PRODUCT
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To prevent fire or serious injury we encourage you to use our candles safely and responsibly and follow these common sense usage guidelines:
- Never leave a burning candle unattended
- Never burn your candle in the reach of children or pets
- Never burn your candle on or near anything that can catch fire such as but not limited to drapes, curtains, papers, books, bedding, blankets, decorations etc.
- Never burn your candle in the way of a draft, open window, fan etc
- Never burn your candle for longer than 4 hours at a time
- Never try to pick up candle that is burning or has recently been put out. Only move a candle once it has cooled
Remember to:
- Always trim the wick to 1/8 inch before use to prevent flaring or an overly large flame. You can simply pinch off the black part of the wick.
- Always give your candle a nice clear, heat proof, uncluttered area to sit on
- Always extinguish the flame if it becomes to high or is repeatedly flickering. Trim the wick, check for drafts
- Always leave at least 4 inches between burning candles
- Always place your candle on a stable, heat proof surface
- Always keep your wax pool clear of matches, burned wick and other debris
- Always be sure to extinguish your candle properly and carefully after use
- Always wait until the flame is completely extinguished & the smoke has cleared before leaving your candle.
WARNING!
- Container may become hot during use
- Stop burning this candle when only 1/2 inch of wax remains in the vessel
- Blow gently to extinguish to avoid splattering wax, especially if you have created a large wax pool. Even better, use a candle snuffer to minimize soot & smoke.
-
We all know the magic of music, right? That mood-bending, nostalgia-inducing, experience-enhancing kind of magic? Well our mission is to turn *that* into fragrances that do the same thing.
A lot of fragrance makers have a playlist that goes nicely with their fragrance, well our fragrances BEGIN with a playlist.
Everything you smell at Seldom Out starts with a song.
We then draw inspiration from our real life recollections and the way we use music in our home and rituals, and the many emotions that it evokes, and translate that into the medium of fragrance.
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The quick and short answer here is: no, they are not "all natural".
The longer answer is also "no", but with some all important nuance.
See, natural is very loose and easily manipulated term within the candle industry. Technically a company selling paraffin candles with 100% essential oils could call their candles all-natural because paraffin is derived from a natural resource, but it's probably not what you were hoping for, right?
Each one of our scented candles utilizes fragrances that contain both essential oils and synthetic fragrance, this we assume would rule them out of any "all-natural" category.
However, them not being all-natural does not mean that they are less safe for you to use.
“All-natural” by fragrance standards does not necessarily equal safe for use and “synthetic” is often unfairly misconstrued to mean “bad.”
Each fragrance blend adheres to the strict regulations and Code of Practice as outlined by IFRA/RIFM.
In addition we go above and beyond this and only use fragrances that are free from phthalates and other nasties.
Fragrance oil makes up 8%-10% of our candles and our candles are made with 100% plant-derived wax. This means that in most cases over 90% of the content of our candles is natural and plant-derived.
-
We love essential oils and their natural qualities and many of our fragrance oil blends are enriched with essential oils - but our reason for using synthetic fragrances are numerous! Let us count the ways!
SAFETY - There's a lot of misinformation around fragrance oils. “All-natural” by fragrance standards does not always equal safe for use and “synthetic” is often unfairly misconstrued to mean “bad.”
At Seldom Out we follow the science, and according to the science there are *both* synthetic and natural materials that can be safely be used in fragrance, and this is what we use.
We didn't just settle on any fragrance oils, however. The fragrance oils we source are free of phthalates and other nasties, they are cruelty free and vegan and adhere to the strict safety standards of the RIFM and IFRA.
PERFORMANCE - Natural oils are not specifically formulated for use in candles, while it's safe to use *some* naturals oils in candles their performance is going to be limited. Essential Oils are great for those lovely top notes on your candles, but they are unlikely to create a hot throw that's going to fill your room. The scent also wanes after a few burns.
PRICE - Natural oils are *spendy* and in the quantities that we need to use them we would need to price our candles quite high.
0.5oz of high quality Sandalwood essential oil, not even enough to make one candle can cost close to $100 to purchase, even more!
We would prefer to allow more people the opportunity to try safe, well made candles from a small business, rather than the mass produced that is more often available at lower price points.
