Pouring Regenerative Palm Wax In The Studio

Since starting Keap we have constantly looked for a better alternative to the waxes that already existed in the candle market in terms. While waxes like coconut and palm burn safely, we struggled to find any waxes with transparency and care in how they were produced. A trip to the world’s largest natural foods expo in 2019 led us to Natural Habitats — a long-time partner of Dr. Bronner’s and a producer of fair trade organic palm products, deeply committed to regenerative farming practices and reframing how we think about palm oil’s potential. A multi-year journey to create a high-quality blend of their palm wax for our candles has led us to today.

Our new wax is a blend of two organic palm fruit extracts, and mirrors the story of its regenerative origins through its simplicity of ingredients. Given the wax makes up the majority of a candle, you may notice some minor visual differences with our new palm wax candles (see this post for more details).

These aesthetic changes are due to inherent properties of our palm wax — a blend of two organic palm fruit extracts. Our ethos is to celebrate the inherent beauty and wisdom of nature. Thus, rather than trying to overcome these innate qualities with common synthetic candle additives (designed to brighten or soften waxes), we instead prioritized a wax that tells the story of its regenerative origins through its simplicity of ingredients.

As a small team we’ve conducted hundreds of experiments to figure out how to make our candles even better than before — from testing wicks to testing entirely new methods of candle pouring. Being able to move our new wax into full production allows us to radically accelerate this fine-tuning, and you can expect us to continue to make improvements in the coming weeks. 

You will be hugely supportive allies to us in this process by letting us know of any changes you notice; particularly if you feel they’re impacting the candle performance. 

We care deeply about this transition, and if you help share feedback about your palm wax candle experience with us we’ll share some candle credit with you as a thank you!