Soy Candles

Simply put, a container candle is a candle sold in a container, such as a glass jar or metal tin.  A soy container candle is one made from soy-wax from the soybean.  The candles are molded directly inside their respective container with the hot soy-wax.  The soy candle is made to be stored and burned in its original container.  Using a soy container candle provides for greater safety from being a fire hazard.  You can find a wide range of containers ranging in many sizes, shapes, styles and materials.  You can even find container candles made from recycled materials. 

Scented soy container candles come with lids to keep the fragrance contained until you want to burn the candle.  A lid makes it easy to transport the soy candle from one room to another.  The lid also prevents the scent from becoming overwhelming when not in use, as it can permeate other objects.

You can make your own soy container candle at home.  Just purchase some soy-wax and collect your choice of container and go to work on your own creation.  Happy Holidays!  

There are many forms of aromatherapy.  Take for example the application of scented body lotion or body spray or perfume.  Then there is taking a warm fragrant bath, burning potpourri, or even just walking through a scented garden.  Last but not least is the burning of a scented candle.  How many of these have you done and not realized it was a form of aromatherapy?  Even better yet is the lighting of a scented soy candle.  You get added benefits in the use of a scented soy candle; less soot, renewable resource, non-toxic, longer burn time.  In fact a soy candle will burn 50% longer than a paraffin candle.

Aromatherapists have known for a long time that odors have a huge impact on how we feel, our mood.  Medical research has also stumbled upon this significant fact.  The sense of smell is strongly linked to our brain and our emotions.  Scents can take us for a walk on memory lane, pleasant or unpleasant.  Alan Hirsch M.D., a neurologist and psychiatrist, states that “smells act directly on the brain, like a drug.  We know that from brain wave frequency studies that smelling lavender increases alpha waves in the back of the head, which are associated with relaxation.  An odor such as jasmine increases brain waves in the front of the head, which are associated with a more alert state of consciousness.”  As you can see the medical profession has also begun to recognize the value of aromatherapy in medicine.  But they have only begun!

Aromatherapy uses the essences of aromatic plants.  These essences are the essential oils that are in high concentration from the plants.  Aromatherapy then is the art of using these essential oils to promote healing of the body and mind.  The oils are found in various parts of the plants like the flowers, leaves, twigs, bark or rinds of the fruits.  They can be used in combinations or alone.  There are different methods of extracting the oils which can be time consuming and expensive.  The essential oils themselves can be expensive, but a small drop goes a long way and is very effective.  You can purchase essential oils from catalogs, websites, and in health food stores.  You can also purchase scented soy candles from the same places.  Why not try one today and get in the aromatherapy groove!

We all have our favorite fragrances in perfumes, soaps, shampoos and even candles.  Fragrance is a major part of our lives today.  Over 75% of the candles sold on the market are scented.  Candle manufacturers and fragrance companies have begun to work together to create pleasing scents for our homes and our lives.  They want to also increase our quality of life by increasing our comfort levels with scented candles. 

To really increase your quality of life and keep your health optimum, soy candles are the way to go.  They are non-toxic to your health, a renewable resource, affordable since they last 50% longer than paraffin candles, and Eco-friendly.  They come in all sizes and shapes, and various containers. 

Here are some popular scents to think about as you decide on what fragrance you might like to try.  They rank from the most popular as number 1 and on down the list.

1. Scents for the kitchen: vanilla, cinnamon, coffee, gingerbread, pumpkin, apple pie, and brown sugar.
2. Scents from fruits: citrus and apple have a wide range from the light and airy scents to the warm comforting scents, also found are melon, peach and black cherry.
3. Scents of floral: lavender, lilac, rose, jasmine and gardenia are soft and light scents.
4. Scents for the spa: mint, eucalyptus, sandalwood, green tea and ylang ylang were created for relaxation and mood elevation.
5. Scents for real life: rain, fresh linen, ocean mist, baby powder and many more that remind us of familiar day to day scents.

Whatever your favorite scent might be, there is probably a fragrant scented soy candle just waiting to find a place in your home.  Won’t you give a homeless soy candle a place to throw back and let their scent go for the holidays.  Enjoy, as it permenates you with its essence of pure bliss.

These days it seems that the population is becoming much more heath and environmentally conscious.  This is called going green.  The traditional candles that most people burn are made with paraffin wax.  As we now know, paraffin wax has many dangers associated with them.  They are made from petroleum by-products and emit several know toxins that are dangerous to your health.  They become so by contaminating the air you breath in your home, as well as leaving their remains in what is called soot, on your home’s interior structure and furnishings.

