Yankee Candle is the brand most people think of when they are searching for a scented candle. These stores are found in shopping malls, outlet centers, and used for fundraisers within the school system.
If you stop over to their website you’ll see that they tote themselves as “America’s favorite candle” and they pride themselves on curating beautiful fragrances to warm your home with.
But unfortunately, along with warming the home, these candles are also poisoning the air you breathe. As mentioned in a blog post prior to this one, a lot of candles are made of paraffin wax.
As a recap paraffin wax is created from bleaching petroleum, and when you burn this type of candle, you are releasing toxins into the air that are detrimental to your health by essentially poisoning the air you breathe.
Are they dangerous to your health?
The answer is unfortunately yes.
While they haven’t been recalled because of damages done to our health, it’s important to know they aren’t necessarily providing us with any benefits other than making our living room smell like cinnamon rolls or fresh pine.
When paraffin wax is heated and the carcinogens it contains are released into the air, enough could eventually be ingested and lead to cancer.
While I’m not suggesting you purge your entire collection of their best selling scents, I would talk to your doctor or an allergist just to see what measures you should put in place in order to cleanse your air, while still enjoying their Vanilla Cupcake scent.
Can they affect your breathing?
In a study published in the United Kingdom, 81% of people use “air care” products in their home. Either in the form or candles, air fresheners or reed diffusers.
However, most candle brands use paraffin wax, and to add fuel to this carcinogen fire most companies use a wick where their cotton wick is wrapped around another material.
This material is often metal, and when this is burnt it produces a toxic smoke called soot. This toxic soot causes lung problems and they can be harmful in people with respiratory problems such as asthma.
Experts again suggest limiting your burning time, which reduces the amount of chemicals sent into the air by the candles.
You should also try and buy candles without metal in the core of the wicks or switch to more natural wax alternatives, like coconut oil based, soy, or beeswax.
Amazon offers a great selection of natural made candles.
What’s so special about them?
Don’t get me wrong, I still think of Yankee Candles when people ask me about candles. I can just picture the inviting fragrances wafting through the door when you walk into the store.
But I cannot ignore all that I have learned about the negative consequences that burning paraffin wax causes. So while doing some digging I wanted to highlight the “good” that Yankee Candle is doing.
As a plus, you can always follow the recommendations for burning paraffin wax based candles. Remember to burn them in a well ventilated area, I use an air purifier, and enjoy the scent of their “Sea Air” when sitting in your apartment in the city. Ahhhh, Ocean Air.
So, what’s the hype about Yankee Candle? For one they have quite the selection to choose from, and I’m not just referencing their scents. They have pillar candles, votives, glass jars, and even cute and quaint square candles.
The scent possibilities are endless as well, you can escape to the ocean or bask in one of their seasonal scents. To follow up on the fragrance aspect, the scents are often layered.
Take the Holiday favorite “Christmas Morning Punch”. The notes are listed as “Top” which includes Pomegranate, Cassis, and Bergamot, followed by a “Mid” Strawberry, Cranberry and finished off with the “Base” Sugar and Vanilla.
Lighting this candle can help you escape into a fragrant holiday paradise, as do their other more traditional scents.
Other perks: If you visit their website which is the popular option during this ongoing pandemic, (may I suggest a calming scent to relax? Looking at you best selling fan favorite Midsummer’s Night) you can see that they have expanded their line from just candles.
So what does this mean for you? It means you can enjoy the beauty of their scents without the hazardous soot and carcinogen properties mucking up your air.
They now offer some candle scents, (generally their best sellers) with 100% soy wax. Participation may vary depending on location, stock, or formulation. To double check, stop into a store and ask an associate, or when shopping online you can find which wax is used by looking under the specification tab.
They also offer traditional candles in tumblers, pillars, jars, votives, and double wick candles.
Other flameless (yay) options include: car fresheners (their brands are known as “Car Jars”), vent clips for your car, scents that plug in, (similar to Air Wicks), room spray, reed sticks, diffuser ascents, gel tins, wax melts, or scent cups, (these stay cool to the touch so you can easily change your fragrance in a matter of seconds on your warmer)
Want to hear something even better? Yankee Candle is now 100% recyclable. (What??!!) You read that right, not only do you get to relax and breathe in the sweet scent of their “Macintosh” candle or take a relaxing bath with “Lemon Lavender”, you can also feel good when the candle burns to its entirety as the container is completely recyclable.
A win for your home fragrance line, and the environment. Another positive for the environment includes their promise for being responsible with their use of energy, minimizing their waste, and identifying areas where they can have better solutions regarding recycling and “reuse”opportunities.
They are also offering partnerships with responsible suppliers, trying to ensure global energy conservation practices, and working with companies who recognize the need for cleaner manufacturing practices, and providing sustainable packaging and products.
Yankee Candle states that they want to “ Meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet theirs”. I don’t know about you, but I think it’s about time for some positive progressive attitudes and actions. What better than to start with our candles?