Why Choose Bella-Mia Naturals?

Have you ever bought a candle that smelled great in the jar, but when burning it was a huge disappointment? You literally have to hover over the candle it to try to smell it and end up burning your nose. I think we all have had that frustrating experience many times. Too many times!

The Scented Candle Dilemma

When we first set out to make a healthier scented candle for ourselves we had no idea of the adventure we were about to partake.

At that time soy wax had recently been invented and almost no soy candles were on the market. Most fragrance manufacturers were making fragrances specifically for paraffin wax, which is a byproduct of petroleum oil when refining gasoline. This created a significant problem because soy wax has a very different chemical composition.

Our first dilemma was that most of the fragrances on the market were made from one hundred percent synthetics, which we wanted to avoid. We wanted to use pure essential oils, floral essences and/or natural extracts. Unfortunately most of these ingredients were either unstable at such high temperature, did not burn properly or had a very poor scent-throw.

Our second dilemma, for people who want to enjoy a great fragrance but are also health conscience, is that soy wax burns about 20° cooler than paraffin wax. Because soy wax burns cooler it has a more difficult time forcing the fragrance into the air (scent-throw) and this is one reason most soy candles on the market are not using 100% soy.

Most soy candle companies will use a blend of paraffin and soy; then they can legally call it a “Soy Candle.” This blend enables the wax to burn at a higher temperature and enhances the scent-throw compared to 100% soy wax. However, for health and environmental reasons we did not want to use any paraffin/petroleum wax.

Our final dilemma was that all waxes have a maximum capacity to absorb or hold fragrance (scent load capacity). If you attempt to add more fragrance than what a wax can hold it will either separate from the wax or the candle will not burn properly. Most candle manufacturers use only the standard scent load capacity, creating average-scented candles.

Thinking Different

In our frustration, we began thinking "outside the box" from the standard way of making candles. We knew we had to figure out a way to get our scented soy candles to absorb more fragrance than the best scented candles on the market. We needed to exceed the industry’s standard "scent load capacity." We then had to make sure our fragrance was equally distributed throughout our candles and accomplish all of this while making our fragrances healthier.

We transformed a large portion of our home into a mini candle/science laboratory and began our journey. What follows is the results of a husband-and-wife team, with a passion for healthy living, seeking a solution to this scented candle dilemma.

Innovative Fragrance Technology & Our Special Pouring Process

Bella-Mia Naturals Pouring Process combined with our Innovative Fragrance Technology enables us to get our wax to absorb a substantially greater amount of fragrance. We use about 50% more fragrance than any candle we know on the market! We cannot give you all the details of our pouring process, but here is an overview.

Most candle manufacturers will add fragrance when the wax is way to hot. This will cause the fragrance to start evaporating during the manufacturing process. However, if you add fragrance when the wax is to cold it will be unable to bond to the wax and will either separate or burn improperly.

We have perfected the exact temperature for each fragrance to be added based on its evaporation temperatures and plenty of testing. It is also important to note that every fragrance we develop has a specific target range for liquid density, flashpoint, specific gravity and vapor density, all of which play a role in the quality of the finished candle.

Our next objective is to cool the wax as rapidly as possible while keeping the fragrance evenly mixed throughout the wax. By cooling our wax more rapidly we allow very little fragrance evaporation during the manufacturing process.

When the soy wax has cooled to the point of almost solidifying, we will pour the candles. Specifically hand pouring each and every candle because it is impossible to achieve the same consistency and thickness at such low temperatures while using automated machinery.

It is important that you understand, most candles are made using automated machinery, requiring the temperature to be much hotter. Why is this a problem? Pouring at such high temperatures causes a great deal of fragrance to evaporate out of the candles. Also a large percentage of fragrance rises to the top of the candles leaving little scent at the bottom. We would love to use automated machinery, it would be much quicker. But we don't. It's our Special Pouring Process that has enabled us to produce healthy candles that have more fragrance from top to bottom!

The result is that Bella-Mia Naturals Soy Candles are so strong and so realistic you will think you have the real thing right in front of you! Whether it's a fresh baked pumpkin pie or a ripe juicy watermelon, you'll swear that they were is sitting right in front of you!