Soy wax, made from soybeans, has become a favorite alternative to the paraffin wax candles.  It is safe to breath, is safe for the environment, doesn’t leave the soot build up, and melts at a lower temperature.  It is a renewable resource as well.  You can put your finger into the heated soy wax from your candle and it will only feel warm to touch.  It won’t burn like paraffin candles.  Some have found it to be a good source as a hand lotion, having the benefit of the scent of the candle you were burning. 

As we become more environmentally aware and health conscious and more of us are going green, we give up our old ways and with that make sacrifices.  Choosing to use soy candles is a plus, because you don’t have to sacrifice anything.  It is a win win situation.  They burn at a lower temp, burn up to 50% longer than paraffin candles, cost about the same, and are good for the environment and you.  Why not try gourmet soy wax candles today and get involved with the green scene.

My wicks are smoking!  How dare them.  You have a special event happening and everything is elegantly laid out, and then the candles start to smoke.  Now what do you do?  Don’t panic, here are some ideas.

1. What kind is your candle?  Paraffin wax candles are more likely to smoke.  Instead try using a soy wax candle, as they put off much less smoke if any.
2. Ah, the wick.  Cotton wicks tend to burn cleaner than zinc core wicks.  When a wick gets those black balls on the top when burning it is called shroom.  Zinc core wicks shroom more and can create more smoke.  Burn only candles with cotton or natural products wicks.
3. Do you blow out your candles?  This creates more black smoke.  Try using a wick dipper.  This is a metal tool used to push the wick down into the melt pool to  extinguish it and then use it to pull the wick back up straight for the next time.  Wick dipper use means less smoke!
4. Has your candle had the proper care?  Be sure and let it burn all the way across the first time that you burn it, before putting out the wick.  Is the wick being trimmed like it should?  It should be trimmed to 1/8 inch each time before burning. 
5. Drafts can cause a candle to put off more smoke.  Check the placement of your candles before lighting them for sudden hidden winds. 

The factors most involved in the smoking wicks has to do with the type of candle wax being burnt and the product in the wicks.  Using gourmet soy candles with cotton wicks is the answer to reducing the amount of second hand inhalation of wick smoke in your home.

Picture this in your mind.  You go to the closet or dresser drawer and take out the item of clothing you wish to wear.  You notice a pungent odor, that of must and rot.  You look around for the source but find none.  After putting on the clothing, you notice the odor following you.  What is that you wonder!  It is your clothing and you don’t have time to change.  Even if you did, everything else would smell just like it.  Why is it that our drawers and closets produce that smell?  I once had a cedar lined closet and it helped the problem immensely, but it was expensive to line that closet with cedar. 

Here is a less expensive and simpler idea, Gourmet Soy Melts.  They are designed to put into an electric soy melt warmer and melt down into a liquid soy wax that gives off the aroma of the fragrance you chose.  You can even mix and match the soy melts to create your own blend of fragrance.  But have you thought of breaking off a melt cube and tucking it into your dresser drawer or putting it on the shelf in your closet?  The melt cubes are so highly scented with fragrance that you don’t have to melt them to get their aroma dispersed.  I use to buy deodorizers and put in my closet.  I have found that the melt cubes are more appealing to my sense of smell and are so compact so as not to even be noticed.  Just one more versatility of the soy bean and soy wax.

With Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner, the pumpkin is a common theme.  Did you know that you can eat pumpkin flowers, or that pumpkins contain potassium and Vitamin A?  Pumpkin was once used as an ingredient for the crust of the pie, not the filling, in colonial times.  The largest one grown weighed 1,140 pounds.  Pumpkins once were used for its medicinal purposes in removing freckles and for snake bites.  The traditional pumpkin in America is the Connecticut field variety.  90 percent of a pumpkin’s elements is water.  The name given pumpkins by The Native Americans was “isqoutm squash”, they used the seeds for food and medicine and they flattened strips of pumpkins and dried them to make mats.  October is the month to find 80 percent of the pumpkin supply available in the U.S.  And last but not least, the largest pumpkin pie made was astronomical in size.  It was over 5 feet in diameter, weighed over 350 pounds, used 60 pounds of cooked pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar, 12 dozen eggs and took 6 hours to bake.  Imagine the oven it took to bake that pumpkin pie! 

Well you don’t need an oven that big just to fill your home with the fresh scent of pumpkin pie cooking.  Instead try a simpler approach.  Just light your soy wax candle and sit back and enjoy the holiday season.  You can find just the right fragrance for the season and share it with your loved ones. If you want to entice more of your senses, besides your nose, go ahead and bake that pumpkin pie.  Happy Holidays!