I always set out to make candles that were really beautiful. I wanted to create something that added to your home (or wherever it lived) and brought a little happiness every time you lit it. The second most important thing was how it smelled. I didn't want anything you could find at Bath + Body Works. I didn't want something that would take over your entire house with scent. Just a little subtle something that could make you happy.
All of that said, my focus was never to create an all-natural candle, or even a candle that was slightly natural. In the beginning, I honestly didn't care too much. As I researched more, though I learned how gross some of the things that go into home fragrance could be. I was thrilled that I haphazardly made the decision to use 100% soy wax and cotton wicks from the beginning, and that none of our fragrances contain phthaalates (the most offensive chemical very commonly found in anything containing a fragrance.
Since it's not something we advertise much, I wanted to take a minute to break down what goes into our products, and do a quick little brag about how proud I am of what's inside.
WAX
All of our candles are made with 100% soy wax. This is a popular wax in the indie candle world, but why? Well, the alternative you see most often is paraffin, which is a byproduct of oil production. Kinda gross, yea? With soy, we know that the wax is 100% plant based, 100% natural, an 100% made in the USA. This means that when you heat up the wax and its particles are released into the air in your home, you don't need to worry about what you're breathing in. Same goes for our oils, which leads me to...
OIL
This is a sticky one for some people. I've never claimed that our products are 100% natural, but I get them as close as I can without sacrificing the things that make them amazing. Our oils are known in the industry as "fragrance oils", which are different from essential oils. While our oils are manufactured in a lab, I feel lucky enough to order our custom blends in such bulk quantities that I can work with the lab to know exactly what's going into them. In the research I've done, a chemical called "Phthalates" is the biggest offender in fragrance products. I make sure that none of our blends contain this. While there's new research being conducted everyday, and the jury is still out on the effects of these chemicals, the science isn't looking good and I definitely sleep better at night knowing I'm not encouraging people to burn potentially harmful chemicals into their homes. Phthalates can also be found in packaging, cosmetics and other personal care products.
WICK
This is a simple one, and I'm glad most of the industry has shifted in this direction, too! Our wicks are 100% cotton, with no metal inside. In the past, metals, particularly lead, were used to keep a wick standing up straight in a candle. Obviously, people soon realized that burning lead into the air they were breathing wasn't the smartest move and shifted away from this practice. Most candles made in the US these days won't have a lead wick, but I'd double check just to be sure!
VESSEL
Last but not least, our vessels! While this isn't technically an ingredient, I still love that I try to make something you aren't going to want to throw away. Repurposing is always encouraged with our vessels, and this video can give you some great ideas! On top of that, I've eliminated as much packaging as possible. Packaging design is an art, and I love a beautifully presented product as much as the next gal, but what do you typically do with that when you get home? You take the product out and throw the packaging away. It's so incredible wasteful and I didn't want to be a part of that problem any longer.
I hope you've learned a little something new from this explanation - or at the very least are a super-informed candle buyer now!
