Happy Feet Spa Box

Have you ever walked into an environment where someone is burning a candle and immediately felt a tickle or irritation behind your eyes, in the back of your throat or started sneezing, coughing or feeling tightness in your chest?

Chances are high that the candle contains paraffin or a toxic fragrance oil.

Paraffin wax, distilled from petroleum, a by-product of gasoline production, is extremely carcinogenic and when burned, releases toxic chemicals like benzene and toluene into the air.

These chemicals can cause respiratory issues, asthma, and allergy-like reactions, itching, tearing, and soreness of the eyes, nose, throat, headaches, & even skin irritation and itchiness.

Benzene is a known carcinogen that has been linked to leukemia and other blood cancers.

Toluene can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness, and more.

Burning paraffin, even in small doses, kills birds and bees. It also kills us, just more slowly.

Despite all of the very clear research about paraffin, most commercial candle manufacturers, even the majority of the most expensive and exclusive candle makers in the world, still use paraffin in their candles.

Why? Because it is cheap. Yes, it may increase the hot throw of the scent slightly, but the bottom line is - greed.

We have a proprietary blend of coconut and soy wax that we have tested extensively and our candles perform amazingly. Does this cost a little more than a candle from the mall? Yes.

Is it worth it for the health and wellness of you, your loved ones and the planet?

ABSOLUTELY.

I bet you're sitting there wondering what the heck super-fat means and what on earth it has to do with soap that soothes and moisturizes dry irritable skin.

Hang on. Here comes the nerdy stuff. Short version?

SKIN LIKES FAT SO WE GIVE IT SOME IN OUR SOAP.

When you make soap, you calculate the precise amount of sodium hydroxide (yes, this means lye and it has to be there in order for it to be soap, see next question) that needs to be added to your recipe's specific oils and butters and the ratios at which they appear in the formula.

The fats we use are organic food grade vegetable oils and butters.

If a formula is left exactly at that 1:1 kind of ratio, all of the oils and butters are bonded with the sodium hydroxide and turned into soap. However, if you calculate the amount of sodium hydroxide you add to your recipe to be LESS than the 1:1 ratio,

the fatty acids (the yummy nourishing oils and butters described above) are left available for your skin to absorb.

Our formulations are calculated at 6% superfat for body and face bars and 20% for shampoo, hand and pet soaps.

Those percentages of oils and butters are what are left available for your skin to absorb and what gives our soap (along with the exact ratios and choices of base ingredients) it's increased moisturizing and emollient properties.

That is why our soaps will never make your skin feel tight, stretched, dry or flaky.

It's Super-Fat, and that's a GOOD thing.

In a word? No.

We know this may be contrary to your instinct so bear with us. Remember, our founder is a massive ingredient snob/geek and has done extensive research on each and every ingredient we use.

Essential Oils Are Not Formulated to Withstand The Heat of A Flame

When used in candles, essential oils:

• Break down and emit VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and can create secondary pollutants, notably formaldehyde.
• Are highly flammable, some with flashpoints as low as 102-130 degrees Fahrenheit. The average temperature of a burning candle is 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. Failure to heed these flashpoints can result in a candle that turns into a fireball or explodes. Yes, this happens. Bath & Body Works had a huge scandal around exploding candles a few years ago and IT WILL NOT BE US.
• Certain popular essential oils are extremely poisonous and can cause serious harm when used inappropriately, such as in a candle.
• Essential oil production in the US is not regulated. There is no way to be sure of the ingredients, concentrations or contaminants in any given bottle of essential oils making it impossible for anyone to track interactions between chemicals.
• According to the American Lung Association, a 2022 study showed increased heart rate, blood pressure and decreased lung function rate in 200 individuals who inhaled essential oils for an hour a day. Additionally, inhaling heated essential oils can irritate the respiratory tract leading to coughing, throat and nose irritation, and shortness of breath. There was also evidence of allergic reactions and more severe symptoms in people with underlying conditions such as COPD and asthma.

Although we love nature, we need to remember that nature is not actually gentle and in scientific matters (yes, we consider soap and candle making to be serious science) we rely on the data to make the best decisions for us and for you.

Yes.

All soap has lye.

If you're using a bar or dollop of something to wash your skin and it doesn't have lye, it is a detergent or surfactant and not soap.

Sodium hydroxide (lye) saponifies (turns into soap) oils and butters and that is soap making in it's simplest terms. If there's no lye (this can also be potassium hydroxide or even ashes) you don't have soap, you have something else.

No shade, but if you are buying handmade soap and the person selling it to you says that it doesn't have lye in it, they aren't a soap maker.

They may have purchased a melt and pour base and used that to "make" soap and don't understand that the base already has lye in it or they may buy their soap and repackage it and not understand their ingredients ie. the ingredients say saponified xy&z oils and butters which MEANS, lye (sodium or potassium hydroxide) was applied to turn those base ingredients into soap.

Finally, please don't be afraid of soap made with lye.

Properly made soap has a very precise amount of lye calculated based on the exact oils and butters and their weights and in the case of our soap, we reduce that amount so that 6% of the gorgeous, nourishing organic vegetable oils and butters we use are available AFTER saponification for your skin to absorb.

That's why they're so moisturizing.

We've got you.