The Tantric Soy Candle is a massage candle that you can use to create a massage oil for some hot time with your partner, to moisturize your skin or just to burn in the background to help set the mood.

The candle is soy-based, so you will obviously want to avoid this one if you have negative reactions to soy. It boasts all natural, edible ingredients including Soybean Oil, Coconut Oil, Hemp Seed Oil, and Apricot Oil.

The melted wax feels quite oily, similar in texture to a thick vegetable or olive oil, a little less runny than baby oil. You can easily pour the melted wax, or carefully spoon it out. If you dribble a bit of the melted wax onto the skin, it is going to run and spread out very quickly. It does feel a little bit greasy as you are rubbing it in and leaves behind a sort of tacky waxy feel- I couldn't wait to wash my hands!

This candle is available from EdenFantasys in your choice of strawberry, cherry, passion fruit, vanilla and orange ginger scents; I tried the strawberry. When you first smell the unlit candle, there's a bit of a musty strawberry smell, nothing very strong. I was expecting a more fresh fruity scent when I opened the jar. The smell didn't get any better upon melting the wax, which was disappointing. Instead it smells a little like candy that has been gathering dust in the bottom of your purse for about a year. The smell didn't make me gag, but it isn't exactly pleasant, either. At least it was mild! This product is "lickable", but upon a taste test, it doesn't taste like anything you want your tongue on.

I'm going to break the performance down into the three basic functions of the candle:

Candle: As a basic mood-setting candle, this is just okay. I had trouble getting mine to stay burning for very long, but that will probably get better as it burns down a bit. I'm not a fan of the smell, even though it is very faint, so I wouldn't use this if I was looking for a candle to make the room smell nice, either.

Massage: I like that you can use the wax shortly after blowing the candle out (I only waited a minute, but I didn't have much wax). However, the icky smell is a turn-off, and even though this is lickable, there's not a pleasant taste. If I wanted to give a massage, this isn't the item I'd reach for- there are plenty of other alternatives that smell better, feel less greasy and soak into the skin slower, letting you extend the massage.

Moisturizing: I tried the wax on my hands, arms and legs as a moisturizer. Again, if I want to use a moisturizing product, I'd generally reach for one that smells better. Instead of fully soaking in, as you would want a moisturizer to do, this left my skin feeling kind of tacky (not quite sticky) and greasy. I couldn't wait to wash it off! Not a fan of this feature, either.

It took some effort to wash the residue off, since there are so many oils in the product and oil and water obviously don't mix.

The candle comes in a jar, but there is no other packaging. I found the jar lid a little tough to get on and off. It seems like it should screw on, but actually just pops off with some applied pressure. The jar/tin (I can't figure out what to call it!) is solid black with a decorative lid, so if the lid is off, nobody will be able to tell this is anything other than a normal candle unless they pick it up and read the bottom. The lid is decorated in silver with a scroll design, the California Exotic logo and "Tantric Natural Soy Massage Oil Candle- Tasty Strawberry" printed on top. The word Tantric is in a pretty bold font, but I don't think the design sticks out as overtly sexual.

On the bottom of the jar, a label detais the ingredients and basic safety/use info.

A tiny plastic spoon is included to dip the wax out with.

The candle is 6 oz, and fits nicely in the palm of my hand, measuring about 3" tall and 3.5" in diameter. In other words, it's a pretty standard-sized candle. The product info says it has a burn time of 60 hours, but this is probably going to be a lot less if you are using the wax for massages or moisturizing.

This is a kind of nit-picky complaint, but the black jar makes it hard to see that the candle is lit from across the room, it eliminates the pretty flickering glow you get from a candle in a clear glass jar.

When I tried out my candle, I lit the wick and then gave it about 20 minutes to burn so I'd have some melted wax to try out. Unfortunately, when I went to check on it, it had extinguished itself, so I had to try again. Ten minutes later, I had a quarter-sized pool of wax and a wick that was about to burn out again. The wax was enough for a small area massage, maybe a lower back, but you would need to let it burn for at least 20-30 minutes if you wanted to do a full back massage. The massage oil soaked into the skin after about a minute, so you are going to need to keep adding more if you want to do a lengthy massage.

I was hoping the wax would smell better melted than it did in the jar, but it still had that dusty smell, even when applied to the skin- ick! Major turn-off.

Overall, this just isn't a candle that I ever see myself reaching for. There are plenty of other massage candles that smell better, taste better and feel better on the skin. I don't totally HATE it- it does basically do what it is supposed to, it just doesn't do it in a way that sets a sensual mood or makes it fun to use.