CREATIVITY - Synthetic oils allow us to tell the stories we want to tell. Using a blend of synthetic and natural fragrance oils allows us to create and replicate more complex scents. If we can dream it, we can make it!
SUSTAINABILITY - It can take hundreds of pounds of natural materials to produce just 1lb of essential oil.
With some woody-type oils it can involve chopping down the entire tree.
Given the sheer amount that is needed, our concerns with the growing popularity of "natural oils" is that frequent or over consumption could lead to the destruction of some habitats.
-
Our wooden wicks are sourced and manufactured here in the USA from FSC certified mills.
-
We use a 100% plant-based blend of domestically grown US soys beans and sustainably sourced coconuts for our wax.
It is completely free from paraffin and palm wax and other non-soy based wax modifiers.
In candle making the addition of paraffin and palm is commonly used to stabilize the wax and without this the wax can reset with a slightly textured top.
The good news is that other than not looking brand new, there is absolutely no negative impact on the performance of your candle, and we think it's small price to pay to avoid adding paraffin and palm to our candles. We hope you agree!
-
Scent can be incredibly subjective; for example, did you know that a large portion of the population are anosmic when it comes to musk?
Some people find just a little fragrance overwhelming and headache inducing while others like nothing more than to walk straight into a wall of fragrance.
Then there is the environment you're burning them in, room size, temperature, altitude, air flow. These are all things that impact the hot throw of a candle.
With that being said our candles are purposely designed to live somewhere in the middle. We want to enhance and compliment your living spaces without overpowering them or giving people a headache.
To help you decide you'll find a bar chart on each product page with a ranking between gentle and bold. This is calculated based off an average that our product testers give us.
Feel like we went too strong or too weak? We love hearing your feedback, reach out to us at hello@seldomout.com.
-
We are huge pet lovers here at Seldom Out so we thank you for being responsible pet owners and asking this question.
Firstly we do not test our products on animals, so this answer is unlikely to be a definitive one.
Studies have shown that inhaling fragrances from candles that are safe for humans are also generally safe for animals, *but* there's a lot of nuance to consider.
The fragrances we use in our candles are heavily regulated by the strict guidelines laid out by IFRA. However these guidelines mostly relate to safety around human exposure and as a consequence, the assessment of safety concerning animals is unknown and any evidence is likely to be anecdotal.
Each of our candles is fragranced at different levels for optimal performance and contain a vast and complex assortment of fragrance notes, it is difficult to tell how an individual pet will react to any specific ingredients, even in the lowest amounts
In addition, certain fragrance accords are legally protected as 'proprietary information' and as such we would not be able to tell you definitively if a fragrance contained a certain ingredient, even if you knew which ones your pet was sensitive too.
The vast majority of our fragrance oils have small percentages of essential oils in them. As pet owners we know that essential oils can be toxic to some animal breeds even in the smallest amounts and smaller animals, can be incredibly sensitive to their environment.
If you have any questions on concerns about using products by Seldom Out around your best friends we would advise that you consult your veterinarian before using them in your home.
In addition, please ensure that you always use our candles only as directed on our warning labels, and always keep out of the reach of curious pets.
-
Wood wicks are not that different from their cotton cousins! No matter the wick material, all wicks perform better when they are trimmed.
Be sure to trim your wick before lighting each time; we like the "pinch and snip", just pinch the charred wood, then snip the charred point.
We find it easier to light wood wicks with an electric lighter or a long lighter / match - they can take a second to catch light.
The flame should be around 0.5" to 1" tall after about 5 minutes. If your flame is taller than this, it's because your wick was not trimmed enough. Extinguish, allow to cool, trim & relight.
Did you trim too much? No fear! It happens, we can help. Get in touch!
Please note, due to the all-natural nature of wood wicks, not every burn will look the same. Each wick is as unique as the tree it came from!
-
No! Our scented candles are never tested on animals, and are made with ingredients that are cruelty free too.
Our taper candles are also not tested on animals, but they do contain beeswax (which was source from beekeepers in Illinois), so are not suitable for our vegan customers - sorry!
-
For a long time our scented candles were 100% vegan friendly, but right now they are not.
With exception of the sticker that we use to secure the wick to the jar, all of our other ingredients are vegan friendly, but the wick stickers contains a tiny amount of beeswax, and we're working hard to find a replacement for what we once had.
