(And Should You Be Doing Your Own Homework Before You Buy?)

I’ll be honest with you — this one keeps me up at night.

I’ve been hand-pouring candles and crafting home fragrances since 2020. Six years of testing, smelling, burning, labelling and learning. In that time I’ve come to love this little industry of ours, but lately I’ve also started to worry about it. Because every other week now, someone new appears to be popping up at a market or online selling candles with what looks to me like little to no experience behind them — and, in my opinion, some of the stories I’m hearing from customers are enough to make your stomach drop.

So let me ask the two questions I keep coming back to: Should candle-making be more regulated? And in the meantime, does the consumer need to do their own due diligence?

In my opinion, the answer to both is yes.

What “doing it properly” actually looks like

When you buy from a maker, you’re trusting that they’ve done the unglamorous, behind-the-scenes work. Here’s what that looks like for me at Nrglife Home Fragrances, so you know what to expect from anyone you buy from:

I carry regulated public liability and product insurance. I put warning labels on every product. I hand out Care Cards with each purchase — professionally printed at my own expense — so you know exactly how to burn your candle safely. And I test-batch every new combination of vessel, wax, wick and fragrance, sourcing from trusted local Australian suppliers before anything reaches you.

None of that is glamorous. None of it shows up in a pretty Instagram photo. But, in my opinion, it’s the difference between a candle that’s a joy and a candle that may be a hazard.

The stories that worry me

I sell online, but I also show up in person at pop-up shops around our community — because I like to put a face to what I make. And it’s at those markets that I hear the things that concern me.

A Bribie family recently told me they’d bought gel wax candles at a local market. If you’re not familiar with them, gel candles aren’t really wax at all — they’re typically made from around 95% mineral oil and 5% polymer resin. People love them for that clear, jelly-like look, often with little objects set inside. But here’s what, in my opinion, doesn’t get mentioned often enough: gel wax does not break down naturally, so it may linger in landfill, and it may affect your indoor air quality when burned. In my experience they tend to burn hot, may throw black soot in the first few minutes, and may behave less predictably than a low, slow-burning coconut-soy candle.

That family’s story didn’t end with soot. According to them, one of those candles allegedly exploded in the husband’s hand, and they told me he suffered third-degree burns.

Then there’s the trend that really gets me: candles with dried flowers and other flammable bits embedded in the top. It looks beautiful. In my opinion, it may also be dangerous. Once a candle burns down, the surface becomes a pool of hot liquid wax, and anything lightweight floating in it — dried petals, twigs, paper — may drift toward the flame. If it touches the wick, you may end up with a small fire on top of your candle. Embers may lift into the air, land on a nearby curtain or cushion, and in my opinion this is one way house fires may start. It can happen fast. This, I believe, is exactly why every warning label you’ve ever read says the same four words: never leave a candle unattended and it's the reason why my candle makers insurance does not cover candles that have dried flowers in them.

Why I believe regulation matters

People who buy a candle — or sign up for a candle-making workshop — naturally assume the person selling or teaching knows what they’re doing. That they’re insured. That they understand labelling laws and consumer protections. That they’ve made enough candles to make them correctly.

In my opinion, you should never have to assume that.

I’d love to see the industry properly regulated, so that anyone teaching others is required to hold some kind of qualification before they stand in front of a class. And while I’m at it — can we please retire the “triple-scented” myth? In my understanding, there’s no such thing. It’s simply a candle made with the maximum recommended amount of fragrance. In my opinion, that’s marketing dressed up as science.

There’s plenty more I could say, but you get the gist.

How to shop for candles safely

Until the rules catch up, the best protection, in my opinion, is a few good questions. Before you buy your next candle or attend your next workshop — from me or anyone else — here’s your quick checklist:

•         Ask if the maker is insured. A confident maker will usually be happy to tell you they carry public liability and product insurance.

•         Look for a proper warning label. Burn instructions, safety warnings and ingredients should be clearly printed, not an afterthought.

•         Be cautious with embedded objects. In my opinion, dried flowers, glitter, wooden charms and other flammable decorations near a wick may be a fire risk.

•         Know what you’re actually burning. Ask what the candle is made from. In my experience, natural waxes like coconut-soy may burn cooler and cleaner than gel or heavily mineral-oil-based products or paraffin.

•         Be sceptical of buzzwords. In my understanding, “triple-scented” isn’t a real category. Ask about the fragrance load instead.

•         Never leave a candle unattended — and keep it away from curtains, cushions and anything that may catch and remove objects from the candle before you burn them. If you want to keep the pleasing aesthetics put them back on after the burn has re-set.

 

Why this matters to me

At Nrglife Home Fragrances, everything I make comes from a simple belief: that the things we bring into our homes should bring us closer to balance, not put us at risk. My products are crafted by hand, with the earth in mind and your safety at the heart of it. That’s the whole point.

So light something beautiful this season — just make sure it’s something made with care.

Take care always,

Raquel

Nrglife Home Fragrances — handcrafted home & personal fragrance, made with the earth in mind

nrglife.com.au