Go slow ... slow burning soy candles (that is!)

Call it what you will... Eco-Chic / Ergo-Chic the market has exploded with the all-natural trend. Going Green isn't just for the birkenstock tree hugging hemp wearing stereotypes anymore. This trend has gone from cleaning products to fashion and to All Natural Soy Candles.

Here are the soy candle scents you'll find around my home:
Office - Bergamot Fresh
Living Room - Orange Honey
Bedroom - Asian Bamboo

I rave about Soylicious Soy Candles not only because I offer them in my store but because I travel to tradeshows looking for the best in spa gear out there so I can bring them into healthy homes like yours and mine... I take this scent business seriously!

I was at a tradeshow a couple of weekends ago in LA and I took some soy candles home to try out. I light the beautiful candles and to my surpirse they're burning very quickly and obviously let off a dark soot rising up to the ceilings, not to mention it reaked of synthetic fragrance. My sensitive nose, knows! Muse too just looks at me and slowly walks away. Seriously, she sneezes when something gets too fragrant for her (and me!). Ah these candles are probably a soy blend (parrafin with petrol + soy wax). So when shopping around, look for 100% soy wax candles; say no to blends or something that simply says "natural". Get specific, it's your health!

The Benefits
- Derived from soybeans, a renewable resource.
- Burn up to 50% longer than paraffin wax candles.
- Cotton wicks are usually used, so no burning of metal-based wicks.
- Smoke less, so won't leave dark marks on your walls.
- Spills can be cleaned up with hot soapy water.

Candle Facts
- Nine out of ten candle users say they use candles to make a room feel comfortable or cozy.

- Candle users say they most frequently burn candles in the living room (42%), followed by the kitchen (18%) and the bedroom (13%).

- Consumers are increasingly purchasing candles as a focal point for their home décor, and for aromatherapy-like relaxation and stress reduction.

- Candle purchasers say they view candles as an appropriate gift for the holidays (76%), as a housewarming gift (74%), a hostess/dinner party gift (66%), a thank-you (61%) and as adult birthday gifts (58%).

Source: National Candle Association 2006

Shop Now for Soy Candles at De-Stress Essentials

Bamboosa

Greetings!

Business is beautiful when we find like-minded people who share our simple vision of trying to do things better. DE is on Bamboosa's Top Sites to Visit. This brings me to a little bamboosa story I wanted to share...

Today someone commented on the "top" I was wearing and I just had to do that inner giggle because I'm a big fashion fake! So I guess this fashion skeleton is coming out of the closet. Most people don't notice that I love wearing "nighty" clothes as everday wear. It's sooooo comfortable that for me it seems better to wear moving around on the streets than wasting good fabric sleeping in bed. So in this area in my life, I'm sloooowly going green. I've now got a couple of vital pieces to get me started on my eco fashion collection. Today I wore my bamboosa sleep slip to do some errands, dressed it up with accessories and voila, a tasteful and comfy low maintenance outfit, that's my little secret.

If you wanna go green visit our friends at Bamboosa, soft protective natural clothing.

Also on my bamboo favorites at DE...
Asian Bamboo Soy Candle

Just arrived.... New Soy Candle Scents.

Happy Monday!

4 new scents just in...
2 sensual scents just in time for Valentine's day.

• Passion

This spicy fragrance is sure to heat up your valentine.
Fiery Red gift box

• Romantic Chypre (Cypress)
  

This French fragrance will shower you with love.
Fiery Red gift box

Other New Scents
Eucalyptus Vapor
Sage & Sandalwood

De-Stress Essentials

Inspire Romance with these new soy candle scents

Greetings de-stress divas/divos!

Just want to let you know of 2 sensual soy candle aromas I'm stocking up on just for the special day coming up.... Valentines.

Because I can't sit still about soylicous candles I'm jumping ahead (only a week though) by accepting pre-orders on these dreamy aromas.

Order online now. Candels ship shortly after they arrive on or around Jan 26; shipping Monday, the 29th... plenty of time to set the mood ;-)
Do not stress, but do plan early.

(i'll have only a limited supply in stock)

• Passion

This spicy fragrance is sure to heat up your valentine.
Fiery Red gift box

• Romantic Chypre

This French fragrance will shower you with love.
Fiery Red gift box

Other Delightful New Scents coming in stock January 25th:
Eucalyptus Vapor
Sage & Sandalwood

De-Stress Essentials

$20 each, giving you or the receiver 50 hours of sensory pleasure.

Any questions, comments just email me!

feeding your soul

It's the final dash to finish the holiday shopping, plan the travels, the get-togethers and everything else we do to try to make each holiday special. For most of us, after all the gifts are wrapped and the errands completed, it's maybe, just maybe we think about ourselves.

Stop now and think about yourself to all busy overachieving women out there! Calendar out some time if you need to you renew your energy and re-charge for the new year ahead.

Here's what you can do to feed your soul:
light a candle, read a spirtual book from an author that resonates with you (email me if you'd like suggestions maria@destressessentials.com), practice some restorative yoga and go deep into meditation.

After this quiet celebration of your spirit, you'll feel renewed and refreshed, the natural way.

Holiday Bash

It's a HOLIDAY BASH going on at De-Stress!
We'll be updatiing our pages frequently so check back for new specials.

Click over to our new Sales and Specials page and our What's New page.

