I just got back from the doctor two days ago, reassessing my severe asthma and allergies and what we could do to lessen my symptoms before we launch into spring and all the lovely allergens that season of beauty and growth entails. (For a nature loving girl, I am cursed with a biological intolerance of the outdoors!)
While talking to my doctor, before we considered medicine and inhalers and all the doodads available in a pharmacy for allergy relief, we ran down a checklist of ways to reduce allergy triggers in my home. I was pleasantly surprised to find my doctor taking such a preventative approach to allergies instead of just shoving pills at me.
We went over managing pet dander, reducing dust mites, using hypoallergenic bedding, and of course, the all-important use of air purifiers!
The Benefits Of Beeswax Candles
I’ve made it no secret on my blog that I have a love affair with using natural 100% beeswax candles for relaxation, ambiance and air purifying in my home. I made the switch from paraffin to beeswax when my daughter was born, when I discovered that paraffin candles are one of the absolute WORST offenders to indoor air quality.
Not only do paraffin candles emit verifiably harmful levels of carcinogens with each burn, but they launch toxic microscopic black soot into the air that wreaks havoc on upper respiratory systems. Needless to say, this isn’t exactly ideal conditions for allergen-free indoor air!
Meanwhile, beeswax candles burn clean, with no additives or synthetic chemicals. Unlike paraffin they do not leave behind black soot or smoke as they burn. And while beeswax candles are allergen free, they also work to purify the air, emitting negative ions and removing common household allergens as they burn! (I’ll be blogging much more about this in the coming week, so keep an eye out for upcoming posts!)
About Mohawk Valley Beeswax Candles
Mohawk Valley Trading Company has become my favorite company for honey and honey based products! They provide the highest quality unprocessed natural products and they do not use pesticides in any of their apiaries. All this means superior quality honey and beeswax candles!
How These Beeswax Candles Are Made
Beeswax is created by honeybees from honey which is made from flower nectar. These high quality beeswax candles are made from melted and filtered caps that seal the honeycomb and the honeycomb itself. The wax is produced by worker bees from glands on the ventral side of the abdomen. The beeswax is clear when produced, but stained yellow from contact with the pollen and honey in the hive.
Making one gram of beeswax requires about 1100 wax scales which are about 3 millimeters by 0.1 millimeters. To make one pound of beeswax, bees must eat about eight times as much honey by weight and collectively fly an estimated distance of 150,000 miles or approximately six times around the earth! A beekeeper will harvest about 1 pound of wax for every 10 pounds of honey.
More from the Mohawk Valley Trading Company website:
[To make the beeswax candles] the cappings are scraped off and set aside. The honey is then removed by spinning or in some cases crushing the comb. The honey is filtered and bottled. The remaining wax is either placed back into the hive to collect more honey or melted for use as beeswax. The wax is heated, filtered through a fine mesh and then poured into molds. Nothing is added to our 100% pure beeswax candles.
The color of the wax in Mohawk Valley’s beeswax candles ranges from pale buttery yellow to deep golden yellow based on the pollen used by the bees to produce the honey and wax – it all depends on the type of flowers the bees have visited. Each candle is a unique natural work of art.
My Thoughts On Mohawk Valley’s Beeswax Candles
Jonathan and I stored the beeswax candles in our hall coat closet until we were ready to burn them, and when we decided to give the candles a whirl, we opened the closet to be greeted with a lovely subtle honey scent! The scent does not amplify while burning, but the gentle floral tones do linger. (I never thought of candles as an air freshener, but now I am addicted to the lovely honey scent that permeates my coat closet now!)
Seriously. These candles smell so good I keep on shoving them against my nose and deeply inhaling them like some kind of junkie. I may or may not have done that half a dozen time whilst typing out this review. *shifty eyes*
Anyhoo, lovely scents aside, these candles burn evenly, and far brighter than paraffin candles. The burn time is extremely long, especially in comparison to typical synthetic candles. Mohawk Valley conveniently lists expected burn times on their candle labels, which makes planning out burn times and conserving candles a cinch.
I would highly recommend candles through Mohawk Valley Trading Company. Their prices are competitive, and unlike companies that source their beeswax elsewhere, and only make candles, Mohawk Valley oversees all elements of their honey based products from start to finish through traditional beekeeping methods.
It’s VERY important to buy beeswax candles from a company that you can trust. In the United States the term “pure” on a label means only 51% of an ingredient. And more often than not, when companies are selling “pure” beeswax candles, they’re selling a combination of up to 51% beeswax and 49% toxic paraffin.
Mohawk Valley Trading Company beeswax candles are 100% pure, all natural, unbleached and produced from their beehives in the USA.
