Islander makes bee-autiful formula for natural candles

Published 12:29 pm Friday, May 15, 2015

Upon walking into Lucille Fox’s home, the comforting smell of warmed honey permeates the air.

That’s because Fox is busy as a bee, working in her kitchen and test-burning her natural all-beeswax candles for her business, Bainbridge Beeswax Works.

All of her candles are formed from wax straight from the hive.

“The gifts from the hive aren’t foreign,” said Fox, whose father was a beekeeper.

Each week, she produces a few hundred candles to sell online, at farmers markets and in shops around town. For her, 120 pounds of wax from a local Tacoma beekeeper lasts six weeks before she needs to buy a new batch. With it, she handcrafts candles, lip balms, hand salves and more.

“I think ‘Game of Thrones’ really helped my business,” she said, noting that the popular television series often showcases heaps of burning beeswax candles.

Last April, the urge to pursue a business came after Fox had a beekeeper visit the shop she worked at in Lynwood.

Jokingly, the customer said she was “escaping her bees” and it dawned on Fox that perhaps divine intervention was calling her to really consider creating a beeswax candle business.

Prior to the visit from the beekeeper, Fox had been toying with a possible business plan to create natural beeswax candles. Customers visiting the shop she

worked in consistently schooled her on the evils of petroleum-based candles the store sold.

A 2001 study by the Environmental Protection Agency proved burning candles with lead core wicks can cause indoor air concentrations of lead above the EPA-recommended thresholds. The study also showed that scented candles are more likely to produce soot than unscented ones. Several other studies within the 2001 study concluded there are links between “exposure to incense smoke and health effects, including cancers and contact dermatitis. A few studies indicated possible mutagenic and genotoxic effects.”

Fox had no idea that the paraffin candles derived from petroleum could cause such health issues for people, she said. Customers told her of relatives who had health problems due to burning candles, including headaches and nausea. Candles lovers told her about the black soot that accumulated in their homes due to the scented candles.

“It’s like having a diesel truck burning in your living room,” Fox said of the petroleum-based candles. “Maybe we’ll change the world one candle at a time.”

Beeswax, it turns out, doesn’t emit gases but emanates a honey-flavor scent without polluting the air.

In fact, it cleans the air. Smokers are some of Fox’s best customers. They tell her the candles make the smokey smell dissipate.

After doing some research, it dawned on her that candle lovers wanted a cleaner alternative.

“It’s just cotton and beeswax — you couldn’t get a cleaner candle,” she said. “People feel very strongly about their candles.”

Allison Sprott happens to be one of those people. She is so sensitive to chemicals in certain scented products that she won’t use them in her home, including air fresheners and candles.

When Fox introduced her to the concept of beeswax candles, Sprott fell in love.

“It was so simple. It was so elegant and so easy and yet so easily overlooked,” Sprott said. “She’s doing it from a place of health.”

Sprott in particular loves the taper candles and dots her tables with Bainbridge Beeswax Works candles during the holidays because it doesn’t cause health issues for her or her guests.

“I love her tapers. They’re my favorite because they’re classic,” she said. “And, they smell great.”

For those who love what Fox does, there’s even more sweet-as-honey news.

Within 18 months, Fox hopes to have a brick-and-mortar store, preferably in downtown Winslow. She already has visions of how her shelves will look and what classes she will teach.

For her family, that time can’t come soon enough since two days a week her candle production takes over the entire kitchen. Those nights, they eat sandwiches or eat out, Fox said.

“I’m sure my family wants the house back,” she said with a laugh.

For her, a storefront would mean she is able to leave her work at the end of the day. It would also mean she can share her love of a natural, healthy product that she considers beautiful both inside and out.

“I never know when to stop working — I work seven days a week,” she admitted. “It doesn’t feel like work. I never have that feeling. I’m absolutely loving it.”