Three things about me:
- I am allergic to most commercial candles.
- I am newly into taking baths.
- I have very dry skin come winter.
How are these random facts related? They all pertain to my recent experience making candles, bath bombs, & lip balm at the Cleveland Candle Company's new location in Ohio City. They invited a group of bloggers to come in on a Thursday night to get the lay of the land, shop their new store, & make a few goodies to take home with us (& to encourage us to return, of course!
1. I'm allergic to most commercial candles... but I'm not to the candles from the CLE Candle Co.
Most candles are made with, well, lots of chemical crap, & they make me sneeze much worse than is worthwhile. I've owned a few candles from the CLE Candle Co. in the past... & not a one of them has made my eyes water or my nose tickle.
The CLE Candle Co. makes its candles the simple, natural way: with a soy wax blend & phthalate-free fragrance oils, period. They're also committed to sustainability & buying local: 90% of their oils come from Ohio, they use U.S. soy beans, & all of their glass is U.S.-made.
They have about 200 scents on display, all divided up into categories like food scents, plant & flower scents, specialty scents, & seasonal scents, which makes it easy to hone in on the kind of scents that you like best. I'm partial to food & seasonal scents - no flowers for me please (achoo) - & I knew I wanted to create a fall-scented candle of some sort.
The staff asks you to write down a few of the scents you like best, then they help you identify which of those might smell good together (including suggesting additional scents, if necessary). I chose a blend of Hot Cinnamon, Whiskey Bar, & Coffee Cake & Spice, adding more of the third scent to keep the candle sweet (& not smelling like shots of Fireball).
Final verdict? My candle smells like the epitome of autumn! I am verrrry embarrassed to admit, though, that I spelled the word "autumn" wrong on my candle label. I guess I was so focused on getting all the letters to fit onto the label that I just, uh, left one of them entirely. Oops.
2. I'm newly into taking baths, & now I have two new bath bombs to soak in after a cycling class.
I've always thoughts baths a little gross - like making human tea of yourself, steeping in your own dirt. When I started riding, though, there were times when I felt I didn't have any choice but to draw a bath to try to soothe sore muscles. I started buying bath bombs, Epsom salts, & other bath items to try to try to make my body feel better.
While we waited for our candles to harden, Tanya, one of the co-owners of CLE Candle Co., took us to a table in the back of the shop, where we made our own bath bombs.
I picked a scent called Black Tie that I thought smelled like... sexy man, I don't know - the way you imagine Justin Timberlake or Idris Elba might smell, like a light cologne. When I asked Tanya what scents were actually in Black Tie, she told me, "I've always thought it smelled like Dial soap." So now I can't un-think that one! (Still happy to bathe in it, though.)
We made two bath bombs apiece, each of the same scent - but I made a deal with Julia of Beard & the Broad to swap so that we got to take home some different scents.
We made two bath bombs apiece, each of the same scent - but I made a deal with Julia of Beard & the Broad to swap so that we got to take home some different scents.
3. I have very dry skin come winter, so I stock up on very serious lip balms at the start of the season.
Forget all those adorable, sweet-smelling lip glosses; I need the serious stuff. A few years ago, my lips were so dry that they started cracking, peeling, & bleeding, no matter what I did or put on them. OW! Now, I'm starting off the fall/winter with five lip balms from the CLE Candle Co., all handmade & containing shea butter & soothing carrier oils - and they smell great.
When the bath bombs were done, we began making our lip balms - again, with lots of choices to make. I decided on shea butter, grapeseed oil, blood orange fragrance oil, & vanilla extract. I chose grapeseed because it's supposed to be great for moisturizing & anti-aging. Yes, please! Other bloggers chose avocado oil, sweet almond oil, & a variety of other options - all with medical benefits.
We chose our ingredients, melted our beeswax, & hand-poured our mixtures into little plastic containers. Let's be honest: I sucked at this part. I had to re-melt my mixture, I knocked over my containers, & I poured most of them unevenly. Still, it's pretty hard to mess up this process, overall. All my lip balms turned out fine!
Because we'd each made five in the same flavor/type, we again did some switcheroos so to get a bit of variety. We also created our own labels, getting as creative as we wanted, so we could tell which was which. I accidentally copied Jen of Why CLE?, naming my concoction "Orange You Glad." Hey, great minds think alike!
It was such a fun event, spending a few hours with fellow Cleveland bloggers & getting to know an independent local brand. The CLE Candle Co. was so generous with their time & products! Their candles burn forrrrrever, but next time I'm in the market for a candle (which, let's be honest, is all fall & winter long), I'll be hitting them up to try out more of their scents.
If you're curious to know who else joined in on the fun, check out the blogs of the other lovely ladies who attended this event:
- Canning of Channing Couture
- Jaclyn of Coffee, Pancakes, & Dreams
- Jen of Why CLE?
- Julia of Beard & the Broad
- Leah of By Travel & Error
- Lindy of A Linderella Story
- Lisa of Edible Cleveland
- Taylor of Cozy in CLE
Shop the CLE Candle Co. in any of their three locations (Mentor, Coventry, & Ohio City) or, if you're not local, check 'em out online. I promise you'll fall in love with their products!
Disclosure: I was provided free product in exchange for my honest review. All opinions & candle-love are my own. Thanks, CLE Candle Co.!
What a fun event! Love it.
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