ellocandleco

Every candle that we produce at Ello Candle Co. comes with a threefold promise of purity. We seek the most natural ingredients to create these hand poured, homemade candles. All of our candles are made with pure soy wax and are completely paraffin free. We use cotton-braided wicks coated in white beeswax for a lead and zinc free, environmentally friendly, clean burning candle. We scent our candles with 100% therapeutic grade essential oil fragrances for aromatherapy. There are absolutely no synthetic fragrances in our candles and they are all derived from natural plant sources.

HERE'S HOW IT STARTED...

In my home growing up, we always had candles burning. We lit our candles after we cleaned the house, we lit candles during our evening meals together as a family, we lit candles for the holidays and any special occasion, we lit candles whenever we wanted to feel extra cozy. When I got married I wanted to burn candles in our home as well, except whenever my husband would come home he would comment on how they made his head hurt and would ask if we could blow them out. I remember having a sinking feeling, thinking I would never be able to burn candles in my home again.

We had one candle that my husband had made for me while we were dating and I thought, "Well, I guess if he can make candles I can figure it out too!" I went down to our basement and found the box of leftover candle making supplies my husband had used and fired up the stove. I poured five candles that day and that was the beginning of it! I gave candles to people that year for mother's day and Christmas and after those two events I was so in love with candle making I knew I had to pursue it.

At the beginning it was just a desperate attempt to find some kind of candle I could keep burning in the house that wouldn't bother my husbands head. The more candles I made, the more research I did into the art and ingredients of candle making and what I found was shocking.

The short version of what I found is that most candles are made with paraffin wax--a petroleum byproduct created as oil is refined into gasoline. When we burn a paraffin candle we are literally filling our homes with toxic chemicals and polluting our air. Ever noticed the black rings around your candles? The soot and fumes released by paraffin wax is similar to those released from a diesel engine and can affect our body like breathing in secondhand smoke—especially harmful for those suffering from allergies, asthma or any respiratory issue.

HELLO! This certainly had to be part of the reason my husband got headaches from candles.

I also discovered that the wick is the most important part of a candle. As I researched wicks, I found that many wicks used to be made with lead or zinc cores and thus released heavy metals into our air. EW.

Lastly, perhaps the worst element of your average candle is the fact that they are made with synthetic fragrances. Most of the time, our household goods (shampoo, body wash, hand soap, dish soap, deodorant, beauty products, dishwasher and laundry soap, etc.) read “fragrance.” What we don’t realize is that sometimes this one “fragrance” ingredient could consist of any number of 3,000+ chemicals (2016 Transparency List). It's no wonder my husband's head hurt!

Essential oils, on the other hand, are derived from plant sources and have aromatic molecules that pass through the blood-brain barrier, thus having a direct effect on the regions of our brains that control feelings, including stress, anxiety, panic and depression. They not only offer pure fragrances, the fragrance is also beneficial to us!

That's just a little bit of the things I have found in this journey of candle making and it's the main reason I am so passionate about creating candles that are wholesome and pure!

Lachelle O'Connell
Owner
ELLO CANDLE CO.

REFERENCES:
1) http://candles.org/history/
2) https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/chlorine/basics/facts.asp
3) http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-acrolein-used-for.html
4) https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/benzene/basics/facts.asp
5) https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/toluene.pdf
6) https://www.cpsc.gov/content/cpsc-bans-candles-with-lead-cored-wicks
7) 2016 Transparency List. http://www.ifraorg.org/en-us/ingredients#.WCDfWRIrJmB