Are scented candles bad for your health?

Candle Making Guide What separates a good candle making kit from a frustrating one, six kits compared from beginner to perfume-grade, and whether making your own beats buying. 7 min read Updated June 2026 By The Mylk Team Quick Access What Makes a Good Candle Making Kit? Six Candle Making Kits Worth Buying in South Africa Atlantic Sunrise — Sea Salt, Freesia and Tonka In the Clouds — Sage, Oakmoss and Green Air Luxe — Honey, Tobacco and Amber Crafty Arts DIY Fragranced Candle Kit Candle Deli Soy Candle Making Kit Studio Melissa Louise Candle Making Starter Kit Candle Making Kit vs Buying Candles: Which Is Better Value? Candle Making Kit FAQ Which Candle Making Kit Should You Buy? Most people who buy a candle making kit picture a calm afternoon and a shelf of pretty candles. What often follows is a stovetop covered in wax, a candle that smelled incredible in the tin and vanished the moment it was lit, and a quiet decision to never do this again. Candle-making is fiddlier than the kit boxes admit, and the South African market makes it harder by selling mostly raw-material kits with little guidance. This guide sorts the options. It covers what separates a good candle making kit from a frustrating one, compares six kits in SA, and works out whether making your own candles beats buying them. By the end you'll know which kit suits a complete beginner, which suits a serious hobbyist, and when to skip the kit altogether. What Makes a Good Candle Making Kit? A good candle making kit gives you matched materials that work together (the right wax, a correctly sized wick, and fragrance already calibrated to the wax) plus instructions that explain why each step matters. Cheaper kits hand you raw supplies and leave the hard parts to chance. Four things decide which one you've bought. Wax The wax determines how the candle burns and how well it carries scent. Soy and coconut-soy blends burn slow and clean and have become the default for natural kits. Paraffin throws fragrance hard but is the wax most people are trying to avoid. Beeswax smells faintly of honey on its own and resists holding added fragrance. Pure soy is the trickiest of the lot, prone to frosting, sinkholes, and weak scent throw unless it's blended and cured properly. Fragrance This is where most homemade candles fail. A candle can smell incredible cold and then give you almost nothing once it's lit, which makers call weak hot throw. The instinct is to add more oil, but past a point that backfires: overload the wax and the oil pools at the wick and burns off without spreading into the room.  Wick The wick is the part beginners get wrong most often. Too small, and the flame drowns in a tunnel of unburned wax down the sides. Too big, and it smokes and gives off a burnt smell. A burnt-smelling wick usually means it's oversized for the wax, and candle-care guidance from the National Candle Association covers safe wick trimming and burning. A kit that matches one specific wick to one specific vessel removes the single hardest variable in candle-making. Complexity Kits fall into three levels of effort. A make-from-scratch kit has you melting raw wax on a stove, measuring fragrance, managing temperature, and waiting up to two weeks for the candle to cure before you can judge it. A melt-and-pour kit skips some of that. A pre-blended kit, where the scent is already mixed into the wax, is the closest thing to foolproof — you warm it, pour it, and it sets. Match the complexity to how much you want to fiddle. Six Candle Making Kits Worth Buying in South Africa Six kits cover most of what's worth buying here, from pre-blended pour-and-set pouches to full make-from-scratch sets. Three are Mylk's own, built so you skip the equipment. The rest are South African scratch kits for people who want the craft itself. Mylk's Candle Making Kit is a pouch of coconut-soy wax with the perfume-grade fragrance already blended in and a cotton wick included. You warm the pouch in hot water or the microwave, pour it into any heat-safe vessel (a mug, a bowl, an empty candle jar) and it sets in under ten minutes. The same pouch refills a vessel you already own, which is the whole idea behind making or refilling your favourite candles in minutes. Mylk 1. Atlantic Sunrise — Sea Salt, Freesia and Tonka Atlantic Sunrise fragrance opens cold and saline, the way the air smells on the Sea Point promenade early on a summer morning, then softens as freesia comes through the middle. Tonka bean runs underneath and rounds the sharp edges into something warm. It suits a kitchen or a bathroom, and it's the one to pour if you want a candle that reads as fresh and clean. Mylk 2. In the Clouds — Sage, Oakmoss and Green Air Built around the cool, green air at the top of Table Mountain, where the cloud line wraps the forest. Sage and grapefruit open sharp and herbal, then oakmoss and a touch of amber pull everything earthward and damp, like fynbos after rain. It's the most grounding fragrance, a scent for a bedroom or a study, and the one people reach for to wind down in the evening. Mylk 3. Luxe — Honey, Tobacco and Amber Luxe is the scent of honey and tobacco over amber and a thread of leather, the smell of a private members' club where the lighting is low and nobody's in a hurry. It's a winter-evening candle, good over a glass of red, and the scent most people describe as expensive before they hear the price.  If you'd rather build a candle from raw wax, three South African kits do the craft version well, and each suits a different kind of maker. 