black & light Review & Giveaway

I absolutely love candles!  So, when I started planning my wedding, I knew I wanted to have them incorporated into my day somehow.  For me, the easiest and the most dramatic idea was to use them for centerpieces.  When I came across a wonderful online candle shop called black & light - Simply Sophisticated Candles, I knew this was would be a great option for the centerpieces at my wedding.

black & light came to be in 2007 when Holly Eve (black & light's founder and design and candle artisan) decided to turn her passion for helping people and creating candles into a family-run business that runs out of Northern Michigan.  In mid 2007, Holly decided to help those with mental and physical disabilities gain employment through their packaging program.

As you look through black & light, you will notice that their candles are sophisticated and modern!  black & light sells a variety of candle styles so that you can easily incorporate them into your event, or give them to anyone as a gift, while keeping their personal style in mind.

black & light candles are created a bit differently than most candles that you purchase in a retail setting.  black & light uses a Artisian Production Process.  Their 'Unique Facts' section of their site explains a bit more: "each candle takes over three days in production and twenty man-hours to create. Designs are first drawn by hand and take up to fifty hours to complete."  Each candle is completed handcrafted by skilled craftspeople.  This process keeps in mind the true tradition of candle-making that goes back for at least three decades.  I'm sure that trying to find another company that puts this much passion into the creation of each candle would be extremely difficult.

So, how are black & light candles made to ensure the amazing glow?  "black & light co. candles use 100% cotton wicks and fragrance-free premium food grade paraffin."  Since these candles are 100% scent free, these candles are a great option for people who are sensitive to various scents and perfumes, as well as for areas that already have natural aromas that you'd like to preserve instead of mask.  For example, these candles ensure that you are able to smell a freshly cooked supper at home or the smell of a newly decorated Christmas tree in December.

black & light candles are special because of their amazing ability to glow from all directions.  The design of each candle makes it possible for the candle to glow from the wick to the base and throughout the sides.  You will be able to enjoy the lovely glow of these candles for longer than traditional store-bought candles.  Black & Light Candles burn at approximately 15 hours/inch of candle height.  That means that Black & Light Candles burn for up to 3x longer than ordinary candles purchased in retail stores.

black & light continues adding quality to your purchase even throughout the packaging process.  When you purchase single candles from black & light, they are shipped in beautiful recycled and reusable boxes.  This ensures added beauty to your gift, while keeping the environment in mind!  "Holly worked to make the packaging as special as her custom created candle collections. This exceptional packaging is our standard. It’s created in the spirit of our company’s acute attention to detail."

Additionally, it is great to know what black & light supports important causes when packaging each of their products: "[black & light products are] packaged and shipped by workers with disabilities. black & light® co creates jobs in a tough market economy. black & light® co supports several charitable concerns."   Some of the causes they support through their candles include: Airline Ambassadors International and Save the Bees (UC Davis).  Support from black & light to Airline Ambassadors International goes to helping impoverished children around the world.  Support from black & light to UC Davis goes to supporting honey bee research.  Black & Light ackoledges, and it is truly evident, that they aim to help those in greater need (including Our Mother Earth).

Review
When I came across black & light, I thought it would be fabulous to review one of their candles.  I was excited when black & light came forward and agreed to supplying all of the candles for the centerpieces at my upcoming wedding (a total of 10 candles).

Since my wedding colors are red and ivory, I thought the 6" Dots - White Engraved on Red would be a perfect fit!  These candles measure 6" in height, 3" in diameter, they are expected to burn up to 90 hours (15 hours per inch), and they are completely scent free!

One of the deciding factors in using these candles in my wedding centerpieces is that they are scent free.  I personally have a difficult time with scented products and I can imagine that a number of our guests will have the same issue.  When considering this aspect and while not wanting to diminish the wonderful aroma of our meals during the reception, these were a clear choice!

When I received these candles, I immediately noticed that absolutely fantastic packaging.  When I say absolutely fantastic, that is exactly what I mean (no exaggerations).  It is evident that these candles are packaged with extra care.  The candle came packaged in a reusable gift box that I can easily use again to either wrap another gift or store little trinkets.  To ensure that the package didn't move around too much during transit, the gift box (with the candle inside) is cradled by recycled paper springs.  To finish off the packaging, black & light includes a small package of matches to help you light your black & light candle for the very first time.

Once getting past the beautiful packaging, I was able to take in the beauty of my review candle.  When looking at this candle for the first time, I realized that it looks exactly like the candle shown on their website, however, when looking at it in hand, you can notice the extreme care that each artisan takes in hand-making these candles.  The dots on this candle are consistently uniform and each dot shows the light hand chiseling done by the artisan to create the design.

Next it came time to burn my candle for the first time.  As the wick began to burn, I noticed that glow that black & light speaks of on their website.  This candle truly glows from all angles!  If burning this candle in the dark, it is amazing the light it gives off.  Most candles give off light from only the top (at the point of the wick) but black & light candles give off light from the wick to the base; the look of black & light candles in a dark or dim room is truly amazing - a piece of art!

