Sunday, January 27, 2008

Massage Candles - Intro - Day One


With Valentine's coming up, Massage Candles seem like a perfect project for the season.

What's a Massage Candle? It is NOT pouring burning hot wax all over your body. Taking a wild guess, this probably doesn't sound relaxing to most of us. A massage candle is a blend of skin safe waxes, oils and a bit of fragrance that melts at a very low temperature, making it an enjoyable alternative to cold massage oils.

Massage Candles started growing in popularity in 2006 with the rise of soy wax as a mainstream paraffin wax alternative. The Massage Candle pictured at the right is one of the more economical brands on the market, selling for $10. Pricing for these unique candles goes up to $40 depending on the claims made and essential oils used. Alternate names in use for these burning amusements are Lotion Candles, Body Wax and Body Candles. Other uses for Massage Candles are a cuticle oil or an all-purpose heavy duty lotion for elbows, knees and feet.

The wax for making Massage Candles needs to be all-natural soy wax. The secret to making a Massage Melt Candle work is the low melt point of this wax.

What is a melt point? It's the temperature at which the solid wax becomes liquid when exposed to a heat source (normally a flame).

Soy wax melts at a lower temperature than paraffin wax, making it a fit for this romantic gift. The instructions are simple: light the candle, wait 30 to 45 minutes so there is a wax pool to draw from, blow out the candle, pour the warm wax in your hand and, begin the massage.

This week on the Soap Queen blog will discuss over massage candles. We'll make them, design some recipes and also give hints for designing your own recipes.