Why You Should Think Twice About Your Candle Obsession

I am 100% guilty of adding to the modern-day candle obsession. Everyone wants their space to smell like heaven and nothing can replace the comfort from a candle. It's that soothing glow in a distant corner, that fragrant smell of cedarwood and bergamot, the beautiful glass jar that lights up a dark room. Nothing sets the mood better for a soothing bath, a romantic dinner, or even a cozy evening in reading your favorite novel.

It's no secret: we all love candles. But how much do you actually know about what you're buying?

Candles come in all shapes, sizes, colors, blends and price points. But no matter what you buy, you should always be double checking the company and the ingredient list. Today, candles are made to keep up with the ever-demanding market, and because of it, we are often mindlessly buying toxic materials and potentially poisoning our loved ones around us.

Instead of the fan favorite Yankee Candle, you should be going for candles with more, if not all, natural ingredients. Soy and beeswax are two of my favorites and two of the healthiest.

But even top-of-the-line candles can be marketed as soy and still contain considerable amounts of paraffin wax in them, blended with other ingredients. Candles loaded with paraffin in them often emit toxic fumes that you in turn inhale. These toxic fumes can be very harmful to your health.

To make sure you're not bringing something harmful into your space, do a simple touch test in the store before you purchase it. If it is soft, it's usually no good. There are rare exceptions as some types of soy can be soft, and some types of paraffin can be hard. But for the most part, you want a solid and hard-to-the touch, opaque wax. Generally, paraffin waxes are soft and have an oily, translucent feel, which is what you should avoid.

In addition, people often say fragrances give them headaches when it's actually the petroleum soot emitted from the paraffin.

One 2009 study from South Carolina State University even concluded that inhaling the dangerous pollutants can cause "cancer, common allergies and even asthma." Another study concluded that today's candles contain lead in their wicks, despite the voluntary ban years ago, in order to keep them up straight. Burning candle wicks (and incense) with lead in them has proven to contribute to indoor air concentrations of lead well above EPA recommended thresholds.

Your safest bet is to research the company and check their ingredients. Be mindful still, many ingredients are not disclosed, not proven safe and made of petrochemicals.

Your best candle resume:

100% beeswax with no artificial colors

100% cotton wicks

Fragrance: 100% essential oils

Candles made locally or within your country of residency

Take care of yourselves, 

Abi

The Engagement // Venue Tours

Our first venue tour! 2.23.19

Happy March!

I'm not sure which I'm more confused about: the fact that it's already March or the fact that we only have less than two weeks left to enjoy Daylight Savings!

For this post, I'm going to go off the cancer path and take you into more of my current personal life. Yesterday marked two months since Christopher got down on one knee and asked for a life together forever.

This blog largely serves as a platform to keep my loved ones up-to-date on a more detailed basis as we are all busy in our own ways, so I wanted to share the news for those who I've been meaning to contact.

So, finally, FINALLY, Christopher proposed! Totally kidding, but those who know me know that I have been impatiently waiting for the best day of my life for years now.

For those of you unaware, my fiance (will I ever get used to saying that?) and I have been together for almost seven years now and after what probably felt like years of begging to him, he finally proposed this holiday season between Christmas and New Years - my favorite time of year!

I honestly had no idea this would happen, especially after such a crazy, busy, and emotional month of December. A lot did not go as planned that month on top of traveling home to Wisconsin for a wedding and the holidays for three weeks ... it was something else.

After most of the stress subsided, Christopher visited my parents at the hotel they were staying at in Milwaukee to ask for their permission to marry their daughter! Such a kind gesture that he knew I respected and wanted from the beginning. He then picked me up from where I was staying and I honestly have no idea to this day how he didn't succumb to an overwhelming bout of anxiety while waiting the next few days before he asked me.

The days in between came and went ... Christmas morning he was fortunate enough to open presents with his parents and siblings and it was then that he announced to his family his plans for later in the week.

Friday was the day, and we had lovely plans to go over to our friends' apartment to celebrate our little fam Christmas. We played card games, exchanged gifts - my idea of a perfect winter night in. And when we were taking couples photos by the Christmas tree, he went down on one knee and asked me to be his wife.

I'm pretty sure I asked if this was a joke and was expecting Ashton Kutcher to come out with a camera, but instead I say 'yes' before he could change his mind! I was in shock for a solid week after he proposed and we could've had much cuter photos and video of the moment had I not thought it was a joke, but it's all one great big metaphor of who we are and I wouldn't have gone back and changed it if I could.

Our friends were gracious enough to take pictures and record the moment, to which they followed up with champagne and a celebratory trip to the bar despite the icy roads.

I really couldn't be more excited to marry Christopher as he has been my best friend for the last seven years. We have made it through high school, long distance, two colleges, chemotherapy, and soon to be moving across the country! There's no one else I would've ever wanted to go through all of the chaos with and I can't wait to stand by his side on our big day.

For those curious, we are planning on having our wedding in the fall of 2020, should the stars align and we find a venue with our preferred dates.

Last weekend we traveled down to Atlanta and had our first venue tour at a gorgeous gem in the city. We have a few more tours to go, both in Georgia and Wisconsin, before we make any decisions. Our schedules have been a little crazy lately anyway, as we both finish up our last year of undergrad.

I really want to thank absolutely everyone for the overwhelming support and love throughout our first two months of engagement. I've been dreaming of this period in my life for so long and I'm so happy it is finally here. Let the wedding planning begin!

Take care of yourselves,

Abi