Aromatherapy for the home makes a scentfully delicious gift!
Aromasticks
Soy candles

Body Treats
Olivella made with 100% virgin olive oil, it is the all natural mediterranean diet for our skin!

Buddha Nose Body Treats for a stress-free holiday

A quick shout out that Buddha Nose is now available at De-Stress!

After a long day, doesn't a warm bath set the stage for a peaceful, restorative night's sleep by signaling your body that it's time to rest. We encourage you to enhance your experience by indulging in our spa-inspired find, Buddha Nose Body Treat that will definitely nourish your body and spirit.

After a warm soak, I love to wrap myself in a comfy robe and a cozy foot mule for a truly soothing evening ritual. A soy candle fills my room with a calming scent of lavender to really take me to that blissful space.

Meditation Bath Salts Be still and breathe. Quiet the mind and concentrate on nothing.

Happy soaking!

Holiday Boutique show Dec 3rd mark your calendars

Let the Season Begin!
Mark your social and shopping calendars.

What: Holiday Boutique Show event
When: Sunday December 3rd, 12pm - 4pm
Where: Tone-Up Santa Barbara
36 W Calle Laureles (de la vina and state)
Santa Barbara

Join us for a day in celebration of creativity and shop early for a stress-free holiday, Santa Barbara style - fun, care-free!

This holiday's creative cast will include:
Yachtie-Girl, apparel for the boat and beyond
Bella Notte 2 - lingerie by Jean Babbe
Jan Winn Jewelry Designs
Alex Clothing - vintage bags and clothes
Dorothy Turk scarves
Teal Turk - hand designed T-shirts
Cathy Fletcher Baskets
Thomas Rhodes Jewelry
Alycia Rhodes - hand painted greeting cards
Karen Schoer - knit purses
Little Bumble - baby t's
Cindy & Mark DeAnda - Cookbook/CD sets
(and finally, me) Destress Essentials - soylicious candles, aromasticks, comfort essentials, bath & body

Social consciousness and support of entrepreneurship and creativity is an important value of De-Stress Essentials. A portion of our proceeds and all other fabulous vendors will be donated to The Unity Shoppe in Santa Barbara. On their website, they write: "If we help with "basic needs" we can prevent "homelessness and welfare dependency". No progress is possible without shelter, food and clothing. And we can't agree more.

Portable Spa

I got this great idea of having a portable spa from my sister who travels alot.
Here's what I pack. Everyone's list will vary.

My Top 10 Portable Spa items include:
1) Green Tea soy candle in travel tin
2) Relaxing music
3) Eye Pillow
4) Yoga Mat
5) My favorite piece of fabric to lay items on
6) Small Buddha statue
7) Photo of muse, my dog sabrina
8) Spiritual uplifting book
9) Stones with personal meaning
10) Journal

The idea is to Establish Your Inner Altar wherever you are to balance work, family, and a home practice. Try carrying just a few essential altar items with you and see how you feel. Adjust as necessary. Be flexible with yourself on how you carry your inner altar. While travelling you might want to pack all items, while some days commuting to work you bring with you a few items - CD and your own thoughts in silence even. You could even create a visual presence on your desk at work to remind you to take a few minutes for an Om break each day. You might also want to carry a few of your favorite things while hiking too... the idea is to take your personal practice with you wherever you go. You get the idea.

New Arrivals! Spa Soy Candles Summer Scents

Spa exclusives to bring into your home...

Try luxurious Spa Soy Candles in your home. Elegantly packaged to give as a gift too!

New Scents for the summer:

14 oz. candle in organza packaging: NEW Cucumber Melon and Crisp Cucumber

7.5 oz spa candle: NEW Aqua Fruits and Romantic Chypre, perfect for that new summer romance

I want to start shopping for Spa Soy candles now!

Soy candles ... the healthy living candle

In honor of this past Earth Day, I'm talking SOY CANDLES.

But WHY soy candles?

Here are the facts...

Almost ALL candles around the world are made from paraffin wax. Paraffin is the left over residue from gasoline refining -yet Paraffin aromatherapy candles are presented to consumers as a health enhancing product!

The Dangers of Paraffin Wax Candles.

• Has been documented to contain 11 harmful carcinogens, 2 of which are toxic.
• Produces problematic petrol soot emissions - has been considered as harmful
as second hand tobacco smoke.
• Paraffin candles are not biodegradable or water-soluble
• Burns hotter and faster than soy wax candles
• May potentially harm your health, pollutes your indoor air quality and our environment
• Many still contain lead wicks - CAUTION

Soy is clearly a better choice because...

• Soy wax candles are 100% natural.
• They are made from soy bean products.
• They are a healthy alternative to petroleum based products.
• They are clean burning and no petrol soot to black walls.
• They are environmentally safe and biodegradable.
• They are non-toxic and safe for children and pets.
• They are hand crafted and made from 100% Soybean based wax.
• The wicks are all natural cotton
• They contain the highest quality essential oils

The great thing is they come in different aromatherapy scents and the soy candles burn cooler and longer than mainstream paraffin candles.

I have always enjoyed the ambience, warm environment and the scent throughout the house from paraffin candles. I didn't know any better. But after learning about the hazards of the most popular paraffin (petroleum based) wax, I am now seeking the healthier choice, the soy candle. They smell delicious and look so elegant that I can rest easy that my lungs will be healthier. It's a better world with soy!

Soylicious Soy Candles

Be well.
Maria
www.destressessentials.com