“Check the ingredients before you buy,” says Murphy. Speaking of ingredients, you’ll also want to make sure the formula is appropriate for your skin type and is free of any ingredients that you’re sensitive or allergic to.

What’s more, she says that standard candles aren’t made with ingredients that are safe or intended to use on the skin-and therefore, they shouldn’t be used as such. “They can be utilized for each purpose individually or simultaneously for an erotic or relaxing experience.” According to Violet C., pleasure coach and sex educator at sex-positive community Hacienda in a previous interview with Well+Good, one could use also massage oil candles during wax play, a risk-aware consensual kink in which hot wax, typically from a candle, is dripped or poured onto you or a partner. “Massage candles are multipurpose accessories that can delight multiple senses: sight, smell, touch-and, in some cases, taste,” says Murphy. Unlike standard massage oils, however, massage candles have the added element of heat to compound the pleasure. According to Murphy, many are formulated with soy wax or shea butter (“Both have a low melting point ,” she says) and ingredients that you might find in a massage oil-like oils to soften and hydrate the skin and aromatic essential oils-for slow and sensual rubdowns. Sure, massage candles might look like any other votive, but they are body-safe candles that are made to use on the skin, says Casey Murphy, certified sex educator and owner of pleasure-product company The Pleasure Parlor.

Maude massager