 As I burned my candle a handful of times, I noticed all the lovely aspects of the black & light candle.  Other than the glow being confirmed, I realized how long this candle lasts!  I also appreciated the lovely handcrafted design of each candle and the fact that it is scent free (very important for me).

When reviewing this item, I only had one concern and one suggestion for this product.  The concern I have involved the wick (although, I believe that this concern is likely due to my own mistake).  After burning this candle four times, I noticed that on the fifth time I had a difficult time lighting it because most of the wick had drowned.  I tried gently hollowing out the area around the wick with a sharp object to make lighting the wick a bit easier.  After doing a bit of research on the internet, I noticed that it is possible to burn a candle for not long enough.  I believe that my wick drowned because of this.  There was one night that I burned the candle for only 30 minutes to 1 hour and this didn't allow the wax surrounding the wick to completely melt out towards the edges.  As mentioned previously, I believe this happened due to my own error, not one of black & light.  My suggestion would be for black & light would be to include a section on their site (and a insert with their candles) that discusses the proper way to burn a black & light candle.  This would ensure that less consumers have to deal with the inconvenience of a drowned wick.

Overall, the black & light candle I received has been absolutely wonderful and thoroughly enjoyed!  Even though these candles are a bit more expensive than I'd normally purchase (~$30 for a 4" candle; ~$36 for a 6" candle), I completely understand why they are priced this way and the price would NOT prevent me from purchasing another candle from black & light in the future.  Since these candles are each handcrafted and they burn for as long as they do, these candles make sense for me to purchase.  I believe that these candles will make a wonderful addition to my wedding centerpieces and I look forward to sharing their beauty with my guests!

How many winners will there be? Two (2).

What can you win? Each winner will receive one (1) candle of their choice from black & light.

To enter, Go look through all the lovely candles that black & light sells and choose a favorite.  Then come back here and tell me which candle you'd choose if you won. This question must be answered to gain an entry in the giveaway.

Each of the following will give you one extra entry in the giveaway (unless stated otherwise). Please make sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

- Telling me the name of at least one retail store that you can purchase Black & Light products at. 
- Becoming a friend of black & light on Facebook.
- Following black & light on Twitter.
- Entering one other giveaway on Everything Up Close, then leaving me a comment hear indicating the name of the other giveaway you entered.
- Subscribing to my blog via email or RSS feed (Maximum of 1 entry - please tell me how you subscribe in your comment).

- Adding my main button to your blog sidebar.
- Adding my 'Wonderful Wedding Wishes' event button to your blog sidebar.

- Following me on Twitter (@ihchicky). Please leave your Twitter name.

- Following me on Blogger / Google Friends Connect (publicly).
- Friending Everything Up Close on Facebook. Please leave your name that is shown on Facebook for verification.

- Tweeting about this giveaway with a link to this page. Please leave a link to your tweet or your twitter name. You can do this once a day.

- Blogging about this giveaway on your blog. Please leave a link to your blog post in your comment. 2 ENTRIES! Please leave 2 separate comments if you blog about this giveaway.

- Talking about and linking to this giveaway in any public forum or on Facebook. If you do this, please leave your user-name and a link to the post. 2 ENTRIES! Please leave 3 separate comments if you blog about this giveaway.

Important Entry Details: The above entries (main and bonus) can only be submitted once per person (except for the tweet entry, which can be done daily). Please do not use more than one blogger account or add additional anonymous comments to gain extra entries. This is not fair to everyone else and this practice is strictly prohibited. If a person is found to be using more than one account to enter the same giveaway, they will be disqualified from that particular giveaway, as well as all future giveaways.

This giveaway will end on Friday, June 25th at 11:59pm (Central Standard Time). After the giveaway has ended, the winner will be picked randomly using random.org. EMAIL RULES: In order to win, you must provide a valid email. I will be notifying the winner by email only. Please make sure your blog profile includes your email address and make sure that it is visible. If you do not have a blogger account, please make sure you have included your email address in your post. If there is no email address provided, to contact the winner, another person will be chosen. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification with their complete mailing address (I will be forwarding all this information to the sponsor), If this information is not received within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.  
 

This giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the US!

Good Luck!

black & light would like to offer all my readers a chance to save 20% off their next purchase.  If you are looking to purchase a gift for yourself or someone special, now is the perfect time to buy.  Just quote the coupon code EUPC10 during checkout to save 20% off!  Plus, for a limited time only, you will receive free standard shipping when you purchase three (3) or more candles! 

**Disclaimer** To complete this review and post this giveaway, I was sent a free 6" review candle from black & light, in addition to ten (10) 6" candles that will be used in my wedding centerpieces.  Receiving these products did not in anyway alter the information which I discussed in this article; this review is 100% my own opinion.  I did not receive any other type of compensation for this review/giveaway.