It’s cozy season! People often think they have to give up candles when switching to a low tox lifestyle. I’m here to tell you some good news: you don’t have to, yay! However, it’s still important to be conscious of choosing safer, cleaner candles. This post will teach you more about what to look for, what to avoid, and some awesome #OrganicallyBeccaApproved brands!
This post contains affiliate links.
Table of Contents:
- How to Choose Safer Candles & What to Avoid
- Best Clean & Low Tox Candle Brands
- Candle Maintenance & Tips
- Natural Alternatives to Candles for Scent
How to Choose Safer Candles & What to Avoid 🕯️
Consider this your guide to all things non-toxic candles! Let’s start by talking about the issues with conventional candles.
The Problem with Conventional Candles
In a nutshell, most candles release substances that are harmful to our health and lead to poor indoor air quality:
- VOCs (volatile organic compounds such as formaldehyde, carcinogenic benzene, toluene, xylene, etc.)
- PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons)
- PM (particulate matter like soot)
- Undisclosed fragrances (can contain a combination of more than 4,000 different chemicals, including phthalates)
These are associated with allergic reactions, endocrine disruption, respiratory irritation, asthma, nervous system disorders, dizziness, brain fog, headaches, migraines, and nausea.
According to the EPA, the average American indoor environment is 2 to 5 times more polluted than the outdoor air. The EPA also stated that the worst air pollution in our nation is right inside our own homes and that 50% of all illnesses are connected to the indoor air quality. Yikes! Switching to safer candles is one simple way you can make your home environment a healthier space.
What to Look For #1: What is the Wax Base?
Best & Cleanest Burning Waxes: Beeswax, Coconut, and Tallow
These are all sustainable, eco-friendly options that don’t produce much soot when burned!
- Beeswax is the least processed and longest burning due to its high density and melting point 🐝 (many people claim that it purifies the air and releases negative ions, however, this hasn’t actually been proven as far as I know!)
- Coconut is typically mixed with another wax (usually beeswax) because it’s not solid enough on its own, but it does make the candle have a softer texture, which allows for a more even burn and enhances the candle’s scent throw
- Tallow is not as common, but I will share a tallow-based candle later in this post!
Better: Soy
Soy is probably the most common! It holds scent well and is cheaper than beeswax and coconut. It’s also a vegan option if you prefer to skip beeswax. While it burns cleaner than paraffin and gel waxes, it’s not quite as pure as beeswax, coconut, or tallow. There are some things to keep in mind with soy:
- Most soy is genetically modified; look for non-GMO or organic if possible to avoid pesticide residue
- There is a lot of processing in between raw soybeans and soy wax; it’s often hydrogenated or chemically treated with substances such as hexane, bleach, chlorine, and deodorizers
- Many soy waxes are often blended with paraffin, so you need to ensure it’s 100% soy
Avoid: Paraffin (derived from petroleum)
Worst: Gel (derived from mineral oil and polymer resin)
These have been found to produce the highest levels of unhealthy emissions!
⚠️ Beware of undisclosed wax “blends” because brands aren’t required to share exactly what’s in the mix! For example, they could claim “100% soy wax blend” when it’s actually 1% soy and 99% paraffin. Or “coconut apricot wax” which is typically combined with paraffin.
⚠️ Watch out for dyed colorful wax (natural golden/yellow from beeswax is okay)
What to Look For #2: How is it Scented?
The purest option is no added scent, but I know that the thought of an unscented candle isn’t very exciting 😆
The next best thing is natural scent additions such as pure essential oils or botanical extracts. The ideal scenario is a brand listing every single ingredient, so you know exactly what’s in the candle. Anything that’s proprietary or undisclosed is iffy in my opinion. Even terms like “natural fragrance oils” or “natural fragrance” or “clean fragrance” can hide some questionable ingredients since there’s no regulation there.
FAQ: What does a pure unscented beeswax candle smell like? It gives off a subtle, warm, honey scent! They’re a nice option for those who are super sensitive to smells, yet still desire an ambiance.
