Essential oils are a great option for lightly or moderately scented candles. However, a strong hot throw should not be expected from candles made with essential oils. If a strong hot throw is your primary goal, we recommend using fragrance oils. 

Our Soy Performance rating system will help you decide which essential oils are good candidates for candles and when fragrance oils may serve you better. Learn more about our leaf system here. 

The hot throw of essential oils is affected by the volatility of the oil, which determines how stable the aroma molecules are and how well they lift into the air from the heat of the candle flame. Some, like citrus oils, are too fragile and the flame destroys the molecules, leaving a fuel or burnt tire smell. Others, like amyris oil, are too heavy and don't properly lift, resulting in very little odor or an unpleasant odor. 

Because essential oils differ so greatly, not all of them are good candidates for strongly scented candles. We’ve thoroughly tested our essential oils to evaluate their hot throw in candles, and share our evaluation notes to help you decide which essential oils you may, or may not, want to use in your candles.