By The ARTnews Recommends Editors

Soy wax, which is simple to melt down and mix with essential oils, is a popular option for making candles. Derived from soybean oil, it’s a cleaner alternative to paraffin wax and has a longer burn time too. Not all soy wax is equal, however, although it might all look the same. Depending on your candle-making experience and your scent and container preferences, you’ll want to find the product that will work best for you. Our picks will help you make the best choice.

Most soy wax products are sold in flake form, which makes melting them a breeze. This is our top pick for the consistency in size and texture of its flakes, which melt down into a smooth and creamy wax. They also have a high melt point of 185 ○ F so your finished products won’t liquify on their own, not even on the hottest summer day. Formulated to reduce crystal growth, otherwise known as frosting, it’s a great option for beginners to candle making. This user-friendly wax also works very well as a resist for fabric printing and dyeing.

If you’re making scented soy candles, it can be challenging to concoct a formula that carries a discernible fragrance. This is because soy wax is denser than paraffin wax and requires more heat to release a fragrance. This blend of 98% soy and a 2% all-natural soy-based proprietary additive is formulated to hold a 15% scent throw, which refers to the ratio of essential oils to wax—a pretty high fragrance percentage for soy wax. It also holds colorants very well so you can create uniform candles without frustration.

This blend features soy wax with some paraffin and additives, so it’s not as soft as the other waxes on our list. But this makes it well suited for freestanding candles or wax tarts—wickless wax pieces you can design in beautiful shapes. Rather than flakes, it comes in fine grains that melt with ease; when hardened, the wax pops out of molds and other containers with little effort. You can also add color tints and fragrances to create the custom candle of your dreams.

Working with wax can be time consuming and messy. An alternative to flakes are wax beads, which are easier to portion out and are designed to be melted in a microwave in a matter of minutes. The liquified results pour smoothly and take scent well; once hardened, your candles will burn slowly and evenly. The process requires some experimentation to figure out the ideal temperature setting for your microwave, but you do get a lot of product to work with.

These flakes have a slight yellow tinge to them, and they result in elegant candles with a creamy, opaque finish. They are ideal for melting down to create container candles, having a strong adhesion to glass as well as a clean and leisurely burn. It can be difficult, however, to achieve fragrance with this wax: It has an excellent cold throw (fragrance released when the candle is unlit) but a poor hot throw (fragrance released when the candle is burning). But the flakes alone carry no scent and hold dye well, so this is a good option for making decorative unscented candles.

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