4. Crafty Arts DIY Fragranced Candle Kit The most widely stocked starter kit in the country, and the cheapest way into the hobby at roughly R250 to R350. It comes with about a kilogram of wax, wicks, dye, a single fragrance oil, and a couple of small containers, and it makes close to ten little candles. The wax is a paraffin blend, so it throws scent well but won't suit anyone after a natural option, and the supplied vessels are small. As a try-it-out kit for someone who isn't sure they'll stick with it, it does the job. 5. Candle Deli Soy Candle Making Kit Candle Deli is a Cape Town candle-and-soap supplier, and their beginner kit is built around teaching you properly. It uses soy wax and comes with a reusable vessel, soy-matched fragrance, and an instruction card. The standout is phone support — you can call them when your temperature or technique goes sideways. The entry kit makes a single candle, so you're paying for guidance and good materials more than volume. For someone who wants to learn soy candle-making the right way, it's the most supportive option here. 6. Studio Melissa Louise Candle Making Starter Kit The premium pick, at around R1,050. It's the only South African kit on this list that uses organic essential oils, where the others use fragrance oil, and it comes with proper tools: a pouring pot, measuring cup, tweezers, and a curated scent-family choice (citrus, floral, herbaceous, woody, or a surprise blend). The catches: there's no thermometer, the maker is upfront that it isn't a professional setup, and you'll need to supply a few of your own vessels to make the full five candles. For a design-minded beginner who wants natural scent and a beautiful kit, the price buys organic oils and tools you'll keep using. Candle Making Kit vs Buying Candles: Which Is Better Value? Making candles works out cheaper than buying them only if you stick with it long enough to get good, and most people underestimate how much wax, fragrance, and wasted attempts that takes. A scratch kit makes 1 to 10 candles, then you're buying refill supplies anyway. For a casual maker, the better value is a kit you can refill endlessly into the same vessel, or a finished candle when you want one. Make from scratch Refill a kit Buy a finished candle Effort High (melt, measure, cure) Low (about 10 minutes) None Cost over time Low if you persist Low Highest Mess Plenty Minimal None Best for The hobby itself Easy candle making Gifts and convenience What catches people out is the wasted-attempt cost. Candle forums are full of makers who spent thousands building a cupboard of half-tested vessels and fragrance oils before producing one candle they liked. If you love the process, the cost is part of the fun. For anyone who mainly wants candles, it's an expensive route. Candle Making Kit FAQ Are candle making kits worth it? A candle making kit is worth it if you want the craft and have the patience for some trial and error. For most people who mainly want nice candles, a pre-blended or refill kit gives the satisfaction of pouring your own, and skips the weeks of testing that scratch kits demand. Match the kit to whether you want the process or the result. What is the best wax for a beginner? Coconut-soy and soy blends are the easiest natural waxes to start with, since they burn slowly and cleanly and hold fragrance reasonably well. Pure soy can frost and sink, and paraffin throws scent hardest but is the wax many people want to avoid. A pre-blended kit removes the choice by matching the wax to the fragrance for you. Why don't my homemade candles smell strong? Usually one of three reasons: too much fragrance oil, which pools and burns off at the wick without spreading into the room; a wick that's too small; or not enough cure time. Soy candles often need up to two weeks to reach full scent. Around 8% fragrance throws better than a maxed-out load. Is it cheaper to make or buy candles? Making candles is cheaper per candle only once you're skilled and buying materials in bulk. Factor in wasted test batches, equipment, and your time, and a casual maker often spends more than buying would cost. Refilling the same vessel is the cheapest long-run option for most homes. Not sure where to begin? Browse Mylk's best-selling candles and kits, pour one in minutes, and refill the vessel you love for years. Shop Mylk Best-Sellers

Gift Guides Ten cosy, locally loved winter picks worth wrapping, from a make-your-own candle kit to a proper potjie pot. By The Mylk Team • 6 min read Quick Access A Mylk Pack in Any Scent The Luxe Candle The In the Clouds Reed Diffuser 30 Seconds A Mulled Wine Kit A Knitted Hot Water Bottle A Proper Flask A Cast-Iron Potjie Pot Mohair Bed Socks A Winter Cookbook How to Choose a Gift Gift FAQ Christmas in July has crept onto more South African calendars every year. It's the mid-winter excuse to do the cosy, cold-weather version of the holiday that our December heat never quite allows, with roasts, mulled wine, and a fire going while the rain sets in. If you're new to it, here's what Christmas in July is and how to celebrate it. Gifting isn't part of the rulebook. Nobody's keeping score, and most July celebrations are about the food and the fire more than the presents. But if you want to make someone's evening, or you'd rather not arrive at a friend's table with empty hands, a small, well-chosen present goes a long way. Here are ten gifts for Christmas in July worth wrapping. 1Mylk Pack - Candle Making Kit in Any Scent A Mylk Pack is a pouch of pre-blended scented wax with a wick included, ready to melt and pour into any heat-safe vessel — a mug, a bowl, a teacup someone loves. Wrap one, or a few different scents, and you've handed over the night's activity along with the gift. Everyone pours their own candle after dinner, picks the fragrance they're drawn to, and lights it as the evening settles in. It's hands-on, a little bit magic, and the candle keeps going long after the party winds down. Browse the full range of Mylk Packs and let them choose. 