Our new organic, vegan and natural skin-treatment candles

Kevin has recently been dreaming of, and then actually putting into action, creating our very own line of Coraline Skincare candles. These are much asked about by customers and he has now created a candle he is happy with that is fully natural.

As he began the process he began to discover the hidden toxins that exist in regular candles, even those that we might believe are natural (e.g. soy/coconut/rapeseed candles). But why are these not as natural as they might first appear?

So often, you read the box and it says 'sustainable and eco' soy vegetable wax and understandably we trust this but let's dig a little deeper. 

What are the candle options on the market and what might be the problem with them?

We currently have the choice of:

Paraffin wax 

Paraffin wax is not a true 'wax' , and originates from crude oil.  It is highly refined using various chemical solvents and processes.  It was created back in the 1800s as a cheap alternative to beeswax and tallow (animal fat) candles.  The 'science' would have us believe that they have been purified and thus are safe to burn, but to use something which has been so manipulated using so many chemicals and processes just doesn't sound too good to us. 

Beeswax 

Whilst Beeswax is not inherently bad, and it is a true wax, we will not use beeswax as we are a vegan brand and believe that the impact upon the bees is not good, as most commercial beeswax also does not place bee welfare as a core priority.  

Many beeswax candles are also not always pure and have other waxes and ingredients which are not good to burn. 

Quality Control and Purity

The beeswax industry, particularly in China, can lack transparency, rigorous quality control, and verifiable production standards, making it difficult for consumers to know the true origin and quality of the product. 

Soy, rapeseed, coconut or a mix of the three waxes.

As with the paraffin wax, none of these are actually true waxes.  They are chemically processed from oils that are commercially farmed with pesticides, and which are extremely harmful to the environment. Soy or Rapeseed wax for example is often made using genetically modified plants which are heavily sprayed with pesticides and herbicides such as Glyphosate.

Soy wax uses a mechanical process to separate the soybean matter from the oil before it is refined and bleached. Soybean oil is then heated to 140-220 degrees Celsius in a hydrogenating machine. More than just soy goes into making soy wax, the wax is chemically distilled with solvents including hexane, bleached with chlorine,  and deodorised with boric acid.

These chemical processes described above don't sound that good to us either, and we don't think that these are designed to be breathed in. 

Kevin has searched high and low and has only found one producer where they aren’t using all of these chemicals in the processing. 

Heaven Scent? Is it really?

Fragrance OIls

Fragrance oil is used in almost all commercial candles, whether they are expensive or inexpensive.  There are two main reasons for this.  The first is for the smell. Synthetic fragrances have a very strong scent throw and can be manipulated to smell of anything – bubblegum, or a pumpkin latte, and everything in between. 

The second is cost – because these have been made in a laboratory, they can be made in huge volumes very cheaply.  You can read below some of the unseen hazards that are present in fragrance oils, and the candles made with them.

What are you really burning?

We have already covered the waxes earlier in this blog, but what about the fragrances that are being added to the candle to make it smell 'nice'.

When you buy the vast majority of candles that contain fragrance, it is not a legal requirement to list every element within the fragrance.  It doesn’t have to disclose every ingredient used to give the candle its fragrance. Instead, “fragrance” or “parfum” is simply listed as a single ingredient (if it’s listed at all) with some allergens listed, but certainly not all of them. Fragrance oils can sometimes contain up to 5,000 separate chemical elements. Learning what some of those candle ingredients are doesn’t make for happy reading.

How is Fragrance Oil made?

Synthetic fragrance oils are made in a laboratory, and many of the chemicals and ingredients are petroleum by-products. In fact, according to a report by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), approximately 95 percent of the chemicals used in synthetic fragrance oils are derived from petroleum.

What is being released into the air?

Among those chemicals are aldehydes, benzene derivatives and toluene - some of the same chemicals found in toilet bowl cleaner, paint thinner, wart remover, and insect repellents.

Many of those compounds have been linked to cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders and allergic reactions, and a study published in May of 2019 found that one in three adults claim to have experienced health problems, including migraines and respiratory issues, caused by fragranced skincare or candles.

What are the alternatives?

There are definitely some better fragrance oil options (100% plant derived) on the market nowadays but it’s very hard to navigate which are, and which aren’t.  In our experience the vast majority are not plant derived and have been synthesised in the way we have described above.

Essential Oils - A natural alternative?

Essential oils in their purest form are a highly concentrated, fragrant and volatile (easily evaporated) liquid extracted from a plant. They are obtained from various plant parts, including flowers, leaves, bark, roots, and fruits, using methods like steam distillation, where steam is passed through the plant material, or cold pressing, where the plant material is mechanically pressed.   It takes a large quantity of plant material to produce a small amount of essential oil which is why the best ones are highly prized, and very expensive.

Many people think of them as oils but in truth they are not true oils like olive, almond or sunflower which are usually pressed from seeds and nuts.

Essential oils have been in use for around 1000 years, and were first discovered and enjoyed in Persia in the 1100s.

Not all as it seems?

