Why Paraffin Or Soy(a) Can’t Hold A Candle To Beeswax Candles 

When buying your candles, you probably consider the colour, the scent, the style, whether cool chunky pillars suit, more elegant dinner table versions or cute little tealights are more apt. 

These factors matter for creating the right ambience, but have you ever thought about just how big a role the wax itself plays in the quality of your candle experience? 

There are wax candles and then there are beeswax candles. Here’s why the difference matters (a lot). 

Beeswax is pure & clean

When you buy beeswax candles here at Higgins & Rose, you are getting a 100 per cent natural product. There’s no added scents or fragrances, no chemical hardeners to increase burning time… just plain, old-fashioned beeswax. 

The beeswax is created in the hive during honey production and does not require any chemical additives to make it into the candle wax of candle connoisseurs. 

In contrast, other common candle waxes, such as paraffin and soy, are so heavily processed to make them suitable for use as candle waxes, in comparison, it’s amazing. 

Paraffin wax, as a petroleum based compound, is akin to burning a diesel generator in your room with the fumes emitted. Soya bean-derived wax is made up of extracted hydrogenated fats. These fats you wouldn’t even eat, let alone burn and inhale the scents of. 

These toxic compounds can be pretty harmful to your health — especially in unventilated spaces and we have no end of customers coming to us for our pure beeswax candles, because their soy/paraffin candles are giving them headaches or causing asthma-like symptoms. 

Less soot & smoke

Beeswax candles produce little if any smoke and burn both cleanly and brightly for hours on end, plus they don’t leave the soot-like deposits across your home in the same way that paraffin and soya waxes can.  

Longer burn times

Beeswax has a higher melting point than paraffin or soy, so it burns slower and lasts longer. While beeswax candles may cost more initially, they often outlast cheaper candles, offering better value over time. Their durability also makes them perfect for long dinners, soul-restoring soaks in the bath, or simply enjoying a quiet evening in front of the TV. 

Beautiful light and subtle scent

If you’ve ever bought a fancy scented candle, only to put it out 20 minutes after lighting it because the artificial fragrance is so overpowering, then beeswax candles offer a much more subtle alternative. They have a natural aroma that is the product of the bees’ flower foraging, so additional fragrances are not necessary and remove the purity quality of the beeswax . 

Beeswax candles also produce a mesmerising soft golden glow, which feels much more warm and welcoming than the harsh bright light of paraffin alternatives. Of all the candle waxes, beeswax produces the flame that is closest to the hue of the sun.

A more sustainable choice

Choosing beeswax supports beekeepers and local ecosystems. Beeswax is a renewable byproduct of beekeeping and its production supports pollination, biodiversity and healthy bee populations. Add to this that beeswax candles emit negative ions, so help purify the air, it’s win win. 

Soy candles, while plant-based, rely on intensive farming that contribute to deforestation and heavy pesticide, herbicide and fertiliser use, all of which are detrimental to the fauna and flora of ecosystems. 

Concerningly, such is the human greed in farming soy beans, indigenous human populations are being both displaced and exploited by the soy bean farmers in some areas. Couple this with the fact that soy is best generally grown in South America and Asia, so the carbon footprint is massive. 

As for paraffin wax, this is a derivative of fossil fuels, which isn’t good for either your health or the environment. 

However, there is a catch with beeswax candles, in that you have to work with them. They’re not plug and play like their chemical counterparts. 

Beeswax being chemical free, doesn’t have any added hardeners to help it burn. When the wax is cold and away from heat sources such as log burners and radiators this is fine. However, in warmer rooms or when being burned in the summer months when temperatures are above 20 degrees daily, the wax becomes lazy and doesn’t like to travel up the wick. 

It’s similar to being on your summer holidays, where the warmer temperatures make you want to do less, but when you get back to chilly old Blighty, the temperatures are cooler and you become more active. 

Problem resolution… pop the candle in the fridge or freezer to chill the wax and get it working and wanting to climb the wick again. As for durations in the fridge or freezer, it’s completely dependent upon the surface area and volume of the candle and how warm the wax is. 

The narrower the candle and the less volume it has, the quicker the wax will chill, so the shorter the stay in the fridge/freezer.

So, there you have it: Beeswax candles really are the bee’s knees and the wax of the candle connoisseur. Some people even believe they release negative ions that help to purify the air, although this theory is still undergoing scientific research. What is undeniable is that beeswax candles are natural, pure, sensually appealing and long lasting.