2The Luxe Candle For the person who'd rather unwrap something finished and light it that night, Luxe is the easy choice. It's a warm, low-light scent built on honey, tobacco, and amber, made for a dim room, a glass of red, and nowhere in particular to be. Hand it over, watch them light it, and the whole space shifts into the slow, golden register that July evenings do so well. It's a comforting, grown-up sort of gift, and it suits almost anyone on the list. 3In the Clouds Reed Diffuser If a candle feels like a commitment, a reed diffuser does the atmospheric work on its own, with no flame to mind. In the Clouds is built around the green, leafy air at the top of Table Mountain, where the cloud line wraps the forest: sage, oakmoss, and a cool freshness that fills a room within the hour and holds for weeks. It quietly turns a lounge into somewhere nobody wants to leave. Give it to the host who's already doing enough, and let it carry the room while they get on with the wine. 430 Seconds, the Game That Runs the Table Every good Christmas in July has a moment after the food where nobody wants to move and nobody wants the night to end. 30 Seconds fills it. The South African party game, around since 1998, hands one player a card and 30 seconds to get their team shouting out names and places without spelling them out or rhyming. It's loud, competitive, and impossible to play with a straight face. Give it to the friend who hosts, and you've improved every gathering they throw for years. 5A Mulled Wine Kit Mulled wine is the unofficial drink of a winter Christmas, and the smell of it on the stove — cinnamon, clove, star anise, orange peel — does half the festive work before anyone takes a sip. A ready-made mulled wine spice kit turns it into a five-minute job: tip the spices into a pot of red, warm it through, and the whole house goes Christmassy. It's a gift the recipient uses the same night, ideally with you still there to share the pot. 6A Knitted Hot Water Bottle The humble hot water bottle is the most underrated winter gift going. Tracked down in a hand-knitted wool cover (plenty of South African crafters make beautiful ones), it stops being a sickbay relic and becomes the thing your friend tucks under a blanket every cold night from June to August. Practical gifts have a reputation for being dull. This one earns a hug. 7A Proper Flask for Outdoors  Some people mark Christmas in July by driving out to find snow above Ceres or hiking a green winter trail with something warm to drink at the top. For them, a good insulated flask is close to the perfect gift: it keeps coffee hot from the car park to the summit and gets packed for every cold-weather mission afterwards. Pair it with a bag of good coffee, or a flask-sized batch of that mulled wine, and you've thought of everything. 8A Cast-Iron Potjie Pot Nothing matches a South African winter quite like a potjie ticking away for hours while everyone hovers nearby pretending not to be hungry. A cast-iron potjie pot is a gift that gets handed down through a family. It improves with every use, suits the long, lazy cooking that July invites, and works as happily on a stovetop as over coals. For anyone who loves feeding people, it's hard to beat. 9Mohair Bed Socks There's a reason mohair socks vanish from every gift pile first. South African mohair, much of it from the Karoo, is warmer and softer than ordinary wool, and a pair of thick bed socks is a small thing people are weirdly thrilled to receive. They're easy to wrap, they suit nearly everyone, and they turn a cold tiled floor into a non-issue. Slip them in alongside something bigger, or give them on their own. 10A Winter Cookbook Behind every good Christmas in July is someone who volunteered to cook and is now mildly panicking. A great winter cookbook — heavy on slow roasts, warming stews, and proper puddings — is a gift for them, and indirectly for everyone they'll feed. Look for South African authors who write for local ingredients and our seasons. It earns its place on the kitchen shelf long after July is over. How to Choose a Gift for Christmas in July The trick is to match the mood of the day, which is cosy, slow, and shared. Anything that adds warmth (a scent, a drink, a soft layer) or brings people together (a game, a pot of food) fits the brief. You don't need to overthink it or guess someone's exact taste. A candle, a flask, a pair of socks, or a kit they'll use that night beats anything generic, because it shows you were thinking about the evening they're about to have.  Christmas in July Gift FAQ Do you give gifts for Christmas in July? Gifts aren't required. Christmas in July is mostly about the food, the warmth, and the company. A small token for your host, or a thoughtful something for a friend who celebrates properly, is always welcome, much like bringing a bottle to any dinner. What is a good gift for Christmas in July? The best gifts for Christmas in July suit a cold, cosy day: a scented candle, a reed diffuser, a hot water bottle, an insulated flask, mohair socks, a mulled wine kit, or a game like 30 Seconds. Anything that adds warmth or brings people together works well. What do you get someone who has everything? Reach for a gift that becomes an experience. A Mylk Pack lets them pour and light their own candle that evening, and a mulled wine kit or a potjie pot turns the present into something you do together. The activity is the part they remember.

