Apricot Wax
Part of our Ingredient Glossary — educational information about raw materials we may use in our products. We don't sell raw ingredients.
This is an entry in our Ingredient Glossary. We do not sell raw ingredients; this is about what goes into the things we make and why.
For years our candles were pure soy, and we still like soy. It burns clean and it's easy to work with. But soy has two habits that bug us: it can be shy about throwing scent, and it frosts. That white, crackly bloom on top of a cooled candle is harmless, but it never looked like the candle we had in our heads. Coconut wax fixed the scent problem. Apricot wax fixed the rest.
Apricot wax comes from the kernel inside the apricot pit. The oil gets pressed out, then hydrogenated so it firms up into a soft, pale wax. On its own it's too soft to make a candle out of. That's the point. Blended with soy and coconut it fills in the gaps: the tops set smooth and creamy, the wax pool melts evenly from edge to edge, and the fragrance has more room to sit in the wax and come out slowly instead of all at once.
You can see the difference in the new tins. The Pumpkin Weather Candle is a good example. That buttery pie crust note is the kind of thing that vanishes in straight soy, and here it holds for the whole burn. Same story with the sandalwood in Slow Down, which stays in the room right alongside the vanilla instead of getting buried by it.
Citrus is the real test, though. Lemon fragrances are bright and light and they burn off fast. The soy, coconut, and apricot blend in Lighten Up is why that candle smells like fresh lemon an hour in, not just in the tin at the store.
It's still all plant wax. No paraffin, no petroleum, nothing we'd be nervous about breathing in a small room. We just found a better combination of plants. The cream color of the new tins is the apricot wax showing its work.