Note about essential oils & naturally scented candles:
First, please know that naturally scented candles are not as intensely strong as conventional ones with synthetic fragrances, so don’t expect them to fill a large space. They still give off a scent, but it’s lighter and more subtle. They’re especially ideal for people with sensitivities who can’t handle powerful smells.
Second, even though essential oils are plant-based, they do still emit a small amount of VOCs. So always burn candles in a well-ventilated, open area and be particularly mindful about using them around small pets and babies because certain ones can be irritating if overused.
What to Look For #3: What Type of Wick?
Opt for natural material wicks such as untreated cotton (organic is best!), wood, or hemp.
Candle manufacturers used to incorporate lead (!!) cores into their wicks to make them stand up straighter. Thankfully, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission banned those in 2003, so it’s not really an issue anymore. However, there’s still a chance that anything coming from overseas could still contain lead in the wick, so just double-check before you buy and avoid any metal wicks!
If you wanna do a super nerdy deep dive with studies and sources, check out this guest article: “Clean & Non-Toxic Candles: Everything You Need to Know & The Safest Types to Use”
❌ Popular Candle Brands to Skip:
- Bath & Body Works (paraffin wax, dyes, undisclosed fragrance, BHT)
- Maison Louis Marie (this is “Clean at Sephora” but it’s an undisclosed soy wax blend and fragrance)
- Mrs. Meyer’s (undisclosed wax blend and fragrance)
- Salt & Stone (undisclosed fragrance)
- Yankee (paraffin wax, dyes, undisclosed fragrance)
Best Clean & Low Tox Candle Brands 🕯️
Before I share some brands, I also encourage you to seek local candlemakers near you! You can usually find them at farmers’ markets or co-ops. Just make sure to inquire about their wax, wicks, and fragrances to ensure they’re clean ◡̈
Natural Sloth (⭐️ Becca’s Fave!)
Price: $17-35
Sizes: 4 oz, 9 oz
Wax: Beeswax and organic coconut oil
Wick: FSC-Certified wood
Scent: Pure essential oils
Burn Time: 22-50 hours
Natural Sloth candles have been my fave for years! They use wooden wicks, which burn wider and slower than traditional ones—but they also flicker and make the most lovely crackle noise when burned! It’s like a cozy little campfire.
They are also MADESAFE® Certified, use organic and wildcrafted ingredients, and are hand-poured in Tennessee.
You can choose from lots of different scents, and Natural Sloth always has rotating seasonal scents. I love “Home” (nutmeg, orange, cinnamon, and clove) and “Spiced Coffee.” They even have a Candle Club subscription!
Use code ORGANICALLYBECCA for a discount 🏷️
Big Dipper Wax Works (💰 Budget-Friendly)
Price: $5-40
Sizes: Too many to list! Pillars, tapers, votives, tea lights, tins, birthday candles, sculpted, citronella
Wax: Beeswax
Wick: Cotton primed with vegetable wax
Scent: Unscented (natural beeswax aroma), but the aromatherapy line has essential oils
Burn Time: Varies by size, but a medium pillar is roughly 60 hours
Big Dipper Wax Works has more affordable prices, and you can often find them in natural grocery stores! Based in Washington, they’ve been around since 1993 and have a ton of products, including some more specialty items like tea lights, birthday candles, pillars, votives, and tapers. You can even get bulk beeswax blocks and pastilles to DIY your own candles. Many of the candles don’t have a vessel, but some are in glass. They also make really cute sculpted candles like honeycomb, gnomes, mushrooms, and pumpkins!
Most of their beeswax is collected from Northwest beekeepers in regions that rank lowest for pesticide exposure, but they also source globally—but always with high standards and a focus on ethical farms.
Note: Some of Big Dipper’s candles are colorful, but they use eco-friendly dyes that don’t contain hazardous solvents or additives.
Also available here on Amazon.
