What is Vanillin?

Vanilla. Or more specifically, vanillin.

Vanilla is a friendly fragrance used to develop a lot of different not-vanilla fragrance oils. It blends well with lots of different actors to accentuate the sweeter parts of other scents.

But this all-purpose ingredient comes at a cost to candle makers; vanilla often causes discoloration leaving a brownish hue on an otherwise white or off-white base.

The ugly side of vanillin in wax design is it’s propensity for oxidation. Exposure to UV (sunlight) and oxygen often transforms its color to a beige or brownish hue.

Not too pretty when you want a different color, right?

Well, the good news is that discoloration is merely cosmetic – it does not affect the wax melts performance and unless you have your melt laying around for a long time, which is unlikely as your gonna melt it right! Your not going to know the difference 🙂