Our taper candles use beeswax & are therefore not vegan friendly.
-
To prevent fire or serious injury we encourage you to use our candles safely and responsibly and follow these common sense usage guidelines:
- Never leave a burning candle unattended
- Never burn your candle in the reach of children or pets
- Never burn your candle on or near anything that can catch fire such as but not limited to drapes, curtains, papers, books, bedding, blankets, decorations etc.
- Never burn your candle in the way of a draft, open window, fan etc
- Never burn your candle for longer than 4 hours at a time
- Never try to pick up candle that is burning or has recently been put out. Only move a candle once it has cooled
Remember to:
- Always trim the wick to 1/8 inch before use to prevent flaring or an overly large flame. You can simply pinch off the black part of the wick.
- Always give your candle a nice clear, heat proof, uncluttered area to sit on
- Always extinguish the flame if it becomes to high or is repeatedly flickering. Trim the wick, check for drafts
- Always leave at least 4 inches between burning candles
- Always place your candle on a stable, heat proof surface
- Always keep your wax pool clear of matches, burned wick and other debris
- Always be sure to extinguish your candle properly and carefully after use
- Always wait until the flame is completely extinguished & the smoke has cleared before leaving your candle.
WARNING!
- Container may become hot during use
- Stop burning this candle when only 1/2 inch of wax remains in the vessel
- Blow gently to extinguish to avoid splattering wax, especially if you have created a large wax pool. Even better, use a candle snuffer to minimize soot & smoke.
-
The quick and short answer here is: no, they are not "all natural".
The longer answer is also "no", but with some all important nuance.
See, natural is very loose and easily manipulated term within the candle industry. Technically a company selling paraffin candles with 100% essential oils could call their candles all-natural because paraffin is derived from a natural resource, but it's probably not what you were hoping for, right?
Each one of our scented candles utilizes fragrances that contain both essential oils and synthetic fragrance, this we assume would rule them out of any "all-natural" category.
However, them not being all-natural does not mean that they are less safe for you to use.
“All-natural” by fragrance standards does not necessarily equal safe for use and “synthetic” is often unfairly misconstrued to mean “bad.”
Each fragrance blend adheres to the strict regulations and Code of Practice as outlined by IFRA/RIFM.
In addition we go above and beyond this and only use fragrances that are free from phthalates and other nasties.
Fragrance oil makes up 8%-10% of our candles and our candles are made with 100% plant-derived wax. This means that in most cases over 90% of the content of our candles is natural and plant-derived.
-
Our wooden wicks are sourced and manufactured here in the USA from FSC certified mills.
-
Scent can be incredibly subjective; for example, did you know that a large portion of the population are anosmic when it comes to musk?
Some people find just a little fragrance overwhelming and headache inducing while others like nothing more than to walk straight into a wall of fragrance.
Then there is the environment you're burning them in, room size, temperature, altitude, air flow. These are all things that impact the hot throw of a candle.
With that being said our candles are purposely designed to live somewhere in the middle. We want to enhance and compliment your living spaces without overpowering them or giving people a headache.
To help you decide you'll find a bar chart on each product page with a ranking between gentle and bold. This is calculated based off an average that our product testers give us.
Feel like we went too strong or too weak? We love hearing your feedback, reach out to us at hello@seldomout.com.
-
Wood wicks are not that different from their cotton cousins! No matter the wick material, all wicks perform better when they are trimmed.
Be sure to trim your wick before lighting each time; we like the "pinch and snip", just pinch the charred wood, then snip the charred point.
We find it easier to light wood wicks with an electric lighter or a long lighter / match - they can take a second to catch light.
The flame should be around 0.5" to 1" tall after about 5 minutes. If your flame is taller than this, it's because your wick was not trimmed enough. Extinguish, allow to cool, trim & relight.
Did you trim too much? No fear! It happens, we can help. Get in touch!
Please note, due to the all-natural nature of wood wicks, not every burn will look the same. Each wick is as unique as the tree it came from!
-
For a long time our scented candles were 100% vegan friendly, but right now they are not.
With exception of the sticker that we use to secure the wick to the jar, all of our other ingredients are vegan friendly, but the wick stickers contains a tiny amount of beeswax, and we're working hard to find a replacement for what we once had.
