Amy’s Trusted Products is a blog series created to help others find safer products. This series also will show companies what Hidden Consumers are looking for before they purchase.
What makes list as an “Amy’s Trusted Products”? First, Amy has to be able to use the product. Second, the business owner has created a product with purpose. They understand the standards in their industry are lower than they would want to make or use themselves. They go the extra mile to ensure quality.
Why Amy Trusts Ember & Alder
Kim goes goes above and beyond to understand how each ingredient is made before using it in her products.
First Meeting
Amy and her husband have a wine club memberhip at Marshal Stuart at Vail Headquarters in Temecula, CA. On their way to visit Marshal, Amy happened to notice a candle shop. She stopped outside to breathe in the fragrance. She did not get sick. They decided to walk inside and look around. This is a test to see how long Amy can tolerate the scents.
It turned out, Amy was able to tolerate the scents for almost 45 minutes. In that time, she met Kim and Kim’s husband. The converstaion that followed led to Amy being overly impressed with Kim’s attention to detail, her ability to read data sheets for each ingredient used in the candles and diffusers, and in college she signed up for Organic Chemistry, for fun.
Amy ended up buying 6 candles that day. And has since gone back for refills No diffusers because ethanol, a corn baed alchool, is used. But Kim did say she was experimenting with different alchools for her diffusers.
Interview with Kim
Kim’s journey to candle making started by working for someone else. She had gone to college to be a civil engineer but instead became an apprentice at a candle-making shop. The gentleman she worked for taught her the basics of candle making but he was not as selective about his ingredients. The exception is he did want to use Vegan and Cruelty-Free ingredients.
Kim noticed she was getting sick making the candles. She eventually began wondering if a candle could be made with even cleaner ingredients. She and her former boss still talk and get along. He gave her his blessing to do her own thing and find her own path in the world of canlde-making.
As Kim studied and learned more she applied more chemistry principles to her process to create a higher quality and cleaner burining candles. One example is the temperature of the wax when making candles. If you combine the fragrance at too low of a temperature,the fragrance doesn’t have an opportunity to properly suspend and combine with the wax. Untimately, reducing the quaity of the candle.
Other important aspects of her process is reading the Safety Data Sheets for Each and Every ingredient. She pays particular attention to Prop 65 warnings because there is no testing for fragrances within Prop 65. This is an important aspect because she operates under a strict definition of “clean”.
There are no legal requirements to use the word “clean” in your marketing. So it is up to each company to decided how to use the term. As a consumer you need to ask each company how they define “clean”. If they say because I was told it was…maybe not buy that product.
In Kim’s case, the definition is clear. It needs to be non-toxic, non-carcinagenic, parabin-free, and Prop 65 compliant. The complication to this process is fragrances are constantly discontinue or ingredients change. This means before ordering she needs to review the Safety Data Sheets, each time. Quality and safety are her top concerns. She does not want to create a candle that does not meet her strict standards.
The Reason for Strict Standards
Her own experience and struggle with finding ingredients that were safe for her use made her think others may have this issue too. This is why when she is picking frangrances, reading the Safety Data Sheets, she keeps others and what allergies they may have in mind.
We can never accommodate everyone, but we can be aware to include as many people as possible. One key ingredient used in almost all candles is rose and rose oil. The reality is most people or at least a large number of people, have an allergy or sensitivity to it. So, Kim has eliminted these ingredients from her list of useable ingredients. This allows her to limit allergy exposure from her candles as much as possible.
She is always willing to talk about ingredients used to ensure people with sensitivities can determine if her products are safe for them.
The Big Difference
Other candle companies may use the same ingredients as those at Ember & Alder. The difference is in the quality control process and Kim’s backaground. Her attention to detail in her research, education, quality controls, and methods mean from a chemical standpoint, she goes above and beyond the homebased candlemaker who is just trying to push out volume over quality.
Her background has shown her how each oil used is different and needs to be handled differnly. If you treated each oil the same you would reduce the quality of the final product. She knows when you stay true to your values, the people who want or need your product will find you. Amy found her and she now has candles in her home for the first time in over a decade.
The Final Product
Kim started her candle business on the wholesaler side. She has maxed out the number of wholesale accounts she can handle currenly. But this side of the business gave her the ability to determine the final look she wanted for her products. Today, when you walk into Ember & Alder it is a clean, sophisticated atmosphere. Her candles work well any decor becasue they don’t demand attention. When they are in your home you can smell them, but not always determine exactly where they are on display. Unless there is a flame.
If you want to order an Ember & Alder candle or two, or talk to Kim about your sensitivities to determine if her candles will be safe for you, here’s the information:
- Email: hello@emberandalder.com
- Address: 32127 Temecula Parkway, Temecula CA, 92592
- Follow on Instagram: instagram.com/emberandalder/
Next Steps
Curious about working with Amy? Visit HiddenConsumersConuslting.com to learn more.