And now! Here is your chance to enter to win:
One, 2″ x 6″ 100% Pure Beeswax Pillar Candle
Two, 100% Pure Beeswax Votive Candles
Two, 100% Pure Beeswax Taper Candles
Six, 100% Pure Beeswax Tea Light Candles
Twelve, 100% Pure Beeswax Birthday Taper Candles
And remember, you can enter to win once a day! Raffle ends February 26th. Good luck!
(Can’t wait to win? Mohawk Valley Trading Company is offering my readers a 20% discount on all 100% beeswax candles from now till 2/26/14 with the Promo Code “Domestic Geek Girl”! Tweet your Mohawk Valley beeswax candle pictures to _domestic_geek_ to get a retweet and share the love!)
Disclaimer: There are no affiliate links in this review. I am an independent product reviewer. I only review products I am truly interested in. I don’t accept payment for reviews. The products I take the time to jabber on about are either items I have personally purchased, or the product has been provided for review after me incessantly nagging for a sample. All of my reviews are unbiased regardless of how the item was obtained.
I /might/ have used bees wax candles once before (I’m not sure). I believe I received a bees wax candle making kit as a child. But aside from that, we have only had the more “toxic” type candles. I really love relaxing in candle-lit atmosphere’s, so it would be wonderful to win some authentic bees wax candles! : D
I’ve never tried beeswax candles, but I really, really want to.
i have not used beeswax candles before
I have not tried beeswax candles yet! Hopefully soon. 🙂
I have only once. They smell terrific.
I have never had the opportunity to use beeswax candles yet, but would love to!
I have never used beeswax candles before!
I have never used beeswax candles before. Thanks for the chance.
I’ve never tried them, but I would love to.
Love the soft buttery yellow color.
I may have to try these. I have recently realized that I can not use the scentsy wax burners in my home because they give me horrible allergies and I was getting totally scary depressed and couldn’t figure out why. I think they were part of the problem, because I could not breathe right, my brain was not getting enough oxygen, my energy level was also at a zero. Thanks for the tip. I will try these when I can afford to. As always you have me sold! lol
Yeah, I had no idea paraffin candles were so bad, but now that I am ONLY burning beeswax candles, I notice a HUGE difference. I didn’t even realize that candles COULD be smoke-free and soot-free and drip-free until I switched to beeswax! And thank you for your comments, whenever you comment on my posts I feel like an amazing sales person – even when I’m not selling anything! haha! (If you were to ask me what I am the WORST at, it’s selling things. lol!)
lol. No girl you are not bad at selling things you are the greatest! Once I get some income rolling in I am definitely going to go back to your blog and I will buy so many things that you endorse it will be just crazy! lol
I purchased one recently, but it’s too pretty to burn.
no i have not
I am pretty sure I have used these when I was younger & lived back east.. They sound amazing!
I have used beeswax for about 5 yrs now, i love beeswax candles
No but I’d love to try it
No, but this would be my first time using them.
I have used beeswax candles before and they are lovely. Have not tried Mohawk Valley beeswax candles though! Would love to try theirs 🙂
yes and i absolutely love their smell! they are just typically too expensive for me!
yes I have
Never used them before!
I never have, but id love to ive heard such great things!
Looking forward to using Beeswax candles.
I’ve never used Beeswax candles before. I bet they smell great!
I had some several years ago and just loved them. Would love to smell some again, burning or not, they’re great either way.
No, I have never used these candles before
I have never used beeswax anything before other than as an ingredient in lip balm. I am very interested in making the switch.
Yes! I use beeswax candles often. I love the fragrance!
i haven’t but i am excited to try!
I haven’t tried beeswax candles yet, thanks!
Kim Reid
I’ve never used a beeswax candle. I’ve made paraffin candles though.
I love beeswax candles. Regular candles can give me a headache when they burn but beeswax never do.
I have used them and I prefer them.
I don’t think I’ve used beeswax candles before. Now that I’m reading all the benefits, it sure sounds like I need to switch!! Thanks!! 🙂
Nope, I never have tried it
No, never, but love candles and heard amazing things about beeswax
No, I have not tried beeswax candles before, but I am very interested in trying them some day!
I love the gentle smell of beeswax and the old fashioned look is wonderful!
hugs,
Jann
I have not used beeswax candles but want to try them.
This is interesting. I might have to try it along with more plants for healthier home air.
I have not used beeswax, but want to try them. I use A LOT of candles and I am now apposed to soy and paraffin, so i need to find a candle I do like.
no I have not used a beeswax candle but would love to try these
I love candles but I have not tried these yet
not sure if by just applying here I entered in. please notify me if other action is necessary, your directions on your website weren’t very clear on that part of it.