Our taper candles use beeswax & are therefore not vegan friendly.
-
We all know the magic of music, right? That mood-bending, nostalgia-inducing, experience-enhancing kind of magic? Well our mission is to turn *that* into fragrances that do the same thing.
A lot of fragrance makers have a playlist that goes nicely with their fragrance, well our fragrances BEGIN with a playlist.
Everything you smell at Seldom Out starts with a song.
We then draw inspiration from our real life recollections and the way we use music in our home and rituals, and the many emotions that it evokes, and translate that into the medium of fragrance.
-
We love essential oils and their natural qualities and many of our fragrance oil blends are enriched with essential oils - but our reason for using synthetic fragrances are numerous! Let us count the ways!
SAFETY - There's a lot of misinformation around fragrance oils. “All-natural” by fragrance standards does not always equal safe for use and “synthetic” is often unfairly misconstrued to mean “bad.”
At Seldom Out we follow the science, and according to the science there are *both* synthetic and natural materials that can be safely be used in fragrance, and this is what we use.
We didn't just settle on any fragrance oils, however. The fragrance oils we source are free of phthalates and other nasties, they are cruelty free and vegan and adhere to the strict safety standards of the RIFM and IFRA.
PERFORMANCE - Natural oils are not specifically formulated for use in candles, while it's safe to use *some* naturals oils in candles their performance is going to be limited. Essential Oils are great for those lovely top notes on your candles, but they are unlikely to create a hot throw that's going to fill your room. The scent also wanes after a few burns.
PRICE - Natural oils are *spendy* and in the quantities that we need to use them we would need to price our candles quite high.
0.5oz of high quality Sandalwood essential oil, not even enough to make one candle can cost close to $100 to purchase, even more!
We would prefer to allow more people the opportunity to try safe, well made candles from a small business, rather than the mass produced that is more often available at lower price points.
CREATIVITY - Synthetic oils allow us to tell the stories we want to tell. Using a blend of synthetic and natural fragrance oils allows us to create and replicate more complex scents. If we can dream it, we can make it!
SUSTAINABILITY - It can take hundreds of pounds of natural materials to produce just 1lb of essential oil.
With some woody-type oils it can involve chopping down the entire tree.
Given the sheer amount that is needed, our concerns with the growing popularity of "natural oils" is that frequent or over consumption could lead to the destruction of some habitats.
-
We use a 100% plant-based blend of domestically grown US soys beans and sustainably sourced coconuts for our wax.
It is completely free from paraffin and palm wax and other non-soy based wax modifiers.
In candle making the addition of paraffin and palm is commonly used to stabilize the wax and without this the wax can reset with a slightly textured top.
The good news is that other than not looking brand new, there is absolutely no negative impact on the performance of your candle, and we think it's small price to pay to avoid adding paraffin and palm to our candles. We hope you agree!
-
We are huge pet lovers here at Seldom Out so we thank you for being responsible pet owners and asking this question.
Firstly we do not test our products on animals, so this answer is unlikely to be a definitive one.
Studies have shown that inhaling fragrances from candles that are safe for humans are also generally safe for animals, *but* there's a lot of nuance to consider.
The fragrances we use in our candles are heavily regulated by the strict guidelines laid out by IFRA. However these guidelines mostly relate to safety around human exposure and as a consequence, the assessment of safety concerning animals is unknown and any evidence is likely to be anecdotal.
Each of our candles is fragranced at different levels for optimal performance and contain a vast and complex assortment of fragrance notes, it is difficult to tell how an individual pet will react to any specific ingredients, even in the lowest amounts
In addition, certain fragrance accords are legally protected as 'proprietary information' and as such we would not be able to tell you definitively if a fragrance contained a certain ingredient, even if you knew which ones your pet was sensitive too.
The vast majority of our fragrance oils have small percentages of essential oils in them. As pet owners we know that essential oils can be toxic to some animal breeds even in the smallest amounts and smaller animals, can be incredibly sensitive to their environment.
If you have any questions on concerns about using products by Seldom Out around your best friends we would advise that you consult your veterinarian before using them in your home.
In addition, please ensure that you always use our candles only as directed on our warning labels, and always keep out of the reach of curious pets.
-
No! Our scented candles are never tested on animals, and are made with ingredients that are cruelty free too.
