What's Actually in a Soy Candle? A No-Nonsense Ingredient Breakdown

Candles have acquired an impressive amount of marketing vocabulary for something that is basically wax, a wick and fragrance.

So here's the less glamorous version.

The Wax

Simple Nature candles use soy wax. Soy wax is made from soybean oil and is popular in candles because of the way it burns and carries fragrance. Like every wax, it has strengths and tradeoffs. We use it because it works well for the kind of candle we want to make, not because we're interested in turning wax into a morality contest.

The Wick

The wick controls far more of the burn than its tiny size suggests. Its job is to pull melted wax toward the flame at the right rate. Wick size, wax, fragrance and container all have to work together, which is why candle testing involves considerably more staring at flames than most people would guess.

The Fragrance

Fragrance oils are mixtures of many aromatic materials, which makes the word “fragrance” less informative than most of us would probably like.

We don't pretend otherwise.

Our approach is to be as clear as we reasonably can about what goes into the products we make and the standards we use when choosing materials. You can read more on our Simple Nature Standards page.

What “Clean” Should Mean

We'd rather tell you what we actually use and what we avoid than slap a vague word on the jar and ask you to trust it.

Words like “natural,” “clean” and “non toxic” can sound reassuring while telling you surprisingly little. Transparency is more useful.

So what's actually in a Simple Nature soy candle?

Soy wax. A wick. Fragrance.

Not quite mysterious enough for a documentary, but that's sort of the point.

Read the full Simple Nature Standards for more about how we make and market our products.