Soy candles ARE greener than wax because:

• Soy candles are made from a rapidly renewable resource, although you will want to look for organic soy candles vs. none organic. Wax paraffin candles are in no way made from a renewable resource – they’re derived from petroleum.
• Soy candles are biodegradable.
• Soy candles clean out of their containers easily (if they came in one), unlike wax which is hard to clean. Thus, after burning a soy candle, you can reuse the container for other things or recycle it.

Soy candles are healthier than wax candles BUT not by much for some people:

Soy candles do give off less soot particles and burn cleaner than normal candles. Obviously that’s a good thing. A cleaner burning candle means less soot in your lungs and in your home.

There’s not a large collection of research (thus far) that notes that soy candles are terribly better for your health. They do still release some smoke that can aggravate allergy or asthma symptoms. If you have allergies or asthma, a soy candle may still make you feel kind of icky, just like a wax candle can.

Where to find the best soy candles:

• Dirt Candles
• Maddison Avenue
• Evergreen Candleworks

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Are Soy Candles Better for Your Health?

To avoid harmful fragrances check with Skin Deep before you purchase a body care product or cosmetic item. Skin Deep can tell you which, if any fragrances are included in thousands of products. Also, use green cleaners, natural air fresheners, candles scented with essential oils vs. fragrance when possible, and buy non-toxic products for kids (read your labels).

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Chemical Fragrances Are Not Eco-friendly

That’s right: My cat eats soy candles, if I’m not careful. I have to hide or cover them after use.

My cat’s other peculiar habits:

• He loves crumbs from English muffins, but not other bread. Uh, not that I feed him bread…
• He’s more afraid of compressed air (or gas dusters) than anything on this planet.
• Choco scolds me with an extended “yell” when I walk through the door after being gone for more than four hours.
• My cat will only drink water from the tub faucet.
• He has a love affair with cloth-covered ponytail holders.

Despite all that, I find his lust for soy candle wax the most peculiar habit. Does you cat try to eat your soy candles?

(Image by Peggy Rowland)

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Telling on My Cat

Products: Evergreen sent me two soy candle flavors to review; a Silky Soy Candle in Sensuel Vanille and an Alpineglow soy candle in Colorado Sunrise (vanilla with a bouquet of orange blossoms & fresh oranges on a background of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and silky musk), along with a Candle Warmer. Visit the products page.

The Silky Soy Candles are also available in Soft Amber, Vanilla Pear, Citrus Basil, and Wildflower scents and the Alpineglow candles come in a huge array of aromas; Champagne Powder, Coconut Lime Verbena, Colorado Christmas, Colorado Wilderness, Cool Citrus Basil, Fresh Vanilla Pear, Lavender Fields, Lemongrass & Sage, Mountain Berry, Peppermint, Spiced Cranberry, Warm Apple Pie, and Wildflower Meadow.

Ingredients: candle wax is created with pure, 100% natural soybeans and then it is enhanced with carefully selected botanical oils.

Cost: It varies a lot, depending on what you order. Candles are available in various types of containers, sizes, and even come in sets which is a great deal. I think the Silky Soy Pampering Package which includes a Silky Soy Bar, a Silky Soy Candle, and a Candle Warmer is a good bet for a starter set or it would make a fab gift.

Eco facts:

• 100% natural soybeans used in products and then enhanced with botanical oils.
• Soy biodegradable and 100% vegetable; no beeswax or petroleum products hidden in it.
• Their soy is free of pesticides, herbicides and genetically modified material.
• The company uses 100 % wind power to make their candles.
• Company recycling program in place.
• Recyclable packaging used for products.
• Containers for soy candles and soy lotion bars are washable (soy wax cleans out easily, unlike paraffin wax) and are totally reusable.

WHAT I THINK:

Silky Soy Candles are a little different than regular soy candles. These candles are handcrafted with a mix of shea and soy so that when the wax melts you can apply it like you might lotion. You can wait for the candle to burn and then dip your fingers into the melted wax OR a safer bet is to use the candle warmer to heat the wax, then dip in. I LOVED the silky soy candle – it smelled amazing and the wax actually did work great as a moisturizer. The nice vanilla scent seriously fills your whole room with a great light fragrance that smells totally natural. Evergreen notes that the Silky Soy candles (10 oz) burn for about 30-45 hours, and it seems like this is a good estimate. I’ve been burning mine off the charts, round the clock, and it’s going to last about that long.

The warmer works well too when used in conjunction with the candle and is far better than dipping into a lit candle.