Branch Basics
Price: $49
Sizes: 13 oz
Wax: Beeswax
Wick: Organic cotton
Scent: Unscented (natural beeswax aroma)
Burn Time: 40 hours
Branch Basics makes amazing natural cleaning products, so I was excited when they released a candle! It’s pure and simple; just beeswax that’s humanely harvested from North American bees. The candle is housed in lead-free decorated glass with lead-free paint and has a pine wood lid. Made in the USA and MADESAFE® Certified!
Unfortunately, mine tunneled badly on the first burn; I even made sure the wick was trimmed. I read some other reviews of people having a similar experience, but it seems like most reviews for this are positive, so it must not happen often.
Candle Stork
Price: $12-40
Sizes: 2.5 oz, 8 oz, 1.2 oz wax melts
Wax: Raw beeswax and organic fair-trade coconut oil
Wick: Unbleached cotton
Scent: Pure, cold-pressed essential oils (+ an unscented option)
Burn Time: 15-45 hours
Candle Stork began when the founder was sensitive to artificial fragrances, but missed the comfort of candles. They’re hand-poured in small batches in Michigan and use organic, wildcrafted ingredients. I appreciate that you can purchase refills and reuse your glass containers. They also sell wax melts!
I enjoy “Upstate Retreat” which has balsam fir and bergamot; they release limited seasonal collections, called “chapters,” so scents are not static.
Use code BECCA15 for a discount 🏷️
Related post: “16+ Simple Ways to Greenify Your Home & Live Naturally”
Fontana Candle Co.
Price: $7-45
Sizes: 1.92 oz, 9 oz, 12.8 oz 3-wick, 1.3 oz wax melts, 3.5 and 6 inch pillars, 12 inch tapers, 1.5 inch tea lights
Wax: Beeswax and coconut oil
Wick: FSC-Certified untreated cherry wood, some are unbleached cotton
Scent: Pure essential oils (+ unscented options)
Burn Time: 12-90 hours
Fontana Candle Co. is a family-owned Pennsylvania business that has dealt with numerous health issues such as asthma, autoimmune, and multiple chemical sensitivity. This led them to create safe and healthy candles that are also non-GMO, MADESAFE®, and Leaping Bunny Certified cruelty-free.
They have robust offerings, including tea lights, tapers, wax melts, and pillars. Their candles have various strengths depending on your preference, from light to strong! You can also get giftable candles with cute sayings on them, such as Happy Birthday, Home Sweet Home, etc.
Use code ORGANICALLYBECCA for a discount 🏷️
Also available here at Live Healthillie (discount code ORGANICALLYBECCA) and Amazon.
Grow (Strongest Smelling!)
Price: $24-36
Sizes: 6.5 oz, 8 oz 3-wick
Wax: Soy
Wick: Unbleached cotton
Scent: 100% certified plant-based fragrance (essential oils, extracts, isolates)
Burn Time: 40-45 hours
Grow really nails the plant-based fragrances—these smell stronger and more complex than essential oil-based scents because they incorporate components like extracts and isolates. Grow discloses the full ingredient list and what comprises the fragrance, so there’s complete transparency! Zero synthetics.
They’re housed in aluminum inserts, and you can get a ceramic vessel and then purchase refills as needed.
While soy isn’t my top choice (and I would prefer organic soy if I’m being picky), I suggest these if you want an aroma that fills the room better than the essential oil candles. They’re hand-poured in small batches in North Carolina and offer tons of scents and seasonal rotations. I like “Woodland Sage” (clary sage, sandalwood, white musk, eucalyptus) and “Pear Cider” (fresh pear, crisp apple, fall spices).
Also available here at Live Healthillie (discount code ORGANICALLYBECCA).
Primally Pure
Price: $54-70
Sizes: 6 oz, 9 oz
Wax: Beeswax and organic fair-trade coconut oil
Wick: Flat cotton braided with thin paper threads
Scent: Organic essential oils
Burn Time: 25-35 hours
Primally Pure’s candles are luxe and more of a splurge, but great quality nonetheless. They’re made in California and come in recyclable glass jars with a metal lid.
