Introducing: Luxury Sustainable Coconut Oil Wax Candles By Virginutty
The tumult of the year known as 2020 had highs and lows for the whole world. Fortunately, the lockdown gave us the time and space we needed as a brand to start thinking more consciously about how we could diversify and continue to grow Virginutty in an intentional and purposeful way.
Since starting Virginutty, we have realised that the coconut oil waste that we produce whilst pouring our skincare range is quite significant. Usually, we put them in containers and kept them for testing or for using in baking and cooking. But the idea of candles, and using our surplus coconut oil to create our own coconut wax, kept floating into our minds as a viable idea.
We first started working with a fragrancer to develop our own scents in 2019, but we — or rather I, Melissa, Virginutty’s founder — got distracted from the project by tight cashflow and balancing other things. Then, the pandemic happened. Life was still and quiet for the first time in, well, ever. And it gave us a chance to reconnect with our candle passions that had fallen somewhat by the wayside.
We applied for a grant from The Prince’s Trust as part of their relief fund. The purpose of the grant is to diversify your business, to adapt your products or services, in order to make it through lockdown and continue to thrive. Our grant application was approved in October 2020, which breathed a whole new lease of life into us. We were actually able to pursue our candle idea properly, with no corners cut.
So I’m thrilled to share that we have officially launched our first three luxury sustainable candles — Manila, Siesta and Sagada.
Inspired by Philippine culture and tradition, our luxury candles are sustainably produced and hand-poured in small batches in the UK. We have worked with a luxury candle studio to develop a custom plant-based wax candle incorporating our surplus coconut oil. Each candle provides a clean, long-lasting burn with a heady range of scents.
Using a bespoke blend of our coconut oil and sustainably-sourced rapeseed wax, each Virginutty candle is gorgeously infused with premium grade phthalate-free fragrance and essential oils that evoke feelings of romance, calm and appreciation of mother nature.
Every part of our candle-making process is vegan and cruelty free. Our fragrance oils are non-toxic and phthalate-free. Each candle is poured into a reusable matte black glass container and contains an eco friendly cotton wick, with a label crafted from recycled pulp.
This is our first foray into the candle-making world, and it’s been a thrilling ride so far. We are truly grateful for your support, as we invest time, energy and love into creating coconut-based products that benefit our lives and pay homage to the earth.
You can explore our new candle range at our online shop.