As for the Colorado Sunrise candle – I like it, but not quite as much as the Silky Soy. I like the scent right out of the box, but when lit, it doesn’t fill your room with quite such a delicious scent as the Silky Soy Vanilla. Also, the Silky Soy candle seems to burn a little cleaner. The Alpineglow candle holder (glass tumbler type) has a little darkness and some soot on it now, while the Silky Soy candle holder (also glass) is perfectly clean. Burn time is noted as 65-80 hours per 10oz candle, and it is lasting and lasting.

I also love the containers for both candles. Both of mine are glass containers and both came with pretty and rustic looking black lids (as in the photo at the top of this post). These candle jars are already staying super clean (more so than say with wax candle holders) and they’ll make great reuse containers for any number of smaller objects. Evergreen offers a wide array of other container choices as well (see above).

Other than the fact that the Colorado Sunrise scent wasn’t my style, I can’t find any product cons. Also, while I didn’t love the Colorado scent, it still smelled natural. I like that these candles don’t smell like fake fragrances.

Overall blissful-tree score:

I’m going to give these candles 5 out of 5 pretty little trees. I loved them, and would highly recommend them for your own home or as a gift.

Visit Evergreen Candleworks to learn more.

[images via Evergreen Candleworks]

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Green Product Review: Evergreen Soy Candles

Product: Silky Soy Moisture Bar (after clicking the link, scroll down a bit to see this product). This bar comes in a lot of yummy sounding flavors like Soft Amber, Vanilla Pear, Citrus Basil, Brown Sugar & Fig, Wildflower, Sensue’l Vanille. I’m reviewing the Vanilla Pear bar. This bar is used like lotion, but since it’s solid, you rub it on your skin.

Ingredients: All natural soy, shea butter, botanical oils, skin safe fragrances (from packaging).

Cost: $12.00 for one 3 fluid oz bar.

Eco facts:

• 100% natural soybeans used in products and then enhanced with botanical oils.
• Soy biodegradable and 100% vegetable; no beeswax or petroleum products hidden in it.
• Their soy is free of pesticides, herbicides and Genetically Modified Material.
• The company uses 100 % wind power to make their candles, so I’m guessing the same for these lotion bars.
• Company recycling program in place.
• Recyclable packaging used for products.
• Containers for soy candles and soy lotion bars are washable (soy wax cleans out easily, unlike paraffin wax) and totally reusable.

Product pros:

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the scent. I tested the Vanilla Pear bar and it smells so amazing that my friend and me kept opening the container all darn day. Seriously – this is one of the best scents I’ve ever smelled in a lotion or lotion bar. Later I’m going to review a candle that’s scented Sensue’l Vanille, and it smells amazing as well, so I’d suggest that bar scent too. My boyfriend by the way, gave both the Vanilla Pear and the  Sensue’l Vanille scents two enthusiastic thumbs up as well. He kept smelling me – yes, that’s a good thing

Works really well! I used it at two different times to test it out – once after a shower, and once way after a shower. It works well on both dry and slightly damp skin. It left my skin feeling nice and soft (and smelling fantastic) all day. This bar is not stick at all like some lotion bars and doesn’t leave any skin residue. It’s especially nice on rougher skin, like elbows and knees.

I like the fact that the container is reusable and pretty. It’s basic (silver colored) and the labels come off easily with some water, so you can reuse it. It’s the perfect size for beads, rings, or other small items.

The packaging it came in was beautiful – a nice little bag – (prefect for gift giving) and recyclable.

Of course I like all the eco-aspects listed above as well.

Product cons:

I don’t like that the ingredients say, “skin safe fragrances” which really, could mean anything.I’m not sure if they mean the botanical oils, or if they use other fragrances. This bar smells natural to me, meaning, not chemically scented, so I doubt they tossed in a bunch of icky junk BUT I like when all ingredients are disclosed and easy to find. I searched the website, the catalog, and the product but “skin safe fragrances” is all I found.

It’d be cool if they used organic soy and organic oils.

This bar picks up lint like a fiend. Which is to be expected with lotion bars – but if you like non-linty stuff, this isn’t it. NOTE: the bar still works perfectly though.

My scent disclaimer: I really like scented items. While I love the bar’s scent, I think if you don’t this strongly scented body care, this bar could be a little strong for you. This isn’t a total con, but it is a preference issue.

Overall blissful-tree score:

Four pretty little trees! This bar loses one point for not being organic and for the “skin-safe fragrance” bit, but overall, I highly recommend this product. I’d buy it, or give it as a gift for sure. It works and smells delicious. I’m especially wanting to try the Amber lotion bar which I’m sure smells amazing. In fact with Mother’s Day coming up, this would make the perfect gift. You can get the bars separately or in a cool gift pack from the Evergreen Candleworks product page.

