Candle shopping is one of my favorite things to do: trying different scents to see what charms my sensory palette, finding cool and unique jars, and decorating my home with them. As I write this, I have at least two candles burning in my room giving it fragrance and helping set an heir of tranquility in my space. For many of us, when we imagine coming home to relax in the evening, the ultimate fantasy is being able to indulge in a bubble bath, surrounded by candles, with a glass of wine in hand - ahh serenity!

The notion that candles helping provide a sense of warmth and tranquility has been and remains popular. Who else remembers the episode of Friends where Monica gets Chandler into taking baths to relax? She sets the scene for him and creates a peaceful and relaxing ambiance by lighting tea candles all around the bathroom, dimming the lights, and filling up a hot bubble bath - and Chandler instantly becomes obsessed with them!

So, yes, candles are great and we can use them for all varieties in our homes - but are they really okay for us?

Sure, as long as you don't get the ones that can cause cancer when you burn them and inhale the smoke. I'm actually being serious. If the wick is made out of lead, the candle will burn up to 5x more lead and carcinogens that it emits through the air of your household. If the wick is lead-based and the candle is comprised of a bunch of chemicals...then that's also pretty terrible.

We want to make sure we only buy candles that are either 100% soy, coconut wax, hemp, or beeswax. These are the candles that will indeed help us reach that relaxed state of nirvana we all strive for, and definitely won't compromise our health by polluting our lungs with lead or chemicals!

And don't worry, there are TONS of amazing companies and vendors that you can get your natural candles from that will have cool jars and packaging, great scents, and come in all shapes and sizes! While Etsy is an awesome place to look for many of them, here a few others you may want to check out as well:

HEMP: For a variety of hemp candles try Kushed Candles.

SOY: Stay local to New York by purchasing your soy candles from Brooklyn Candle Studio.

BEESWAX: Get your buzz on by getting Big Dipper Wax Works products.

COCONUT: Round out your amazing candle collection with any of the beautiful products from Pure Plant Home.

Let's get lit kids!