South Africa's mid-winter answer to a December holiday that arrives in the wrong season. Here's where the tradition comes from, why a cold-weather Christmas feels so good, and a handful of stylish, Capetonian ways to mark it. The Mylk Team • 6 min read • Winter celebrations Quick Access What Is Christmas in July? Why a Winter Christmas Works So Well How and Where to Celebrate Christmas in July Chase actual snow above Ceres Hike up to a flask of mulled wine Book a fireside lunch in the Winelands Throw a proper cosy dinner party Make the candles part of the night Should You Give Gifts for Christmas in July? Christmas in July FAQ When is Christmas in July in South Africa? Why do South Africans celebrate Christmas in July? Do you give gifts for Christmas in July? What do you eat for Christmas in July? Bringing It All Together By the middle of July, Cape Town has settled into its wet season. The southeaster has gone quiet, the front rolls in off the Atlantic, and the light goes flat and silver by four in the afternoon. It's jersey weather, soup weather, stay-in weather. And somewhere across South Africa, someone is hanging tinsel. Christmas in July is South Africa's mid-winter answer to a holiday that, in December, arrives in the wrong season entirely. While the Northern Hemisphere gets snow and roaring fires on the 25th, we get 32 degrees and a beach. So we borrow the cosy half back in July, when the cold finally makes it make sense. This guide covers what Christmas in July is, where the tradition comes from, why a winter celebration feels so good, and a handful of stylish, Capetonian ways to mark it. There's a quick word on gifting at the end too, for anyone wondering whether they're expected to bring something. What Is Christmas in July? Christmas in July is a mid-winter celebration of Christmas traditions, held in July rather than December. In the Southern Hemisphere, where June to August is winter, it lets people enjoy the cold-weather rituals of a Northern Christmas — roasts, mulled wine, fires, and warm spiced puddings — at a time of year when they suit the weather. South Africans usually mark it around 25 July. The tradition is older than you'd think, and it didn't start here. The earliest record comes from Australia in 1827, when a settler named James Macarthur grumbled that it would be "a public benefit" to move the eating and drinking of Christmas to a cooler season. The idea took proper hold in the United States: a girls' summer camp in Brevard, North Carolina, threw a full Christmas celebration in July 1935, tree and Santa included, and a 1940 Hollywood film called Christmas in July pushed the name into wide circulation. South Africa adopted it for the most practical reason going. Our December falls in high summer, so the traditional image of Christmas, the one in every film, carol, and biscuit-tin lid, has never matched the day itself. July is when the country gets cold enough to do the whole thing properly: the long slow roast, the red wine by the fire, the windows fogged from the inside. The religious calendar stays in December. July is purely for the atmosphere. Why a Winter Christmas Works So Well There's a reason the cosy version of Christmas has such a grip on us, and it comes down to contrast. Warm food, warm light, and warm company mean more when it's cold and wet outside the window. A gammon roasting for three hours fills a closed-up winter house in a way it can't in December, when every door is open and the heat is already doing its own thing. Winter is also when home fragrance comes into its own. In summer the windows are open and the scent drifts straight out. In July the house holds onto it, the way a closed room holds the smell of baking. A pot of cloves and orange on the stove, a fire going, and a couple of scented candles will do more for the mood of a room than any amount of tinsel. The warm, rich profiles that feel heavy in January (honey, amber, tobacco, toasted spice) are exactly right for a July table. Christmas in July works because it gives a cold, indoor season a focal point. It's an excuse to slow down, cook something that takes all afternoon, and fill the house with light and warmth while the weather does its worst outside. How and Where to Celebrate Christmas in July The usual suggestions do the job: a movie marathon under blankets, an ugly-jumper contest, a Secret Santa. If you want something with a bit more to it, here are five ideas built for a South African winter. Chase actual snow above Ceres For a literal white Christmas in July, the snow is closer than most Capetonians realise. When a cold front drops far enough, the peaks above Ceres turn white, and Matroosberg Nature Reserve opens its gates to snow-seekers, about two and a half hours from the city. Entry runs around R90 a person, the snow usually arrives between July and