Our Key Ingredients: The values behind the choices we make

100% Natural Essential Oils… Plant-based Soy Wax…Why bother?

Well for us at THE ZEN HUB these things really do matter, and with THE ZEN HUB now up and thriving I thought I would take this opportunity to write about why we do the things we do, and how you are making a difference when you purchase one of our products.

Probably the most key ingredient in our products are the specially formulated essential oil blends that give our products their signature scents.  Not only do these smell great, but they also offer potential aromatherapy benefits to customers.  As many of you will be aware, essential oils are oils taken directly from plants. They capture the plant’s scent, or  “essence”, and across our product range we have a total of 16 different essences that make up the DREAM, BLISS, and HAPPY blends. Our oils are 100% pure and natural and are of course vegan and cruelty free.  

In the candle and reed diffuser industry, many companies prefer to use much cheaper ‘fragrance’ oils, which often release a very powerful scent when burned.  These are oils that have been manufactured to create a certain scent, and are often made of synthetic (rather than natural) compounds.  Unfortunately, some fragrance oils even release toxins such as parabens and phthalates when they burn. These have been associated with a number of health issues such as disrupting the normal hormone function within humans...I know, scary right!? Fragrance oils are also partially to blame for black soot marks that are sometimes seen after burning candles.

At THE ZEN HUB we decided to choose natural over synthetic, to choose aromatherapy benefits over harmful toxins and to choose 100% natural aromas instead of overbearing, chemical smelling fragrances. Using essential oils does make our products more expensive, but we think this is the right choice, and we truly hope you do too!

And now to get wax lyrical over wax!  Like oils there are different options out there.  We chose to use soy wax in our candles, and the benefits of this choice are many.  Firstly it’s plant based, 100% biodegradable and eco-friendly.  The soy wax we use is made entirely from the oil within soybeans (yes plants)!  Soy wax candles burn for longer giving you more ZEN time for your money, are more sustainable, and are cleaner...releasing little or no soot.  

Many companies instead use much cheaper ‘paraffin’ or ‘petroleum’ wax, which as the name suggests is actually derived from petroleum, coal or shale oil (bad)!  On top of this they are known to release toxins when burnt as well as releasing far more soot to the air.  Again, using soy wax comes at a higher cost, but we hope you see the benefits that using these higher grade ingredients brings!

Well, that was a lot of information! But I hope that by sharing some of our key choices with you guys, you can be happy in the knowledge that when you buy from THE ZEN HUB you are receiving a product with the very best of ingredients which are both good for you and for the planet!

Stay ZEN

Alice xx