I like “Warm Citrus Spice” (cardamom, orange, cinnamon; it’s seriously like potpourri) and “Crisp Smoky Woods” (black spruce, cedarwood, tobacco). They smell incredible!
Use code ORGANICALLYBECCA for a discount 🏷️
Summer Solace Tallow
Price: $35-56
Sizes: 4 oz, 6 oz, 8.5 oz
Wax: Regenerative beef tallow and raw beeswax
Wick: Local cotton
Scent: Organic essential oils, absolutes, and resins (+ an unscented option)
Burn Time: 25-55 hours
Summer Solace was founded in 2014 by a chef and botanical perfumer, and embodies both ancestral care and modern sustainability. The candles use regenerative beef tallow from pasture-raised Northern California cattle that’s slow-rendered 🐮 They come in recycled glass vessels, and you can get an optional sustainably sourced cork lid.
I know what you’re thinking—wouldn’t that stink?! I thought so too, but surprisingly, tallow candles don’t emit much of a smell, nor do they make your house smell like French fries 😅 It’s because the tallow is purified by the time it’s a candle, plus there are added scents and beeswax. I like “Flora Iris” which has notes of iris and palo santo.
Related post: “Tallow as a Natural Face Moisturizer? I Gave it a Try & Here’s How it Went!”
Welch Candle Co.
Price: $17-67
Sizes: 4 oz, 8 oz 2-wick, 9 oz 2-wick, 12 oz 2-wick, 14 oz 2-wick, 16 oz 2-wick, 32 oz 4-wick
Wax: Beeswax
Wick: Organic cotton
Scent: Unscented (natural beeswax aroma)
Burn Time: 20-46 hours
Welch Candle Co. is another brand I’ve been using for years! Owned by a mother-daughter duo, they are local to me in Wisconsin. The candles are hand-poured in small batches using locally sourced beeswax. The brand donates 10% of profits to fight human trafficking!
They offer many sizes, with options from one to four wicks if you want a big statement candle. They come in recyclable glass jars, and some have wooden lids. You can also get pretty vintage containers!
Shop the products from this post:
Candle Maintenance & Tips
Most candles arrive with instructions, but here are some general tips to help extend the life of your candle and prevent tunneling:
- Trim the wick before each use (about ¼ inch is good); this prevents the flame from getting too big
- Each time you use your candle (especially the first burn), allow it to burn long enough for the melted wax to pool to reach the edges of the container (usually around 3 hours, depending on size)
- If you experience tunneling, burn the candle for a long time until the sides melt down
You can use scissors to trim cotton wicks, and wooden wicks easily snap off with your fingers. If you want to be fancy, get a candle care set with a trimmer, snuffer, and dipper.
Natural Alternatives to Candles for Scent
- Essential oil diffuser: I like using Mountain Rose Herbs essential oils
- Essential oil incense sticks: Made without synthetic fragrances (use code ORGANICALLYBECCA for a discount)
- Plug-in wall diffusers: Scent Fill (opt for the 100% natural collection) and Vitruvi have natural ingredients
- Room sprays: I like Grow and Natural Sloth, but these are easy to DIY too
- Stovetop potpourri simmer pots: Just do a quick search on Pinterest and you’ll find a plethora of recipes!
There you have it! There are plenty of wonderful clean candle swaps out there, and I hope this post helps you find your new go-to. You can drop any questions below in the comments, or let me know if you have any other favorite clean candle brands! Thanks so much for reading 💚
What about candle warming lamps?
Those definitely help reduce soot because there’s no flame, but I’d still be mindful about using a clean candle underneath it because those would still release VOCs, etc.
What a great post. Thank you. If you had $120ish, which two or three candles would you invest in ? Homey, like cardamum and spruce … 🙂 would be awesome. I noted you like the Warm Citrus Spice from PP … what else should I buy ?
Hi Joanne! You might like “Cozy” from Natural Sloth and “Cozy Cabin” from Fontana.