Off the Beaten Path is a leader in supplying soy wax candles for ritual purposes. We work very closely with a small local manufacturer so we can be assured of high quality standards. Every candle is poured by hand.
Why soy? Soy wax is a natural wax made from soy beans. Soy candles are earth friendly – no paraffin, no petrochemicals, just all natural vegetable wax. It burns cleaner than paraffin wax with little to no soot, and is biodegradable. Soy wax by itself is longer burning; the blend we use is equal to or better than paraffin in burn time.
What’s this about a blend? Soy wax is sometimes blended with other natural waxes, most notably palm or cottonseed, to enhance scent retention and scent throw, to allow depth of color, and to prevent mottling. What exactly does that mean? Scent retention is how long a candle holds its scent; scent throw is how far into the room and how well the scent fills the area while the candle is burning. Depth of color allows for true colors like black instead of dark gray. Mottling is a splotchy whitish “snowflake” effect on the surface of the candle. Soy wax by itself does not take color or scent well and is very prone to mottling so blending other natural waxes with it provides a product that not only rivals paraffin, but exceeds it!
We also carry natural palm wax tea lights.
