For me, it’s not officially Fall until I bust out my favorite Fall Candles!
I know, I know – Typical female here. Well…
HAPPY FALL YA’LL!
It’s been awhile since our last post, so why not start with a cliche greeting? It’s been a fun summer of traveling and relaxing for us. We made it through all of my 6 month testing in August (WITH CLEAR SCANS!), and are now settling in to enjoy a beautiful and busy fall season in Wisconsin.
While this is absolutely my favorite time of year, I’ve struggled to enjoy it the last few years. My Breast Cancer diagnosis and Liver tumor diagnosis both came in the August -December season, followed by treatment, testing, surgeries and recoveries. When my tests came back all clear in August and my Oncologist said I didn’t need any further testing until January, I CRIED! I didn’t realize how much I had missed it, but being able to enjoy the changing leaves and upcoming Holiday season with a quiet, worry-free heart has been such a blessing of respite for us. There’s just something about a cool fall breeze through open windows, Packers football on TV and a good fall scented candle that just warms my little heart.
You can imagine my devastation when, as we began to educate ourselves about toxins in the home, I discovered that one of the number one culprits was scented candles. Talk about PURE heartbreak! However, as we’ve found with many other things, there ARE other options to satisfy my dramatic, and somewhat unnecessary, love of candles.
I should warn you, I’m definitely not an expert in this department. As we’ve made so many other changes in the last few years, candles are the one product where I held on to the “old ways” for as long as I could. My excuses ranged from “Food is more important, let’s focus on that first” to “I only burn them once in awhile – How much harm can that really do”. Unfortunately, my excuses ran out and I had to face the facts. They just aren’t good for your home. As we continue to disclaim in this blog that we are still learning, I can at least share with you what I have found. There’s a good, better and best here…. so choose where you are in your journey to a chemical free lifestyle and keep chugging along!
GOOD:
Find candles that are made without Paraffin wax. When burned, paraffin wax based candles emit highly toxic chemicals like toluene and benzene. From my research, candles that are made of Soy Wax, Beeswax or Coconut wax are the safer choice in comparison. These are two of my favorites:
BETTER:
Even when you find candles with a good “base” wax, that doesn’t mean that they are necessarily safe. Depending on what they are scented with, even a beeswax candles with harmful additives can cause air pollution and irritation. It’s become amusing to me to see ingredients like “natural fragrance” or “natural favor” – What does that even mean?!?
While I love the fragrance of a candle, sometimes just the ambiance is enough for me. Get your essential oils diffuser pumping with some fall scents and light one these unscented, coconut wax candles instead:
BEST:
If you’ve read other articles on our blog, you probably know what the best solution will be….. MAKE YOUR OWN. Get some safe wax, safe wicks, pure essentials oils and go to town!
One of my favorite resources for “candle education” is Wellnessmama.com. She has some of the best recipes for DIY candles (and a variety of other DIY products too). Start HERE if you simply want to make Beeswax Candles.
Of course, if you’re only looking for the scent of the candle, you could skip the candles and go straight to diffusing essential oils. There are many great diffusers out there, and a couple of reliable and high quality brands of essential oils. We use Young Living brand and haven’t had any issues. We also have family and friends that use Doterra and love it as well. Both brands are great.
