We know it's important to know what's in the products that you use and have in your home. We felt the same way when we created JUDES & CO.
When we ventured into candle making, we were overwhelmed with the amount of options that are available. After extensive research, we've created a product that we are so proud of. Our candles were created with you, your home and our environment in mind.
Let's get deeper and break it down. Here's what goes into our eco-friendly coconut soy candles.
Wax.
How did we end up with a personal blend of coconut soy wax? When choosing our wax we wanted something natural and clean burning. A large part of the candle market uses paraffin wax. Although there are many attributes that make paraffin wax attractive, the fact that it's a by-product of petroleum had us looking for another option. We wanted something that would be more sustainable and eco-friendly for our earth but also something that would be safe to burn in our homes. Both coconut wax and soy wax fit that criteria for us. When testing, we couldn't choose one that we loved better than the other so we mixed them together and our personal proprietary blend was created.
Coconut wax is made from the meat of the coconut. It’s organic, renewable and pesticide free. Coconuts are considered a high yield crop which means less coconuts are needed to get a sizeable about of product. Making it one of the most eco-friendly waxes on the market. Soy wax is made from soybeans, a renewable resource that’s non-toxic and kosher certified. The combination of these two waxes gives us a longer and cleaner burning candle, making it one the best available options on the market.
Wicks.
To be completely transparent, we actually almost launched with cotton wicks but there's something so, so special about wooden wicks and we couldn't get them out of our mind. We ended up switching from cotton wicks to wooden wicks, delaying our launch by a few months in order to test our wax with wooden wicks. Our wooden wicks are FSC certified, sustainable, natural and eco-friendly. Not only are they aesthetically pleasing but they make a unique, soothing crackling sound when lit. We feel that wooden wick candles create an ambiance that you just don't get with the regular cotton wicks.
Scents.
This is a controversial topic in the candle community so we'll preface this with this.. The following is our informed opinion after doing our own research. If you feel differently than we do, that's okay. We are all entitled to our own opinion.
There are those who believe that the most natural route to go when scenting a candle is to use pure essential oils. Here at JUDES & CO., we don't necessarily agree and here's why. The properties you get when using essential oils for aromatherapy (such as a diffuser) are not the same when using essential oils in a candle for a few reasons. We are not saying that essential oils are toxic, as a matter of fact essential oils are pretty great and have some amazing properties when used correctly. Most essential oils have lower flash points than fragrance oils do. When lit, the heat from the flame can change the chemical compound of essential oils causing oxidization, making some of them (not all) toxic when burned in a candle (especially for pets). That's one of the reasons why we use high quality fragrance oils in our candles. Fragrance oils have been created and formulated to be safely used in candles. Here at JUDES & CO. we use high quality fragrance oils in our candles and are proud to say that all of our fragrance blends are phthalate-free and paraben-free.
Jars.
Our jars are a pure personal preference but we chose it mainly because we are obsessed with the colour amber! Our glass jars are non-toxic and environmentally friendly. When you're done with your candle you can reuse and repurpose the jar for your own personal use at home (blog to come) or it can be recycled.
After countless months and hours of testing we are proud to say that all of our candles are dye-free, phthalate-free, paraben-free, lead-free and vegan. Our eco-friendly wooden wick candles are hand-poured in small batches in Vancouver, Canada.
Thank you for taking the time to read about what we formulate our candles with and how we chose the ingredients we put into it. We hope it gave you a bit of insight into what goes into our candles and that you feel good about burning ours in your home.
PSA:
Please remember trim your wicks!
Our Resources:
Candle Science
Village Craft & Candle
The Wooden Wick Co.
Martha Stewart