What's in Your Wax Melts? DIY Non-Toxic Wax Tarts

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Have you seen those cute little blocks of square wax tarts that seem to pop up everywhere, at every festival, carnival, and mall kiosk that you pass by? I see these wax tarts EVERYWHERE that I go. I love the idea behind wickless candles and diffusing scent throughout my home, but whenever I pass by one of these stands, I can not seem to get a straight answer from any representatives on the actual ingredients list for these Scentsy wax melts. Finally, after seeing one too many of these stands and going into all of my friend's homes and seeing these candle warmers all over the place, I decided it was time to create my own wax tarts for my home! With as many friends and family members that own one of these, this is going to be the perfect homemade gift for everyone I know!

Scentsy publicly states their ingredients are secret

Scentsy says that their wax tarts are a "secret combination of ingredients, used to create a pool of melted wax which is transformed into a wickless candle bar. Scentsy uses a food-grade petroleum based wax." Can you trust trust a company who does not want to disclose their ingredients list to you? Paraffin wax, a petroleum by-product, is created during the process of refining crude oil into gasoline. When heated, paraffin wax releases the toxins acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, toluene, benzene and acrolein into the air, all of which have been proven to increase your risk for cancer. Burning several paraffin wax candles at one time exceeds the Environmental Protection Agency’s standards for indoor pollution. Another thing to consider, is that though you are avoiding the soot by not burning the candles, the toxic chemicals that are in the wax can still be released into the air that you breathe, from heating the wax, in the same way that the fragrance oils are released into the air for you to smell.

The dangers of artificial fragrances

The other mysterious ingredients in the Scentsy wax melts are the fragrance oils used. Fragrances scare me the most because you really have no idea what you are getting when you see this listed on any label. A long time ago this term was created so that companies could protect their secret formulas for their specific scent creations. The problem with this is that you never know what kind of chemical concoction they've come up with to create this scent. The Environmental Working Group's 2004 analysis of potentially sensitizing ingredients in cosmetics shows that “Approximately half of all products examined list the word “fragrance” on the label. Fragrances are considered to be among the top five known allergens” They also noted that certain types of asthma attacks are “specifically triggered by, and only by, cosmetic fragrances.” Fragrance oils can contain all sorts of combinations of asamines, ethers, ketones, lactones, terpenes, and most often contain benzene and aldahydes; all of which have been linked to cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders, neurological disorders, and allergic reactions.

What's the alternative

After trying to get to the bottom of the ingredients list for the Scentsy wax tarts, I decided I would try my hand at making my own! I went onto Amazon and found a 10-pack of these 2.75 ozs. wax melt clamshells and waited impatiently for them to get here! After many different tests in my home (boy does my home smell great right now!), with different blends of soy wax and beeswax, I have come up with three different recipes that you can recreate at home. I am doing this so that you can choose your ingredients based off of what you have on hand or are willing to spend.

DIY Non-Toxic Wax Tarts

I designed these recipes for filling 1 of the 2.75 oz. clamshells, so these recipes makes one wax bar with 6 tarts, from those clamshells. I did this so that you can make individually scented ones, for each of your different family members or so that you can just make one for yourself! This recipe was created using weight rather than volume, a kitchen scale works great for this! I just put my candlemaking pitcher on the scale, zero it out, and then add my ingredients. Before the addition of essential oils and flavors, the total weight for each of the wax blends will be 2.6 oz.

SOY WAX/BEESWAX TARTS BASE INGREDIENTS - MY #1 FAVORITE BLEND!

The soy wax/beeswax blend for wax tarts, gives you the benefits of both worlds with the hardness and scent throw of beeswax, but still the easy meltability of soy wax. This blend is cheaper than using all beeswax (which can be a little more expensive), this blend had the best scent throw for me! This is by far my favorite blend! I found little to no sweating of the essential oils, with the added beeswax to the blend, and when I popped the tarts out of the mold, they didn't crumble easily like the plain soy wax blend. I was easily able to break off a perfect square with these!

2.1 oz. soy wax flakes
.5 oz. beeswax pastilles
(1) 2.75 oz. wax melt clamshell (optional - you can also use silicon molds instead, for cute shapes, or ice cube trays if that's what you have on hand!)
essential oil blend

PLAIN SOY WAX TARTS BASE INGREDIENTS

These vegan plain soy wax tarts are simplistic in ingredients but do tend to be a little too soft if you want a perfect bar to come out of the mold, though it is possible if you throw them in the freezer before breaking off your square. These throw a decent scent, so if you don't care about the tarts being a tad on the soft side and want to spend the cheapest amount per oz. pick the soy wax. Soy wax by itself also tends to sweat the fragrance/essential oils/flavors with any sort of heat and temperature changes (such as shipping, summer weather, etc.). Some candlemakers suggest wiping the tops of the soy candles with a tissue, though this really can't be done with the wax tarts, I just wanted you to know why your soy wax tarts might be sweating.

