Why we don’t use only essential oils in our candles — and the myth of “100% natural”

In the world of scented candles, one phrase keeps coming up: “100% natural.” But is that truly possible?

And above all, is it even desirable when the goal is to create luxury candles that are sophisticated, stable, and carry a strong aromatic presence?

Truth matters more than marketing. As we delved deeper into the craft of candle fragrance creation, we realised that making a luxury artisanal candle is both an art and a science. To fulfil our mission — to create Intentional Aromas that nurture emotions — we chose to work with a broader palette than essential oils alone.

Essential oils and absolutes — when being natural isn’t enough

We quickly understood that using only essential oils would limit the olfactory experience of our candles. Many essential oils are unstable in this context: they deteriorate quickly, lose intensity, and cannot ensure a consistent hot throw.

The flashpoint of an essential oil determines whether it can withstand the heat of a burning candle. If it’s too low, the notes burn off rapidly, releasing an unpleasant — sometimes even harmful — smell. With citrus oils, for instance, the result often resembles burnt fuel.

Citrus essential oils are among the most challenging to work with in candle fragrances due to their low flashpoint and high volatility.

Our solution was to seek out specialised, highly concentrated essential oils — including citrus oils extracted through innovative methods — which show greater stability and quality when used in candles. But this was also one of our first big challenges as a small business: finding suppliers with broad catalogues of exceptional raw materials available in small quantities.

And then there are absolutes — like rose and jasmine — which are among the rarest and most expensive natural aromatic elements in the world. It takes around 400kg of rose petals to produce just 600g of absolute, and about 750kg of jasmine flowers to obtain 1kg of absolute.

A candle made only with such materials would be economically unviable — and even if it were possible, the performance would fall short. Restricting the creative process to essential oils alone would also flatten the olfactory palette, making it less nuanced, shorter-lived, and less sophisticated.

"We quickly understood that using only essential oils would limit the olfactory experience of our candles. Many are unstable and cannot ensure a consistent hot throw."

Because origin matters, we only select certified essential oils and absolutes from the finest regions in the world. This demanding standard has made the process more challenging, but it has also enriched each of our compositions with unmistakable aromatic depth.

Plant-based fragrances: faithful to nature

Created exclusively from aromatic components isolated from plants and fruits, these fragrances — also known as botanical essences — are 100% natural and ISO 9235 certified. They combine botanical origin with the performance required in a candle and are present in most of our blends. The same applies to natural extracts, which add realism and vitality to our aromas.

It takes around 400 kg of rose petals to produce just 600 g of absolute oil. The high cost and sheer quantity of flowers required make it unfeasible to use in large amounts in scented candles. Moreover, it would not be a sustainable practice.

However, the market still offers little variety in plant-based fragrances. They are also more expensive than synthetics — one reason why a candle with a high natural content costs significantly more to produce than many conventional luxury candles, which rely almost exclusively on synthetics and rarely include natural elements.

"Plant-based fragrances combine botanical origin with the performance required in a candle and are present in most of our blends."

Still, cost alone was not what stopped us from working exclusively with natural fragrances. The main limitation is that in many categories, they have not yet reached the sophistication or complexity needed for luxury candles inspired by aromatherapy. Florals are a clear example: there are no plant-based fragrances for rose or jasmine available today — precisely because these flowers are among the rarest and most costly raw materials in the world.

Alongside rose, jasmine is one of the rarest and most luxurious absolutes in the world. In our Aura candle, we use Indian jasmine sambac absolute — one of the most exclusive — combined with premium aromatic essences that capture the full richness of its scent.

That’s why, in these cases, we combine rare absolutes extracted directly from petals with safe synthetic molecules. This balance ensures stability, depth, and sophistication.

Safe synthetics: science and sophistication

Synthetic fragrances and molecules often carry a negative connotation, but the truth is they are indispensable — and in luxury candles, even more so. The difference lies in quality. In our blends, we use only vegan, premium fragrance materials that are free from phthalates, parabens, or any harmful agents.

We also comply fully with the EU CLP regulation, which defines strict safety standards for aromatic substances, including those used in candles. This means that every ingredient we choose — whether essential oils, natural extracts, or botanical and synthetic essences — is used at concentrations appropriate to the candle context, ensuring a clean and safe product.

We also favour premium fragrances that, while technically synthetic, already include essential oils and natural components — enhancing their overall depth and character.

Aromatic essences, or fragrances, can be 100% natural — created exclusively from components isolated from plants, flowers, and fruits — or synthetic, made up of molecules that either reproduce those found in nature or recreate olfactory notes that cannot be obtained directly from it.

High-quality fragrance materials are not just safe: they stabilise, fix, and enrich each accord, ensuring the scent remains consistent throughout the life of the candle.

More importantly, they make it possible to create notes that don’t yet exist in nature with the level of refinement expected of luxury perfumery. Thanks to them, we can recreate rose, jasmine, or gardenia accords that come close to the world of fine fragrance.

"We also favour premium fragrances that, while technically synthetic, already include essential oils and natural components — enhancing their overall depth and character."

Far from being a shortcut, these fragrances are a creative tool — a bridge between nature and science that elevates the final aroma to a level of sophistication otherwise only achievable with raw materials so rare and costly that they would be unfeasible in a candle. Especially in vegetable wax candles like ours, where the fragrance load is not only high but considerably greater than in mass-produced paraffin candles.

Beyond essential oils: a more demanding path

It would be simpler — and perhaps more appealing — to say that we work only with essential oils. But that would not be true. And if it were, the result would be candles that are unstable, limited, less safe, and far from the olfactory experience we want to offer.

After experimenting with hundreds of aromatic blends, we discovered that a truly complex and intriguing scent emerges from the meeting point of natural and synthetic ingredients.

While many conventional luxury candles rely almost exclusively on synthetics, at Scentir we chose a more demanding path: combining premium natural and synthetic fragrances with essential oils, rare extracts, and absolutes.

After creating hundreds of blends, we’ve learned that a truly complex and memorable aroma emerges only from the conscious interplay of all these elements. This is what gives each candle its depth, diffusion, and unique identity.

We’ve never seen chemistry as an enemy — but as an ally. Our mission has always been to bring together the best of nature and scientific knowledge to craft artisanal scented candles that are both safe and unforgettable.

The intention behind every blend

More important than the ingredients themselves is the intention with which we choose and combine them. Each candle is created to inspire a state of mind: serenity, energy, introspection, confidence...

This is the essence of our aromatic philosophy: Intentional Aromas. They are not just pleasant fragrances, but olfactory messages designed to awaken positive emotions and evoke meaningful states of being.

"At Scentir we chose a more demanding path: combining premium natural and synthetic fragrances with essential oils, rare extracts, and absolutes. This is what gives each candle its depth, diffusion, and unique identity."

And because we believe quality begins at the source, we select our suppliers with the utmost rigour — not only for the performance of their raw materials, but for the ethics behind their production.

Producing candles with a high natural content under such demanding standards is always more costly, yes. But these ingredients transform an ordinary candle into a distinctive and genuinely premium olfactory experience.

Conclusion

Being transparent about the composition of our candles is an act of respect. The balance between nature and science is what makes it possible to create immersive, truly premium artisanal scented candles.

Lighting a Scentir candle is never just about a scent — it’s an experience designed to be safe, enveloping, and meaningful. Because authentic luxury lies in the details.