Soap & Candle Making
Soap and candles are where botanical ingredients become objects — and where small decisions show up plainly in the finished bar or jar.
This section covers soap first: melt-and-pour bases that skip lye entirely, glycerin soap and what it does differently, and the methods worth knowing before a first batch. Then candles: how paraffin, soy, beeswax and the vegetable waxes compare on burn time, scent throw and colour, and what changes when you swap one for another. Plus the additives that finish both — fragrance and essential oils, colour, hardeners and surfactants — and how much of each a formula will take.
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247 articles on oils, butters, extracts and formulation. Search by ingredient, concern or technique.
Soap Bases & Methods
A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO SOAP-MAKING FOR BEGINNERSMELT AND POUR SOAP BASES: A COMPLETE GUIDE
Melt and pour soap bases are already saponified, so there's no lye to handle and no curing period — bars are ready as soon as they leave the mould. This guide explains how the bases are made and named, addresses whether melt and pour counts as "true" soap, and covers why their higher glycerin content makes them gentler and less drying than cold process alternatives.
GLYCERIN SOAP: BENEFITS, DRAWBACKS AND TIPS
Glycerin was discovered by accident in 1779 and has been central to soap making since the mid-1800s. As a humectant it draws moisture in without clogging pores, making it gentle enough for dry and sensitive skin. This guide weighs the advantages against real drawbacks — less lather, higher cost, and bars that dissolve in a wet dish — and compares cold process soap making with the safer, faster melt-and-pour approach.
MELT AND POUR SOAP BASES: A COMPLETE GUIDE
Melt and pour soap bases are already saponified, so there's no lye to handle and no curing period — bars are ready as soon as they leave the mould. This guide explains how the bases are made and named, addresses whether melt and pour counts as "true" soap, and covers why their higher glycerin content makes them gentler and less drying than cold process alternatives.
DIY CHRISTMAS SOAP RECIPES
Handmade soap makes a thoughtful holiday gift, and melt-and-pour bases make it achievable even for beginners. This guide delivers four festive recipes — a Christmas bar with orange zest and honey, Cinnamon Orange with red French clay, Cranberry Vanilla, and a marbled Peppermint Hot Cocoa — each with full ingredients, tools, and instructions. It closes with plenty of ideas for wrapping and decorating your finished bars.
Candle Waxes & Pouring
HOW TO MAKE CANDLES: THE ULTIMATE BEGINNER’S GUIDE
Candle making dates to the Middle Ages, when it was known as chandlery and tallow was the household standard while beeswax stayed a luxury for churches and royalty. This guide traces that history across cultures, weighs beeswax against paraffin on drip, scent, light quality, health, and sustainability, and explains why wick material matters too. Closes with a simple ten-step aromatherapy candle recipe.
ALL ABOUT CANDLE WAXES
Choosing a candle wax shapes everything — burn time, scent throw, colour hold, and environmental impact. This guide covers the five main candle types and which waxes suit each, explains why paraffin remains popular despite its crude oil origins and VOC emissions, then compares four NatureWax options: C3 Soy, C-6 Soy/Coconut, Elite-200 Soy/Palm, and Elite-300 Palm Pillar, with scent loads and pour temperatures.
ALL ABOUT CANDELILLA WAX
Candelilla Wax comes from the desert-dwelling Euphorbia cerifera shrub, where it naturally coats the plant's leaves and stems as protection against heat and moisture loss. Its name means "little candle." Learn how the wax is harvested and refined, why its plant-based origin makes it ideal for vegan formulations, and how its texturizing and barrier-forming properties suit lip balms, lotion bars, creams, soaps, and candles.
A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO BEESWAX
Beeswax never spoils, which is part of why it's been valued for millennia — from glazing cheeses and protecting fruit to being chronicled in China's Shennong Book of Herbs 2,000 years ago. Learn what gives beeswax its range of colours, the difference between Yellow, White, and Absolute grades, and its benefits across aromatherapy candles, lip balms, moisturizers, and haircare, including its protective barrier and soothing effects.
ALL ABOUT CARNAUBA WAX
Known as the “Queen of Waxes,” Carnauba Wax is secreted by Brazil’s Copernicia cerifera palm to guard against moisture loss — and it’s one of the hardest natural waxes available. Learn how it’s harvested and graded, and why its exceptionally high melting point makes it valuable for thermostability, binding, and hold in lipsticks, deodorants, creams, styling waxes, candles, polishes, and depilatory formulations.
ALL ABOUT ECOSOYA WAXES
Soy Wax was developed in 1991 as a cost-effective natural alternative to Beeswax, and has since become a favourite for its plant-based origin and cleaner, longer burn. Learn why its lower melting point suits container candles, and how additives change that. Includes a detailed comparison of EcoSoya Q210 and Q220 waxes — what each replaces, which candle types they suit, and where they fall short.
DIY CHRISTMAS CANDLE GIFT IDEAS
Homemade candles let you skip synthetic fragrance and build your own seasonal scent from natural soy or beeswax and pure essential oils. This guide offers six festive blends with exact drop counts — Peppermint Candy, Merry and Bright, Spiced Cider, Tree Farm, Traditional Christmas, and a warm ginger-and-fir Holiday Candle Blend — plus a one-step synergy blend option and inspiration for decorating your finished candles.
Additives, Scent & Finishing
ALL ABOUT PALM OIL
Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oil have distinct constituent profiles — palm oil rich in palmitic acid, carotenoids, and phytosterols, palm kernel oil in lauric, capric, and caprylic acids. Learn what each component brings, plus their benefits for dry or sensitive skin, eczema, psoriasis, and stretch marks, their conditioning effects on dull or textured hair, and their traditional therapeutic uses.
ALL ABOUT STEARIC ACID
Stearic Acid is a long-chain saturated fatty acid and the main constituent of both cocoa and shea butter. Its name comes from the Greek for "tallow," though NDA's version is derived from palm oil. Learn how it works as a stabilizer, thickener, and softener in emulsions, how it hardens candles and soap bars while building a velvety lather, and how its occlusive properties help skin retain moisture.
BENEFITS & APPLICATIONS OF “BABY FOAM” (SODIUM COCOYL ISETHIONATE)
Known as "Baby Foam" for its mildness, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate is a coconut-derived surfactant that produces a rich, velvety lather without dehydrating the skin — and it performs equally well in hard and soft water. Learn how to work with it, including crushing the chips before slow melting and using a high shear blender on the surfactant phase to control foaming, plus recommended usage rates.