September, and the higher slopes need a 4x4 or a willingness to walk up. Pack flasks, gloves, and far more layers than you think you need. The queues on a good snow day are part of the story. Hike up to a flask of mulled wine Winter is the best-kept secret of the Cape hiking calendar. The mountain is green, the dams are full, the waterfalls run hard, and the proteas on the Pipe Track come into bloom while everyone assumes the trails are shut for the season. Pick something steady — the Pipe Track, Cecilia Forest to its waterfall, or Lion's Head for the view — and carry a flask of mulled wine or hot chocolate to crack open at the top. A summit, a cold wind, and something warm in your hands beats most Christmas cards going. Book a fireside lunch in the Winelands The Stellenbosch and Franschhoek estates are quieter and often cheaper in winter, and many of them light their fireplaces and pour their bigger reds for exactly this season. A long, slow lunch at a wine farm — misty vineyards through the window, a fire going, a bottle of something dark on the table — is the most effortless way to do Christmas in July with a bit of style and let someone else handle the roast. Throw a proper cosy dinner party If you'd rather stay in, lean all the way into it. You don't need a turkey. A single good roast (a gammon, a leg of lamb, a tray of slow vegetables) anchors the whole evening, and the rest is atmosphere: a long table, candlelight, a pot of something mulling on the stove, and everyone in their warmest jersey. Ask each guest to bring one dish or one bottle and most of the work disappears. Make the candles part of the night A quieter idea for a small group: spend the first hour of the evening learning to pour your own candles, then burn them through the rest of it. A Mylk Pack is a pouch of pre-blended scented wax you melt and pour into any heat-safe vessel (a mug, a bowl, a teacup from the back of the cupboard) with the wick included. Ten minutes, no special equipment, and everyone goes home with something they made. It's a slow, hands-on way to spend a cold evening. Should You Give Gifts for Christmas in July? Gifts aren't compulsory for Christmas in July, and most people treat the day as more about the food and the company than the presents. But if your host has gone all out — a tree up, a full roast on, the whole production — arriving with a small something is a kind gesture, the same way you'd never show up to a dinner empty-handed. Keep it modest and warm. A good bottle of red, a tin of homemade biscuits, or a candle that matches the cosy mood of the evening all do the job. A candle is close to the perfect version of this: small enough not to put anyone in an awkward spot, useful long after the night ends, and squarely in the spirit of a season built around warm light. If you take your gifting seriously, or you're shopping for someone who celebrates Christmas in July properly, we've put together a fuller list in Top 10 Amazing Gifts for Christmas in July in SA. Christmas in July FAQ When is Christmas in July in South Africa? Most people mark Christmas in July on 25 July, mirroring the 25 December date. It isn't a public holiday, so celebrations usually happen on the nearest weekend. Any cold weekend in July works. Why do South Africans celebrate Christmas in July? December falls in summer here. The wintry version of Christmas — fires, roasts, mulled wine, heavy puddings — suits cold weather, and South African Decembers are hot. July gives those traditions a season that fits, so people recreate the festive mood when it's cold outside. Do you give gifts for Christmas in July? Gifts are optional. The day is mostly about food, warmth, and company. A small token for the host — a bottle, baked goods, or a candle — is a thoughtful touch if someone has put effort into hosting. What do you eat for Christmas in July? The menu mirrors a Northern Hemisphere winter Christmas: a roast such as gammon, turkey, or lamb, with roast vegetables, mince pies, malva or figgy pudding, and mulled wine. Rich, warming food is the whole point, and it suits a cold July evening far better than a December heatwave. Bringing It All Together Christmas in July rewards a bit of intention. Whether you drive out to find snow above Ceres, hike up to a flask of mulled wine, book a fireside table in the Winelands, or stay in and cook something low and slow, the thread running through all of it is the same: warm food, warm light, good people, and a cold night outside to make it count. If you're hosting, light a few candles, get something roasting early, and let the weather do the rest. And if you're heading to someone else's table this July, browse Mylk's most-loved scents and take one along for the host. Warm light makes the night. Take one along for the host, or set your own table aglow. Browse Mylk's most-loved scents