Visit Evergreen Candleworks to learn more.

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Green Product Review-Silky Soy Moisture Bar

Candles made of soy are healthier – to a point – and are made cleaner and greener. Basic wax paraffin-based candles are made with petroleum, which we all know is a non-renewable resource while soy candles are made with a rapidly renewable resource. Wax candles also burn dirty, leaving more soot in your home and lungs than soy-based candles; the EPA notes that many known carcinogens have been found in measurable amounts when wax is burned. Additionally, wax candles tend to have unnatural fragrances (chemicals) added, while many soy candle companies use natural scents.

If you have allergies or asthma soy candles still aren’t great for your lungs, but overall, they do burn cleaner than wax.

One cool company making soy candles and lotion bars is Evergreen Candleworks. Some general eco-perks of Evergreen include…

• Family-owned eco-business.
• Their soy candles are handmade from pure, 100% natural soybeans and then enhanced with botanical oils.
• Soy wax is biodegradable and 100% vegetable; no beeswax or petroleum products hidden in it.
• Their soy wax is free of pesticides, herbicides and Genetically Modified Material.
• Wicks are 100% cotton (no lead, tin, or zinc core).
• The company uses 100 % wind power to make their candles
• Company recycling program in place.
• Recyclable packaging used for products.
• Containers for soy candles and soy lotion bars are washable (soy wax cleans out easily, unlike paraffin wax) and totally reusable.
• Beautiful candles and lotion bars and a wide choice of containers.

Coming up I’ve got some Evergreen Candleworks product reviews; including both soy candles and their soy lotion bars. Stay tuned!

Have you tried soy candles yet?

[images via Evergreen Candleworks]

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Evergreen Candleworks – soy candle company

I had the opportunity to try a Candlevida SpaVida Cool Citrus Basil Soy Candle last night.

It’s a lovely-smelling candle that is poured into a glass container that I feel is very unique. It’s a frosty sage green and it has a silvered inside. There cut-outs in the green that make patterns on the side, so that when it’s lit, the cut-outs are clearly visible. It’s very pretty. I took a photo to try to show you what I’m talking about.

SpaVida Cool Citrus Basil Jar Candle

Cool Citrus Basil is a customer favorite! The sweet zest of citrus partners with the earthy notes of basil to create a smooth and balanced aroma. Pretty, sweet and subtle!

This candle glows from within when lit and can burn up to 60 hours in a draft free environment.

Another plus – no tunneling!  The candle melted very evenly across the top and I burned it for a couple of hours. Tunneling is a pet peeve of mine. 

Candlevida is very proud of their soy candles and I can easily understand why. A soy candle is a better choice in terms of health and safety, alone. Here’s what they have to say about why they choose soy. 

•  
  • Soy wax is non-toxic and non-carcinogenic, while paraffin wax is a petroleum by-product
  • Soy wax candles produce 95% less soot than paraffin candles
  • Soy wax is a 100% vegetable by-product and naturally biodegradable
  • Soy wax is a renewable source, making our soy candles environmentally friendly
  • Soy is grown on American soil, encouraging economic growth for the agricultural sector of the US economy
  • Soy wax burns cooler than paraffin or gel, creating a longer burning candle
  • Unlike paraffin, Soy does NOT emit a petrol-carbon toxin which is damaging to you and your home

The candles come in many different scents and decorative containers. Here’s another cute candle modeled on a familiar coffee cup.

Hazelnut Coffee New Your Greek Coffee Cup Candle

Quite possibly the world’s most famous paper cup becomes a heavy duty ceramic base for our coffee candle. Our coffee fragrance will fill your home with the mouth-watering nutty smell of Hazelnut Coffee.

We’ve turned this beautiful ceramic coffee cup into a delectable-smelling candle made from 100% pure soy wax and lead-free wicks. When you’re done burning the candle, you’re left with an ever-lasting artifact reminiscent of the cups that are straight from the delis and bodegas of New York. A quintessential New York icon!

Candlevida is available two ways. You can visit the Etsy shop here or go to the main Candlevida shop here. In addition to candles, the Spavida collection features wonderful products for bath and body, as well.

shop photos credit: Etsy.com

lit candle photo credit: Michelle

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Product Review: Candlevida SpaVida Cool Citrus Basil Candle

Looking for something special to decorate your holiday table?  How about a lovely assortment of candles, from Caterpillars Pure Soy Candles.

Don’t forget to enter my Black Friday Giveaway. I’m giving away a Fine Art Photograph. For information, click here.

Image credit – Caterpillar Soy Candles

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Decorating Your Holiday Table