Ingredient catalog — maker handbook

IGI 6006

IGI 6006 is a widely used blended container wax designed to shrink back from glass jars in a controlled way, which many makers find helpful for smooth tops and wicking in candle making.

Soy wax

Soy wax is a plant-based candle wax made from hydrogenated soybean oil. It is popular for container candles and melts, especially when a vegetable-wax label story matters to your brand.

Beeswax

Beeswax is a natural wax from honeybees. Makers use it in candles, salves, and solid balms for hardness, a mild honeyed note (unrefined), and a characteristic slow burn in molded work.

Coconut wax

Coconut wax is a premium-feeling vegetable wax used in container candles. Makers often choose it for creamy textures and a coconut-forward product story.

Paraffin wax

Paraffin wax is a refined petroleum-based wax with predictable melting behavior. It remains common in candles, wax blends, and some cosmetic wax bases.

Coconut-soy blend wax

A commercial blend of coconut-type and soy wax tuned for container candles. Makers use it to combine soy familiarity with coconut wax’s creamy reputation.

Castor oil

Castor oil is a thick, glossy plant oil. Makers use it in balms for shine, in oil cleansers for drag, and in small amounts to change how oil blends feel on skin.

Sweet almond oil

Sweet almond oil is a mild, versatile carrier — one of the most common beginner choices for dilution and simple anhydrous products.

Jojoba oil

Jojoba oil is mostly wax esters, not a typical triglyceride oil. It behaves like a stable, shelf-friendly “liquid wax” in hair oils, balms, and facial oils.

Fractionated coconut oil

Fractionated coconut oil is a lightweight liquid oil fraction. Makers like it for roll-ons and massage oils because it often stays liquid at room temperature and has a relatively dry slip.

Grapeseed oil

Grapeseed oil is a light, fast-absorbing carrier popular in massage and cleansing oils where a less greasy after-feel is desired.

Sunflower oil

Sunflower oil is a widely available, mild carrier used for cost-effective dilution and simple anhydrous bases.

Olive oil

Olive oil is a heavier plant oil with a distinctive fatty profile. In maker work it appears in soap oil blends, herbal infusions, and rich body oils.

Avocado oil

Avocado oil is a thicker plant oil valued in body oils and balms for a more substantial skin feel than very dry carriers.

Hemp seed oil

Hemp seed oil is a greenish carrier valued for a lighter skin feel and distinctive fatty-acid profile. It is common in facial oils, body oils, and “natural positioning” lines.

Shea butter

Shea butter is a popular plant butter for body butters, balms, and hair products. It adds richness and occlusive feel in anhydrous systems and contributes to the oil phase in emulsions.

Cocoa butter

Cocoa butter is a firm plant butter with chocolatey notes in unrefined grades. Makers use it in body bars, lip balms, and lotion bars for hardness and melt-on-skin feel.

Mango butter

Mango butter is a softer plant butter used in body butters and hair butters when a less brittle texture than cocoa is desired.

Polysorbate 20

Polysorbate 20 is a common solubilizer that helps small amounts of oil-soluble materials (including many fragrance oils) incorporate into water-based systems more evenly.

Polysorbate 80

Polysorbate 80 is widely used to help oils mix into water and to stabilize oil-in-water dispersions in sprays, bath products, and lotions.

Emulsifying wax NF

“Emulsifying wax NF” usually refers to a supplier-standardized blend used to form oil-in-water lotions and creams at the bench. It is a system ingredient: follow the supplier’s suggested oil phase ranges and hot-process method.

Cetyl alcohol

Cetyl alcohol is a fatty alcohol (not a drying alcohol) used to thicken emulsions, stabilize texture, and improve skin feel in lotions and conditioners.

Vegetable glycerin

Vegetable glycerin (glycerol) is a syrupy humectant that attracts water. Makers add it to water-based sprays, lotions, and bath products to improve skin feel and reduce a tight, drying sensation.

Distilled water

Distilled water is the cleanest common water phase for cosmetics and sprays — minerals and microbes in tap water can destabilize formulas or shorten shelf life.

Witch hazel

Witch hazel is sold as a watery distillate or extract, sometimes with alcohol. Makers use it in toners, sprays, and light gels for a botanical story and fresh skin feel.

Aloe vera gel

Aloe vera gel is used as a water-phase botanical in lotions, gels, and sprays. Commercial gels often include thickeners and preservatives from the supplier — it is not a universal substitute for preservation strategy.

Isopropyl alcohol

Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is a volatile solvent. Makers use it for tool cleaning, some spray concepts where fast dry-down matters, and dispersing certain materials in solvent-compatible systems.

Kaolin clay

Kaolin is a mild, fine clay used in masks, dry shampoos, and oil-absorbing powders. It can add slip and a dry feel in anhydrous and powder products.

Bentonite clay

Bentonite is a clay that swells in water. Makers use it in masks, detox-style products, and some soap designs for slip and suspension.

Arrowroot powder

Arrowroot powder is a plant starch used to reduce greasiness in body powders, deodorant sticks, and some anhydrous formulas.

Sodium hydroxide

Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is the strong base that reacts with oils to make solid bar soap (saponification).

Potassium hydroxide

Potassium hydroxide (KOH) is the strong base used to make potassium soaps — the foundation of many liquid soap pastes diluted into hand soap or shampoo-style products.

Sodium lactate

Sodium lactate is the sodium salt of lactic acid. In soap it is often used to improve bar feel; in lotions it acts as a humectant alongside glycerin.

Citric acid

Citric acid is a weak organic acid. Makers use it to lower pH in liquid soap concentrates, shampoos, and cleaners, and as the acid half of bath bomb fizz chemistry when paired with bases like baking soda.

Melt and pour soap base

Melt-and-pour (M&P) soap base is pre-saponified soap sold in blocks. You melt it, add fragrance and color within supplier limits, and pour into molds — no lye handling for that step.

Lotion base

A lotion base is a finished emulsion you extend with compatible additives. It is a shortcut for small makers who are not yet compounding full emulsions from scratch.

Room spray base

A room spray base is a supplier formulation meant to hold fragrance in a sprayable matrix. Solubilizer need, alcohol content, and flammability vary — treat every base as its own SDS project.

Vitamin E oil

Vitamin E (tocopherol) blends are used to slow oxidative rancidity in anhydrous oils and oil-heavy emulsions. This is not a substitute for preservatives in water-based products.

Stearic acid

Stearic acid is a saturated fatty acid used to harden soaps and emulsions and to modify wax texture in candles depending on system.

Palm oil

Palm oil is a staple soap oil that contributes hardness and lather characteristics in many classic recipes. It also appears in some emulsion feedstocks (fatty alcohols) indirectly — here we mean the triglyceride oil itself.

Coconut oil (76°)

Coconut oil (often sold around 76 °F melt) is a highly saturated oil used heavily in soap for bubbly lather and in balms for firmness and occlusive feel.

Cotton candle wick

A cotton candle wick is the fiber assembly that draws molten wax to the flame. Wick size interacts with wax type, jar diameter, fragrance load, and dye.

Wood candle wick

Wood wicks create a crackling aesthetic and a wider flame footprint in some designs. They still must be matched to wax and vessel like cotton wicks.

Candle jar

A candle jar is not “just packaging” — it needs to tolerate wax heat cycles, allow safe handling, and fit your wick and safety label plan.

Wick sticker

Wick stickers (or glue tabs) center and anchor the wick assembly to the jar bottom before pour so the wick does not float or drift.