Adding a candle dye (and why only wax dye is candle-safe)
Add a through-color wax dye on the Colorants shelf, pick its shade, and learn why a dye is the only colorant that's safe to burn — micas, glitter, and pigments clog the wick.
Color for a candle lives on the Colorants shelf of your pantry, right alongside the Waxes, Wicks, Fragrance Oils, and Vessels covered in your candle pantry. A candle dye is a through-color colorant — it dissolves into the molten wax and tints the whole candle from the inside. Adding one tells Ellie its color and how much you have, so she can reach for it in a recipe.
Add it on the Colorants shelf
Candle color isn't a separate shelf — a dye is a colorant, so it goes on the Colorants shelf that every workspace has. Open the pantry, go to Colorants, and add a new item.
In the add form, set the Type to Candle dye and, under Used in, turn on Candle. That pair is what files the dye in your candle pantry so it shows up when you build a candle recipe — a colorant left on the default resin setting won't appear on the candle side.
Start with a known brand (catalog match)
If your dye is from a brand Ellie knows, start by typing its name. As you type, Ellie checks her catalog for a match — and when she finds one, an "I know this one!" card appears. Tap Yes, use this and she fills in the details for you: the Type, the Color family, the shade, and a supplier link. Tap No, fill manually to skip it and enter the fields yourself.
So you're confirming what Ellie found rather than typing everything from scratch. If your dye isn't in the catalog yet, no problem — just fill in the fields below by hand.
Pick the form and the shade
A few fields do the real work for a candle dye:
| Field | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Type | Set this to Candle dye — the through-color, wax-safe colorant. |
| Used in | Turn on Candle so the dye lands in your candle pantry. |
| Dye form | The physical form — liquid, block, chip, shaving, or leave it blank. Optional, and only shown once Type is Candle dye and Used in → Candle is on. |
| Brand | Who makes it — optional, but it helps the catalog match and reordering. |
Then set the color. Pick a Color family to choose the neighborhood of color, then dial in the exact shade under Color with the Hue, Saturation, and Lightness sliders, or by typing a Hex value.
Stock and cost
Set the on-hand amount and its unit so Ellie knows how much you have. You can also record a price and package size so cost estimates work later. Low items flow onto your shopping list the same way the rest of the candle pantry does.
Why only wax dye is candle-safe
This is the one that matters for safety: a candle dye is the only candle-safe colorant. A true dye dissolves completely into the molten wax, so nothing solid is left behind to interfere with the flame.
Micas, glitter, flakes, and pigment pastes are pigments — solid particles that don't dissolve. In a candle they migrate to the wick and clog it, choking the flame and producing soot and an uneven burn. They're beautiful on the outside of a resin piece, but they don't belong in wax.
Because of that, when you mark a colorant for Candle but its type is one of those pigment forms — mica, glitter, flake, or pigment paste — the form shows a Heads up note:
Heads up · Pigments clog the wick — use a candle dye.
It's an advisory note, not a hard block — you can still save the item — but it's telling you the item won't burn safely as candle color. (A resin dye is also not candle-safe: it's a liquid epoxy tint, formulated for epoxy, not for hot wax or a flame.) When in doubt, reach for a colorant whose Type is Candle dye.
If you'd rather not touch the form at all, just tell Ellie — see Ellie in a candle workspace. Ask her to add a dye and she'll file it as a candle dye for you; she'll only ever add a wax-safe dye, never a wick-clogging pigment.
Where your dye shows up next
Once a dye is on the shelf and marked for Candle, Ellie can use it when she builds or refines a candle recipe, and it's available when you plan a batch. Color is dosed lightly — a little goes a long way, and over-dyeing can weaken the burn, so lean on Ellie's suggested amount. For scent, the companion shelf is your fragrance oils; for the flame itself, your wicks.