Why We Ditched Candles
I want to give you a little history about how I got involved with Young Living. I absolutely LOVED candles- anthropology, homegoods, bath & body works. I always felt like candles completely transformed the mood and atmosphere in my home. With my science background, I understood that there is a strong connection between the olfactory system (sense of smell), and the limbic system (responsible for your emotions), so my love for candles scientifically made sense. Fast forward to 2019, I saw someone share about the aria diffuser from young living, and I naturally gravitated toward the pretty aesthetic. I bought the diffuser, and started using it, but also continued to burn candles. It was not until I noticed black residue on my white cabinets above where I always burned my candles that I started looking into what is actually in the candles that I was using, and what I discovered was rather alarming. Essentially, you are polluting the air within your home with the chemicals that are emitted when you burn most of the candles on the market (all of the ones I was using). I knew that I needed to make a change, and that was the day that I ditched candles all together.
OK, so let's dive into why candles are bad.
Why are candles bad ?
fragrance
Fragrance is an umbrella term that includes thousands of ingredients that do not need to be disclosed because the FDA accepts the broad word “fragrance” as an ingredient in itself. Fragrance is something that we have really tried to eliminate all together because of the hidden chemicals that can be classified under this umbrella term.
paraffin
Most of the candles on the market today are made with paraffin wax, and paraffin is a petroleum waste product. Paraffin candles are suspected to release toxic chemicals including Benzene and Toluene. Benzene is a known carcinogen & Toluene is linked to developmental and reproductive toxicity. The reason why companies use parafin wax is because it helps to provide a longer burn time, my favorite anthro candles, capri blue explains here.
phthalates
Phthalates are known endocrine disrupting chemicals that have been shown to result in birth defects, asthma, diabetes, and cancer.
wicks
Historically, the majority of wicks had a lead core in them in the United States. In 2003, The Consumer Safety Products Commission banned the creation of lead-core wicks; however, the law now states that it must contain less than 0.06% lead by weight. Many candles can still lawfully get away with not being 100% lead-free. https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/2003/CPSC-Bans-Candles-With-Lead-Cored-Wicks
WHY Young Living ?
I started researching about the benefits of diffusing essential oils instead of burning candles, and quickly learned that not all essential oils are created equal; unfortunately it is not a well regulated market. I looked into many different companies at that point, even though I already had the Young Living starter kit, and I quickly realized that the quality of Young Living essential oils are unmatched. Young Living holds a Seed to Seal promise- a promise to produce the best products from the time it is a seed being planted in the ground, until the oil is sealed within the bottle.
After doing this research, I was so happy that I unintentionally chose Young Living for that pretty diffuser- this goes to show that as a consumer we tend to just buy products before doing any research. It is pretty incredible how once you ditch candles for diffusing pure essential oils, you no longer can tolerate the synthetic fragrance.
we are the gatekeepers of our home.
We may not be able to control everything that happens outside of our home, but we certainly can control what we bring into it.
For me, ditching my candles for diffusers was an easy switch, and was a great place to start as I learned about the benefit of reducing toxic burden within our home. It does not have to be overwhelming, small changes make a BIG difference.
Reach out if you have any questions, I would love to help curate a bundle that works best for you to get started!
