What is (and what isn't) in our candles.
Our candles are made with 100% soy wax. We exclusively use lead and zinc free cotton wicks. We proudly use non-toxic and phthalate free fragrances to scent our candles.
So...What Exactly Makes a Fragrance a “Clean Scent?”
Our standards are rigorous, and they exclude many materials that are ubiquitous in other suppliers’ fragrance oils. You may already be familiar with our exclusion of phthalates, but we also exclude materials with similar health concerns, including those on California’s Prop 65 list. Materials known to be carcinogens in California aren’t any safer elsewhere! And if you’re a business outside of CA but selling handmade products online, your products will likely be bought within the state. With CandleScience Clean Scents, you don’t need to worry about Prop 65 labeling. More importantly, you don’t need to worry if these fragrances are safe for your home.
The Catalyst
Historically, the fragrance industry has never been transparent about safety. Lack of disclosure from fragrance manufacturers regarding ingredients and the possible health risks of those ingredients was the norm.
The landscape is quite different in 2020. From established indy brands to new hobbyists, fragrance consumers are doing their own research and becoming better informed about the products they make, sell, and enjoy in their homes. You expect accurate safety information from suppliers and accessible language about ingredients that don’t require a science degree to understand and translate to your customers. You expect products that give you peace of mind.
The industry has been slow to meet this expectation, but we saw an opportunity to take the lead in 2015. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, better known as OSHA, adopted and began enforcing labeling requirements from the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, or GHS. This set of GHS requirements, now enforced by OSHA, requires the disclosure of potential hazards of a substance in a commercial facility and for purposes related to shipping.
While not designed for fragrance safety specifically, this presented the opportunity to demand more information about the materials and ingredients that made up our fragrances. The information we discovered empowered our deep dive into the science behind fragrance, the materials within fragrance, and the effects those materials have on human health.
There are five main “hazard groups” that we simply don't allow.
✖ Carcinogens: These are materials known or thought to cause cancer.
✖ Mutagens: Materials that change the DNA of a cell, harming the cell and causing diseases like cancer.
✖ Reproductive toxins: Toxins that adversely affect reproductive organs and increase the risk of birth defects.
✖ Organ toxins: These are toxins that can cause adverse effects or disease within specific bodily organs.
✖ Acute toxins: Toxins that can cause adverse effects from a single exposure. Generally, this would be accidental exposure like spillage or ingestion.
Exclusion List
The standards for CandleScience Clean Scents™ are the most comprehensive, rigorous standards in the fragrance industry. You may already be familiar with our exclusion of phthalates, but we also exclude many other chemicals with similar health concerns.
The chemicals listed below are ingredients often found in a fragrance that CandleScience Clean Scents™ will never contain. Due to the extensive number of exclusions, not every ingredient is listed. If you have concerns about a specific chemical not listed and want to verify it is excluded, please write in to our support team.
Phthalates, including but not limited to BBP, DEHP, DBP, and DEP
Phthalates are esters of Phthalic acid and are used to dissolve raw materials when making fragrance oils. They have been used for decades in a myriad of pharmaceuticals, household, and industrial products.
- Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)
- Dibutyl phthalate (DBP)
- Diethyl phthalate (DEP)
- Diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP)
- Diisononyl phthalate (DINP)
- Dimethyl phthalate (DMP)
Animal Derivatives, including but not limited to:
- Ambergris
- Castoreum oil
- Civet oil
Antimicrobials
These ingredients are flagged for potential acute and reproductive hazards and are banned by the FDA.
