Essential oils
Candle making can be a tricky process, with a lot of trial and error involved in the oil amounts, temperatures, and wax choices.
Though essential oils carry a lot of natural benefits, it is generally harder to find candles that will only contain essential oils in their scent profiles.
This is largely due to the slightly more difficult production process. Essential oils, unlike fragrance oils, do not always produce consistent, predictable outcomes due to their variation from batch to batch.
The smell of an essential oil can vary depending on the origin of the plant, the season and altitude of the picking, the soil, and the distillation method. This can make it very difficult for candle makers to constantly get their desired scent out of one particular oil.
Essential oils also have generally low flashpoints and may not always react well in the heat that is involved in candle making.
Fragrance oils
Fragrance oils, on the other hand, tend to be more reliable when creating candles.
This is due to their ability to create a more consistent, reliable scent that can carry well in indoor spaces. Fragrance oils are specifically formulated to create impactful aromas and therefore can do this with more ease than most essential oils.
Fragrance oils are also generally more long-lasting than essential oils, containing a better shelf life as well as a scent that won’t be altered over time.
Which is better?
There really isn’t a definitive answer here, as it very much depends on the purpose. Essential oils and fragrance oils both have their own advantages – it’s up to you to make up your own mind about which you prefer.
Some sites will tell you that you should only ever use natural products because synthetic fragrance oils can be ‘dangerous’, but this isn’t necessarily true.
Both natural and synthetic products can be harmful if handled in an unsafe manner or used incorrectly.