Our taper candles are also not tested on animals, but they do contain beeswax (which was source from beekeepers in Illinois), so are not suitable for our vegan customers - sorry!
ORDERS / SHIPPING / RETURNS
-
We ship throughout the U.S., including to Alaska and Hawaii.
-
While we cannot amend your order once it's been placed, if you have not received a shipping notification you are welcome to cancel it. Just reach out to us using either our online chat (leave a message if we aren't here) or our contact form.
-
Not right now!
-
As a very small business we cannot offer free returns or exchanges on products just now, but you are welcome to return any unused item within 7 days of the delivery date.
Buyer is responsible for return shipping costs and any loss in value if an item isn't returned in original condition. Buyer is responsible for item until it arrives back at our studio. We recommend using a tracked service with insurance, should it go missing.
Original packaging, must be present, to avoid a restoking fee.
Shipping costs are non-refundable.
Please contact us for a return form by emailing hello@seldomout.com or using our contact form.
Sale items are Final Sale and non-returnable.
If you're not satisfied with the performance of your candle we would love to help with that. Please reach out to us via our contact form and we will be in touch.
Of course, if your product arrives damaged let us know because we really would like to fix that for you. -
Because we're not Jeff Bezos.
J/K... right now we're subsidizing shipping prices as much we can, but we're not yet able to offer Free Shipping on all purchases just yet.
We have tons of different shipping options to suit all budgets at checkout, and all orders over $95 ship free!
We do Free Shipping promotions periodically throughout the year for our SMS subscribers, so make sure you're signed up!
-
Absolutely!
Between the hours of 10am - 5pm use the live chat function to let us know.
You can also pop a note in the cart or reach out via our Contact Form and let us know your order number and gift message and we will be happy to add this for you.
-
Our wholesale business is on pause right now while we get ourselves in order behind the scenes.
When it is up and running, you'll find us over on FAIRE.
We do not offer private label, but are always open to collabs! Drop us a note.
-
We are online only, with no plans to open a physical storefront at this time.
Right now, you can also only purchase direct through our website (or our ETSY store if you prefer to shop there).
We do in person events at various spots around Chicago in the fall months, follow our social's to find out where will be next.
-
Not right now, but we're working on a way!
-
We ship throughout the U.S., including to Alaska and Hawaii.
-
Not right now!
-
Because we're not Jeff Bezos.
J/K... right now we're subsidizing shipping prices as much we can, but we're not yet able to offer Free Shipping on all purchases just yet.
We have tons of different shipping options to suit all budgets at checkout, and all orders over $95 ship free!
We do Free Shipping promotions periodically throughout the year for our SMS subscribers, so make sure you're signed up!
-
Our wholesale business is on pause right now while we get ourselves in order behind the scenes.
When it is up and running, you'll find us over on FAIRE.
We do not offer private label, but are always open to collabs! Drop us a note.
-
Not right now, but we're working on a way!
-
While we cannot amend your order once it's been placed, if you have not received a shipping notification you are welcome to cancel it. Just reach out to us using either our online chat (leave a message if we aren't here) or our contact form.
-
As a very small business we cannot offer free returns or exchanges on products just now, but you are welcome to return any unused item within 7 days of the delivery date.
Buyer is responsible for return shipping costs and any loss in value if an item isn't returned in original condition. Buyer is responsible for item until it arrives back at our studio. We recommend using a tracked service with insurance, should it go missing.
Original packaging, must be present, to avoid a restoking fee.
Shipping costs are non-refundable.
Please contact us for a return form by emailing hello@seldomout.com or using our contact form.
Sale items are Final Sale and non-returnable.
If you're not satisfied with the performance of your candle we would love to help with that. Please reach out to us via our contact form and we will be in touch.
Of course, if your product arrives damaged let us know because we really would like to fix that for you. -
Absolutely!
Between the hours of 10am - 5pm use the live chat function to let us know.
You can also pop a note in the cart or reach out via our Contact Form and let us know your order number and gift message and we will be happy to add this for you.
-
We are online only, with no plans to open a physical storefront at this time.
Right now, you can also only purchase direct through our website (or our ETSY store if you prefer to shop there).
We do in person events at various spots around Chicago in the fall months, follow our social's to find out where will be next.