The Oprah Show today celebrated Earth Day with guests Julie Roberts, Al Gore, and Sandra Bullock. However, it was Sandra Bullock's new line of soy candles that she was promoting that caught my eye.
A lifelong commitment to healthy living inspired Sandra to eliminate as many chemicals from her home as possible, including those found in her favorite candles. "I [had] a house full of candles, and one day I noticed brown soot," she says. "I started researching, and you find out about lead wicks and chemicals in your candles."Instead of continuing to inhale harmful fumes, Sandra took action and started her own line of soy wax candles called Bessence. "They're soy-based. They're hand-poured. Everything, even the boxes, are recycled," she says. "Even the black spray that goes on the outside of [the box] is organic."
Three years ago our company Double Brush changed from using paraffin wax (which is made from petroleum crude oil or fossil fuel) to an all natural soy wax made from American raised soybeans! Our company was already heading into a more all natural products direction with our natural soap, natural solid perfumes, and other natural bath and body products, so we really wanted to make the switch. Read our post about harmful chemicals to avoid in your bath and body care products.
Our 100% natural wax candles are made from soybean wax, and a little palm wax which is made from the oil of coconuts! It's non toxic FDA approved food grade wax, kosher, vegan (no animal products of any kind), 100 percent bio-degradable, and is good for the environment because it is a renewable resource, unlike paraffin wax. Our soy candles are hand poured by us in small batches to insure the quality of our work.
The majority of candles are made from paraffin wax, a by-product of the petroleum industry’s crude oil refining process - other products include diesel fuel, gasoline, kerosene & asphalt. All of these products may be manufactured from foreign oil and contributes to the dependency on crude oil. Also if your candle does not say 100 percent natural wax, or if it says "soy based", it is most likely a blend of a natural wax and paraffin wax.
Besides the quality of our natural wax, our candles are scented throughout the soy wax with the highest quality of soy oil based fragrance oils with little to no additives. Most fragrance oils have solvents, mineral oil or dipropylene glycol in them. So just because someone advertises a soy candle, it doesn't mean it is petrochemical free like ours are. We also use non-metal core natural hemp fiber wicks. (Foreign imported candles may still use dangerous lead core wicks.)
There are many brands of soy candles on the market that vary greatly in quality and price. We believe as do many of our customers, that our earth friendly high quality soy candles are the best value for your money.
I can say from my experience that your candles are wonderful! It's clear that you put much effort into making them the very best they can be!
Posted by: Sheila | April 23, 2008 at 06:56 AM
Mahalo Sheila,
Thank you for the compliment! It took over a year of testing wicks and fragrances to get our candles to burn and smell the best!
Posted by: HawaiiVacationGifts | April 27, 2008 at 12:56 AM
I think it's great that soy candles are really beginning to go mainstream. 100% soy candles are so much better than paraffin. Your candles are beautiful as well. Thanks.
Posted by: BsaB Candles | October 23, 2008 at 03:19 PM
Thank you for the compliment. Your candles made in Indonesia are also beautiful.
Posted by: HawaiiVacationGifts | October 24, 2008 at 10:32 PM