Top 6 eco-friendly candles

Scented candles that are good for you and the planet

Many of us love to have scented candles dotted around our homes. The warming glow from lit candles offers that cosy hygge factor, while a chosen scent can stimulate the senses and evoke a mood.

But some candles release more than just delightful fragrances. They are often made from paraffin wax, a cheap by-product of the petroleum industry which has a huge impact on climate change. Paraffin wax also releases toxic compounds into the air when it burns and gives off soot, which can have a cumulative effect on health over time.

For a sustainable and healthy option, look for eco-friendly candles made from natural waxes, like soy, coconut or beeswax, with a pure cotton wick. These will burn cleaner (and often longer) and typically produce only a tenth of the soot of paraffin wax.

We also love that many of these sustainable candle companies offer their products in beautiful refillable containers, to enhance your decor.

Great House Farm Stores

Hand-poured on their farm in Wales, all coconut-wax candles from Great House Farm Stores come in a range of beautiful hand-thrown refillable pots created by a master ceramicist. Offering over 20 different scents to capture a mood or season, Heal, pictured here, blends rosemary, eucalyptus, peppermint and vetiver essential oils and translates them into a mind-clearing, energising and reinvigorating candle.

Chase & Wonder

Made from vegan-friendly soy wax, these hand-poured luxury candles from Chase & Wonder have a 90-hour burn time. Each scent comes in a different ceramic container with a quirky vintage-style design, hand-decorated with real gold. Perfect for pens, plants and trinkets after use, or pop in a refill candle. The Seashore, pictured, combines aromas of sea salt, citrus, ocean botanicals and cypress, evoking a salty breeze, crashing waves and coastal walks.

FloWax

Fancy getting a bit crafty? With FloWax you can create your own ‘smart’ candles with organic, free-flowing candle wax. Just pour the wax into your chosen heat-resistant container, pop in a wick and add your choice of scents from one of five pure fragrance oils. The vegetable-based granules are reusable, slow-burning and residue-free, making them a sustainable and safe choice.

Loriest & Co

Inspired by the British countryside, Loriest & Co offers a candle for every month of the year. Each carefully crafted scent is created by British perfumers, from June’s fragrance of rose gardens and cut grass to October’s mossy autumnal orchards. The wax is a 100% plant-based blend of sustainable soy, rapeseed and coconut, hand-poured into a recycled and recyclable glass vessel.

Amaura London

Encased in pure brass, pure copper or brushed stainless steel, Amaura London’s signature candles ooze contemporary chic. The range offers six different mood-boosting scents infused with essential oil blends, from Tranquillity to Ignite. Each one is made with slow-burning coconut and rapeseed wax and a cotton braided wick, for a clean, soot-free burn that lasts over 50 hours. Refill your metal vessel, or use it as a stylish plant pot or for make-up brushes.

Urbee

EO candles from Urbee are inspired by the flowers, herb and fruit plants that bees adore. Blended only with pure essential oils with aromatherapy benefits, they are made from sustainable and biodegradable soy wax, providing a clean burn and an excellent scent throw. The tin comes with a lid, so once the candle is finished you can clean out any residual wax and use it for handy storage.