2.6 oz. soy wax flakes
(1) 2.75 oz. wax melt clamshell (optional - you can also use silicon molds instead, for cute shapes, or ice cube trays if that's what you have on hand!)
essential oil blend

BEESWAX/COCONUT OIL WAX TARTS BASE INGREDIENTS

This blend is for those who don't have the soy wax flakes on hand, or would rather do an all beeswax blend instead. Beeswax has an extremely long melting time, but I found that the scent throw wasn't that great and too much essential oils/flavors added to it to have as potent of a scent as the other wax options. This blend is also more expensive than the others because beeswax is pricier than soy wax is.

.8 oz. unrefined coconut oil
1.8 oz. beeswax pastilles
(1) 2.75 oz. wax melt clamshell (optional - you can also use silicon molds instead, for cute shapes, or ice cube trays if that's what you have on hand!)
essential oil blend

DIRECTIONS

Using a double boiler (I actually used this candlemaking pitcher for the easiest pouring into my clamshells, and put it in a pan with water boiling in it), melt the wax blend of choice.
Once melted, remove from heat and add essential oil blend, stirring well to combine.
Pour wax blend into your clamshell or other molds of choice, and allow to cool and harden fully before storing in a cool dark place, when not in use.

TO USE: Break off a square from the block and put it in the "bowl" of your candle warmer and allow to melt in the warmer, spreading the delightful scent throughout your home! To clean the wax out of your warmer, pour the warmed wax in liquid form, into a mason jar (for reuse later, you can re-melt the wax and add more scent to it again later if you want to recycle the wax!) or back into its original container to remelt again later. Wipe the warmer clean with a towel, before use again.

Essential Oil/Flavor Blends

I don't just use essential oils for these tarts, I like to use some fruity scents that aren’t able to be made as essential oils, and after some extensive research, I found Medicine Flower Flavors. They have a proprietary cold process to extract from the actual fruit, their flavors, not using any synthetically created flavors. They are also certified organic. To get a decent scent throw, I used roughly 75-85 drops total of essential oil/flavor per one wax bar.

Celtic Faerie

This blend is based off the Bath & Body Works Winter Candy Apple. Back when I used to buy toxic body products, this was my favorite scent. I LOVE this blend!

Dreamcatcher

This is one of my favorite calming nighttime blends! I just love the way that coconut blends with sweet marjoram and lavender! It’s such a delightful heady scent!

Peppermint Bark

Who doesn't like the delicious scent of white chocolate, vanilla, and peppermint? It's enough to make you break out the peppermint bark recipes to fulfill your sudden hunger!

Oranges & Clove

I just love the smell of pomanders during the winter time! It’s one of my FAVORITE holiday blends!

Pumpkin Spice

Get into the fall/winter season with this spicy blend that is enough to make your mouth water! Pumpkin pie is just about my favorite dessert EVER!

Twilight Dancer

A sweet and spicy alluring feminine scent, this blend is great for a romantic evening at home by the fire!

Harvest Moon

This is a sweet and spicy fall/winter blend that smells like just like my grandma’s home during the holiday season!

Hot Apple Pie

Who doesn't like apple pie? I am pretty sure it's un-American to hate apple pie, in fact. This delicious blend will make you have a hankering for a slice of hot apple pie!

Cinnamon Vanilla Late'

This blend reminds me of my days working as a barista for that big coffee company everyone knows. I don't make coffee at home without the addition of cinnamon, so this late' is made like the one right out of my own cookbook!

Sugar Plum Faeries

This delightful warm and sweet scent makes me want to dance like a sugar plum faerie for Clara!

Winter Woods

A fresh woodsy scent with a bite of cold. This would be a great gift for a bachelor or teenage boy (because you know that his bedroom probably smells gross!) It’s not as girly as some of the other scents can be.

25 drops peppermint essential oil
15 drops scotch pine essential oil
15 drops Virginia cedarwood essential oil
25 drops fir needle essential oil

Woods & Spice & Everything Nice

This is a great spicy and woodsy scent! This would be a great gift for a bachelor or teenage boy (because you know that his bedroom probably smells gross!) It’s not as girly as some of the other scents can be.

15 drops pine essential oil
15 drops cypress essential oil
25 drops Virginia cedarwood essential oil
15 drops nutmeg essential oil
15 drops clove bud essential oil