Just as the nights are getting lighter, the snowdrops are showing their pretty fresh faces and we finally think Spring is upon us, the Beast from the East rears its icy head! What to do? Do you stick with your traditional comforting soy wax candle with its gentle cosy crackle, or take a leap of faith and trade it in for an oil burner of pretty wax melts with their heady spring-time aromas?  The choice of course is yours!

Soy Wax Melts are used in an oil burner instead of oil and water to release wonderful fragrances in your home or work place. They are solid wax without a wick, and the best quality melts are made primarily of soy wax. Wendy from PQ Soy Wax Candles in York chooses to use soy wax because, unlike paraffin wax, it has excellent burning behaviour and fragrance release. Soy wax candles also last longer than their paraffin wax alternatives, and produce about 90% less soot when burning.  No more dirty black marks on the wall where your candle was sitting!

Hyacinth, Jasmine and Rose are wonderful spring-like aromas, also perfect for Mothers Day, which is fast approaching on 11th March. Vanilla splits the pack with as many delighting in its richness as those who’d rather something lighter. According to Wendy, wax melt addicts are on the increase, although the trusty candle will always enjoy its faithful following. Why not mix and match with a different scent for the different living spaces in your home.

Wendy’s range of wax melts is a myriad of colour, but she prefers to keep her candles the natural colour of the soy wax.  The cream compliments so many settings, and the classic design of the scented candle is such that clean glass suits the natural hue perfectly in whichever room you choose.

After many months of testing and researching, Wendy started her online business PQ Soy Wax Candles in September 2013.  With the support of her husband, it has allowed her to stay very much focused on family life including all the delights of bringing up their young daughter.  Wendy’s daughter would describe herself as one of the business’s biggest fans. She also takes great pride in helping Wendy during the testing stage and is usually the one to blow them out!

Wendy studied Design and Technology at university and has always enjoyed hands on, creative projects, so being a chandler fits very well with her passions.  The whole testing process is something Wendy absolutely adores.  “If I’m not happy, if the scent throw isn’t there, or if the clean burn doesn’t happen, then I remake and retest, be it with a different wick size or alternative wax to fragrance oil ratio.  I keep testing and trialling until I’m happy, so my customers will be too.”

Having recently received Theo Paphitis’s esteemed Small Business Sunday Award on Twitter, such an endorsement has reinforced Wendy’s belief that it is possible to manage family life and run a business.  It’s not easy and there’s a lot to juggle, but it certainly works for Wendy, and the proof is in the pudding.

Wendy ensures that all her candles and wax melts meet with the required legal legislation, and as such they are all CLP compliant. Selling via various online platforms, you can find PQ Soy Wax Candles on Etsy, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

With many thanks to Wendy Harris for her guest blog; she would be delighted to help with any Mothers’ Day enquiries.