The lovely smells that wax melts {also known as tarts or bars} and candles emit are associated with luxury, pampering, and romance, which is probably why they are so beloved. They also hold the potential to be very good for one’s health…or they can be very detrimental to it.
The Problems with Store-bought Wax Melts
Whether you buy wax melts from Scentsy or a brick and mortar building like Walmart or Bath & Body Works, they all have a few major problems with them–their ingredients! Most of these popular wax melts {or candles, for that matter}, are made using paraffin wax.
Paraffin wax is bad because it is a petroleum by-product that, when burned {such as via a wax warmer or a candle} emits toxins into the air that are harmful to health when inhaled {which, the whole point of wax melts or candles is to inhale the smell}[note]SC State University[/note].
Beyond the paraffin wax, store-bought wax melts and candles also contain other bad-for-you ingredients in the form of artificial fragrances and colorants. Since these fragrances and colorants {like most any other ingredients the wax melt or candle might contain} are undisclosed, you don’t know what you’re getting or how bad they are for your health.
The Problems with Soy Wax
Although soy wax might be a somewhat more healthful alternative to paraffin wax, it, too really isn’t always the best. The vast majority of soy anything is made using genetically modified soy beans that have been treated with pesticides, herbicides, and so on[note]Aloha Bay[/note]. Now, if you can find soy wax that came from organic, non-GMO plants that have not been treated with any poisons, then, yes go for it! For me, I didn’t find any that I trusted.
Breakdown of Ingredients
Just before I dive into the how much and the how to, let me introduce you to the ingredients for my DIY wax melts. I chose three very basic, simple, all-natural ingredients for my wax melts.
- Beeswax. This is the base of the wax melts {because you just have melts if there’s no wax…yeah}. Stick to using all-natural, unbleached beeswax and make sure it’s real beeswax {just because something looks like a honeycomb doesn’t mean it’s real beeswax; and just because a label says beeswax doesn’t mean it’s not imitation beeswax…always dig a little deeper}.
- Coconut oil. This ups the healthfulness of the wax melts by a notch or two and also makes the beeswax softer so that it doesn’t take forever and ten days for the beeswax to melt {if it was solid beeswax, it’d take quite a while for the warmer to melt it}. Be sure your coconut oil choice is expeller pressed.
- Essential oils. This is the whole point of the wax melts–to get lovely smells into the air!And since we’re using essential oils {I only trust and only use the Young Living brand, by the way}, it’s also awesome because they support good health in addition to smelling good!
Scent Blends
Below are some scent ideas to make your wax melts smell lovely. Add the total amount of essential oils recommended below to the entire recipe {you’re also of course welcome to use others not listed}. Depending on the specific oils you use and how strong your sense of smell is, you may need to increase or decrease the amount of oil you use. The blends I share below include strong oils so the fragrance should be stronger.
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