- Cloflucarban
- Fluorosalan
- Hexachlorophene
- Hexylresorcinol
- Iodine complex (ammonium ether sulfate and
- polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate)
- Iodine complex (phosphate ester of alkylaryloxy
- polyethylene glycol)
- Methylbenzethonium chloride
- Methylisothiazolinone
- Methylchloroisothiazolinone
- Nonylphenoxypoly (ethyleneoxy) ethanoliodine
- Oxychlorosene sodium
- Poloxamer-iodine complex
- Secondary amyltricresols
- Tribromsalan
- Triclocarban
- Triclosan
- Undecoylium chloride iodine complex
Additional Molecules
- 1,3-Dibromo-2-methoxy-4-methyl-5-nitrobenzene (Musk KS)
- 1,3-Dibromo-2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-6-methyl-benzene
- 1,3-Dibromo-2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-6-methyl-benzene (Musk alpha)
- 2-Pentylidene cyclohexanone
- 2,2-Dichloro-1-methylcyclopropylbenzene
- 2,4-Dienals
- 2,4-Dihydroxy-3-methylbenzaldehyde
- 2,4-Dodecadien-1-ol
- 2,4-Hexadien-1-ol
- 3- and 4-(4-Hydroxy-4-methylpentyl)
- cyclohex-3-ene-1-carbaldehyde (Lyral)
- 3-Bromo-1,7,7-trimethylbicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-2-one
- 3-Methyl-2(3)-nonenenitrile (Citgrenile)
- 3,7-Dimethyl-2-octen-1-ol
- 4-Methyl-7-ethoxycoumarin (Maraniol)
- 4,6-Dimethyl-8-tert-butylcoumarin (Butolia)
- 6-Isopropyl-2-decalol (Decatol)
- 6-Methylcoumarin (Toncarine)
- 7-Methoxycoumarin
- 7-Methylcoumarin
- Acetyl ethyl tetramethyl tetralin (AETT, Versalide)
- Acetyl isovaleryl (5-Methyl-2,3-hexanedione)
- Alantroot oil (Elecampane oil)
- Allyl heptine carbonate
- Allyl isothiocyanate
- alpha-Methyl anisylidene acetone (1-(4-
- Methoxyphenyl)-1-penten-3-one)
- Amber dioxane (Karanal)
- Ammonium nonadecafluorodecanoate
- Ammonium pentadecafluorooctanoate
- Ammonium perfluorononanoate
- Ammonium perfluorooctane sulfonate;
- Ammonium heptadecafluorooctanesulfonate
- Amylcyclopentenone
- Anisylidene acetone (4-(p-methoxyphenyl)-3-
- butene-2-one)
- Benzene
- Benzyl cyanide
- Benzylidene acetone (4-Phenyl-3-buten-2-one)
- Birch wood pyrolysate (Crude)
- Boldo oil
- Bromostyrene
- butane-2,3-dione (diacetyl)
- Cade oil - Juniperus oxycedrus L. (Crude)
- Carvone oxide
- Chenopodium oil
- Cinnamylidene acetone
- cis-and trans-Asarone ((E)-and(Z)-2,4,5-Trimethoxypropen-1-yl benzene)
- Colophony
- Costus root oil, absolute and concrete
- Cresol (mixed isomers)
- Cyclamen alcohol (3-(4-Isopropylphenyl)-2-methylpropanol)
- D&C Yellow #11
- Diethyl maleate
- Diethylene glycol monomethyl ether
- Dimethyl citraconate
- Diphenylamine
- Esters of 2-nonynoic acid, (Except Methyl octine carbonate)
- Esters of 2-octynoic acid (Except Methyl heptine carbonate which is IFRA Restricted)
- Ethyl acrylate
- Ethyl methacrylate
- Ethyl non-2-enoate
- Ethylene glycol monoethyl ether and its Acetate
- Ethylene glycol monomethyl Ether and its
- Acetate
- Fig leaf absolute
- Formaldehyde
- Furfural
- Furfuryl alcohol
- Furfurylidene acetone
- Geranyl nitrile
- Hexahydrocoumarin
- Hydroabietyl alcohol, dihydroabietyl alcohol
- Hydroquinone monoethyl ether (4-ethoxy-Phenol)
- Hydroquinone monomethyl ether (4-methoxy-Phenol)
- Iodoform (Triidomethane)
- Isobutylparaben
- Isophorone
- Isopropylparaben
- Lithium perfluorooctane sulfonate; lithium
- heptadecafluorooctanesulfonate
- m-Cresol
- m-Phenylenediamine and its salts
- Massoia bark oil
- Massoia lactone
- Mercury
- Methoxydiglycol
- Methyl crotonate
- Methyl methacrylate
- Methyl Salicylate
- Methylene glycol
- Moskene (1,1,3,3,5-Pentamethyl-4,6-dinitroindane)
- Musk ambrette
- Musk ketone
- Musk tibetene (1-tert-Butyl-2,6-dinitro-3,4,5-trimethylbenzene)
- Musk Xylene
- Nitrobenzene
- Nonadecafluorodecanoic acid
- o-Cresol
- o-Phenylenediamine and its salts
- p-Cresol
- p-Methylhydrocinnamic aldehyde
- p-tert-Butylphenol
- Paraformaldehyde
- Perfluorononanoic acid Perfluorooctane
- sulfonate (PFOS); heptadecafluorooctane-1-sulfonic acid
- Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)
- Peru balsam crude
- Phenyl acetone (Methyl benzyl ketone)
- Phenyl benzoate
- Pseudo Methylionones
- Pseudoionone (2,6-Dimethylundeca-2,6,8-trien-10-one)
- Quaternium-15
- Quinoline
- Safrole, Isosafrole, Dihydrosafrole
- Santolina oil
- Savin oil (Juniperus Sabina L.)
- Sodium heptadecafluorononanoate
- Sodium nonadecafluorodecanoate
- Styrax (Crude)
- Tobacco leaf absolute (Nicotiana affinia)
- Tobacco oil/extracts
- Toluene
- trans-2-Heptenal
- trans-2-Hexenal diethyl acetal
- trans-2-Hexenal dimethyl acetal
- Verbena oil
- Xylene