For many years we have happily burnt candles made from paraffin wax because there was little or no alternative. Paraffin wax is a man made product, derived from petroleum – basically the sludge waste when crude oil is refined. When burnt, paraffin wax candles release toxins into your home as well as a small amount of black soot which you have probably noticed up your living room wall….

Soy wax is fairly new to the candle market – it is a 100% natural wax made from the oil of soy beans and is a renewable resource. Soy wax burns much slower than paraffin wax and has a beautiful scent throw too. We like to call it a clean burn as no nasties are released as it burns.

We love the concept of coconut wax too. Our coconut wax is derived from coconut oil that goes through a process of hydrogenation. The coconut wax does not smell of coconuts, it has a neutral, natural wax scent. When we started out we considered making candles purely from coconut wax as we love that they are known as a three generation tree – the produce of one coconut tree will provide for three generations in its lifetime. This makes it a truly renewable resource.

If you have ever bought coconut oil you will know it has a low melting point and at a higher room temperature it turns into liquid very quickly. Coconut wax is the same – it has a very low melting point so candles made purely from coconut wax would just not work!

This can be overcome by adding additives to the wax to make it harder. Because we wanted our candles to be 100% natural, we have chosen to blend the coconut wax with a harder, organic soy wax. This is our own unique blend that not only gives a beautiful smooth finish, it burns evenly and cleanly – no nasties, no tunnelling, no wasted wax.

The next time you find yourself shopping for a candle, check what it’s made from #saynotoparaffinwax