Review – IT Body Candles

Okay folks, lets start the review with a little chemistry lesson: What is a wax? A wax is a long-chain organic molecule. Most organic molecules consist of chains of carbon atoms (some are rings or networks, for the chemists rolling their eyes). Very short chains of one or two atoms are things like methane and propane, which are gases. The chains get a little longer, the boiling point gets lower, and they become liquid at room temperature, making things like butane and octane (gasoline). The chains get a lot longer, the liquids start becoming thick and viscous, and we call them oils. The chains get longer and the melting point comes down, the oil becomes solid, and we have a wax. (Of course, any organic chemist would be shredding the oversimplifications above, but go with me.) So, in theory, there should be a chain of a certain length that would be a wax at room temperature, so you could, say, make a candle out of it, but then, at some higher temperature, say 100 degrees, it melts into an oil. This is the idea behind the IT body candle. The candle burns, melting the wax into a massage oil that is conveniently warm, and especially pleasurable to rub on the body of another.

Now, there are a lot of little tricks to this. You make sure the wax has the right sort of smell, to suit the intended mood. Also, you have to make sure that, once melted, the now-oil stays at a reasonably safe temperature for pouring on skin. The IT candles are an interesting stab at these two concepts. From Mina’s side, they were a great success. She enjoy the warm drops on her back and feeling them rubbed on her skin. The different scents for the candles are surprisingly similar, but we settled on “Mango” and “Ecstasy.” We gave Mango a while, and it certainly filled the room with an appropriately romantic aroma. After following the instructions to blow the candle out (weirdly, the instructions are on the BOTTOM of the candle, rather than the lid) I poured a few drops on her back. I was rewarded with an apprieciative moan as I began rubbing the thick oil on her skin. Mina reported that the oil felt wonderful, and that it was a fantastic massage for her.

From the side of the masseur, I have to say I was not as happy. Here the chemistry worked against me, as the wax seemed to want to melt into oil at a little ABOVE body temperature. So pouring the hot oil on her back caused it to eventually solidify into a waxy film. The friction from firmly rubbing her skin did seem to melt the wax right under my fingertips, so for her it quickly turned into an unusually vigorous massage, but it did leave her skin feeling kind of peculiar to the touch. A hot, damp washcloth seemed to clean her up very easily, though. (As it should, the melting point is just below the temperature of a hot washcloth, so the wax turned back into oil and soaked into the cloth.) Mina also said that the scent might have given her a headache, so we are going to try again later to confirm.

From the side of the one massaged, let me give you my take… The mango smell was very pleasing, but as Sylvanus has mentioned, I developed a very small headache that could have been due to the scent. I can not confirm as we have not used the candles again.. yet.  As far as the actual feel of the oil on my skin, it made for a very good massage. The warm oil was very soothing, but you do have to be careful. Upon blowing out the candle, it was ok to pour the oil immediately on my back, it was warm but not too hot, however, if you intend to pour the oil in more sensitive areas, like the lower back, you may want to wait a minute. I found it to be a little too hot for more sensitive areas. The oil itself is different than normal massage oil because of the wax. So when it did dry on my skin, I could feel that there was a film there. It was not uncomfortable, but I was happy that Sylvanus ran a warm wash cloth over my back to clean it up a bit. All in all, I did enjoy the whole experience. We will have to retry the candles again to see if I get a headache because that would not be a good thing. On a side note, the scent does in fact give the entire room a strong fragrance.  

As a product, this is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, this could be the perfect finish to a lovely home-spa evening. Set the candle alight before starting a nice steamy shower or bath, and your skin will be absolutely perfect for the warm oil when you get out. It comes off the candle a perfect temperature – hot-but-not-too-hot, and the experience will be every bit of wonderful. As a casual, let’s-try-this sort of product, I am not quite sold. But as a crowning touch to that special evening, these would make a wonderful addition to your nightstand.