies 240,000km and visits 33 million flower blossoms!”

They are more expensive than paraffin or soy candles, way more expensive… So why do I choose to only use 100% unscented Australian Beeswax in my treatment space and in my home?

It’s really very simple:

Most commercial cheaper candles are made from paraffin and for those of you whom aren’t familiar with this, paraffin is the sludge found at the bottom of crude oil barrels. This paraffin is then bleached and treated with benzene and other chemical solvents to clean it. After that, acrolyn is added… acrolyn is a carcinogenic chemical. And because this concoction of chemicals would look and smell truly terrible when burnt, synthetic fragrances and dyes are then added. Do you really want to inhale that? To top if off, the wick is often made of zinc cord, which again is toxic when burnt. So, they may cheap and colourful, but honestly, they are toxic. They leave a sooty residue on your walls and do the same in your lungs.

Whilst palm candles can be slightly less toxic to the health, their production is highly damaging to the environment… rainforests are literally destroyed leaving orangutans without homes.

And 90% of soy is genetically farmed, and heavily sprayed with pesticides, that harm the soil causing health problems to those working with the soil. Soy candles are often fragranced artificially, again, using toxic materials.

Neither of these candles present a good option for me, and I would highly recommend not burning anything, if your only option is paraffin, palm or soy.

So, yes, I have opted for the far pricier 100% Australian beeswax candles. Beeswax is wholly created by bees and is a renewable and environmentally friendly fuel. Beeswax candles also clean the air as they burn – they produce negative ions to neutralise the positive ions such as dust, airborne toxins and allergens, so they actually improve the air quality… a very different story to the other candles we have explored.

And if you are concerned about not having a scent from your candle, beeswax candles do have a very subtle sweet honey scent – it’s not overpowering by any stretch of the imagination, but it is there, and it is healthy.

You may baulk at the price of a beeswax candle, and of course they are more expensive that the paraffin or soy ones, but they do have a higher melting point, which results in a longer, slower burn time. And whilst this may not equal the extra $ you are spending, I don’t think there is a choice to be made here.

A note of caution, if your candle says it contains beeswax, it also contains fillers that will be toxic, so choose carefully.

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