The essential oil market is valued at around £5M per year so it is only to be expected that there would be lots of fakes on the market - there is no real regulation and many platforms such as Amazon do not police this well at all.  

Fake essential oils are everywhere in the world of scents, and many are either entirely counterfeit, or they  are often mixed with cheap synthetic scents that make them less effective. And in some cases even potentially harmful. 

Many essential oils are also extracted and refined using solvents (hexane) which also doesn't sound that good to us.

Organic Pure Essential Oils - Aromatherapy Candles

So, how can you be sure that what you are getting is pure?

Well, as with all of our skincare, all of our ingredients have been sourced from reputable suppliers and have been certified as organic and or sustainably wild-harvested.  Every single essential oil has been supplied with a detailed laboratory test report (GC-MS) which features every single compound present. 

We submit all of our formulations to a cosmetic chemist and they are analysed and passed as safe to use, before we are precisely told what to write on our labels. These allergens are then listed on the product label (when they appear in a concentration high enough to be an allergen).

We always advise our customers to be aware that even though our organic essential oils are the purest of the pure, they could still still cause a skin reaction (simply as they are an essential oil) so some caution is always advised.  It is very rare but we state this on all the products containing essential oils.

Myrica wax: a truly natural wax

Kevin has sourced a sustainable, natural and 'true' wax from the Andes in South America. This wax has been made for millennia and is used to care for the skin. Berries are picked from the Myrica tree/shrub which grows at altitude in the Andes, before they are dried, then boiled. A beautiful soft natural wax then rises to the top.  

Whilst it hasn't been certified as organic, it has been grown and harvested naturally without the use of any chemicals and we have full traceability. We are also happy to inform you that the Myrica fruit wax is produced through sustainable methods and harvested by local farmers in a process monitored by the Union for Ethical Bio Trade.

To help the candle to burn well and provide the skin with a multitude of benefits we then add organic cocoa butter and organic coconut oil alongside our organic essential oils for an otherworldly experience.

Organic cotton candle wick

We have sourced an organic cotton wick (this was not easy) and this is super important as so many wicks also release toxins into the air.

What opportunity is available to us with our Coraline Skincare candles?

To create a candle that is only wild harvested/organic containing nothing at all that is un-natural.

Kevin has a very pure recipe for our Coraline Skincare candles. He mixes the myrica wax with organic plant butters such as cocoa butter and also coconut oil and organic essential oils. These organic essential oils scent the candle. 

When fragrance oils are used they are much more pungent but they are not real and are synthetic. We are quite generous with the essential oils so that our candles have a good scent. They are much safer for breathing in.

Candles during pregnancy

Pregnant women are often advised to avoid candles during pregnancy due to the exposure to chemicals. It is said that soy or beeswax candles are a better option as they burn without emitting harmful chemicals however, as we have seen, these waxes can contain solvents. 

There are a number of essential oils which are marked as safe during pregnancy, but our advice is to err on the side of caution and avoid them altogether. 

Our organic, vegan candles as a skin treatment

Kevin didn’t set out to create a skin treatment candle but the ingredients in our candle are so pure that you can put the wax on your skin. It sinks in to the skin beautifully and feels silky, light and moisturising. You can dip your finger in and rub it on your skin and get all the aromatherapy benefits as well. 

We suggest you burn the candles for an hour and a half (until the top layer of wax has melted fully to prevent tunnelling) to get a good pool of wax as after that it’s not as efficient for the candle and the wax will get too hot to put on your skin. 

We do not advise using the wax on your face due to the high essential oil content.  It could cause irritation.

What risks and challenges are there about developing our candles?

Myrica wax and the organic essential oils cost several times as much as commercial candle waxes and fragrances.  The scent from our essential oil candles is more subtle than synthetic fragrances which we will need to communicate effectively.

Kevin has in fact already developed a candle that burns beautifully and with which we are happy. The only challenge now is the cosmetic chemist approving it, but we are confident that they will. 

Size and cost of the candle

The good news is that due to the waxes that are in the candle which are more natural, it doesn’t burn as quickly as other candles. Our small size candle burns for 20 hours plus and you only need to use a little bit of the wax each time you put it on your skin. As it burns more slowly, at a lower temperature, it lasts for ages.   Our candle is priced at what we feel is a reasonable price for the quality of ingredients and elements - we can't wait for you to try them to see for yourself.

What temperature do our candles burn at?

Our candles burn at a lower temperature of around 35-40 degrees, whereas for a lot of other candles such as Soy Wax the melting point is between 45-55 degrees.

This lower temperature is important because it means that the scents from the essential oils are better protected and so will last much longer (the higher the temperature the faster they will lose their scent).

We have sourced just the right sized glass container, which is beautiful as you can see the wick burning and the wax going clear at the top whilst the candle burns.

We are pre-launching our candles on our Crowdfunding page. We will post updates on our crowdfunding page when we receive our regulatory confirmation that they are good to go.

Our promise to you

You can trust us that if we say our candle is natural; it's natural. And when you have it on you can breathe easy, knowing you're not breathing in any hidden chemicals.