Our Mission

Our Mission is to disrupt the fragrance industry by providing safe and transparent home scenting options and to raise customers' expectations of the companies that make home scenting products.

We believe that everyone should be able to scent their homes without exposing themselves and their loved ones to toxins. We provide 100% natural ingredients, complete ingredient transparency, third party certification, and consumer education of how to identify safe and nontoxic scented products.

Our Story: Welcome to Fontana Candle Co.

"The world is full of toxins, but we don't think they should be in your home."

We are Fontana Candle Company, a passionate family team of three, dedicated to natural health and wellness. Our mission is to handcraft the finest all-natural candles, creating a healthy and harmonious home environment. We firmly believe that what you breathe is just as crucial as what you eat when it comes to your well-being. With one of us living with asthma, another with multiple chemical sensitivity, and the recent loss of our beloved Dad/father-in-law/husband to Lymphoma, we take toxin exposure very seriously. In fact, our lives depend on it.

Our journey began in 2017 when a friend gave us a name brand candle that smelled incredible. Although we rarely burned candles in our home, we were shocked to discover that after just one day of burning the paraffin-based fragrance candle, we experienced headaches and felt terrible. Determined to find answers, we embarked on extensive research into the world of candles and fragrance, and what we uncovered left us horrified.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

The Truth About Traditional Candles

The toxic truth about candles is hidden in plain sight. Conventional paraffin wax is derived as a byproduct of petroleum, coal, or oil shale and contains controversial and harmful chemicals such as benzene and toulene. Typing “best natural candles” into Google reveals dozens upon dozens of options that are presented as natural and non-toxic, but in reality, most are far from that.

Popular among the best natural candle articles that Google search reveals are soy candles - marketed as a healthier alternative to paraffin. While that may be true, what many of those soy candle companies won’t tell you is that they are not 100% soy, as the processing still requires small amounts of paraffin. With limited Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines and regulations on claims by candle companies, manufacturers are even able to market their candles as “all natural” when they utilize soy wax derived from hexane (a chemical commonly extracted from petroleum

CREATING A BETTER CANDLE

The Benefits of Beeswax + Coconut Oil

From our research, beeswax was the answer to our toxic candle dilemma. Beeswax is non-toxic and clean burning, especially when combined with an all natural wooden wick. However, after months of testing we discovered there was a reason there are not many scented beeswax candles on the market: Beeswax is too hard and does not hold a scent well. Blending the beeswax with pure coconut oil was the answer! After 150 attempts, we finally found the optimal blend that allowed a nice even burn without scorching. Read more about our ingredients here.

We believe in using simple, natural ingredients. You will not find any petroleum byproducts, stabilizers, or harmful dyes in our wax.

Essential Oils for a Natural, Non Toxic Scent

When we launched in 2018, we thought we solved the toxic dilemma by providing a natural wax base and ensuring that each fragrance we used was free of harmful phthalates. After a year of hand-pouring our candles, Katie started reacting to the fragrances and developed multiple chemical sensitivity. We began more research and realized there was something else keeping us from our mission of complete non-toxicity: our candles still used fragrance oils.

When it comes to the alluring scents and fragrances used by many of the leading candle manufacturers, the ingredients are often far from natural. Because they are considered proprietary fragrances, fragrance companies are not required to list the chemical additives utilized to create a candle’s scent. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, many fragrances can contain as many as 5,000 ingredients! In fact, according to the National Academy of Sciences, approximately 95% of the chemicals used in synthetic fragrance oils are derived from petroleum! Many of the chemicals are the same ones found in toilet bowl cleaner, paint thinner, wart remover, and insect repellents.

Fortunately, an alternative to fragrance oils can be found in essential oils. Essential oils are truly from nature, defined by the Oxford dictionary as "a natural oil typically obtained by distillation and having the characteristic fragrance of the plant or other source from which it is extracted." Essential oils are generally collected through a distillation process that carefully separates the essential oil from the flowers, needles, twigs, fruit peels, seeds or roots where it is found.

By swapping traditional fragrance oils for natural essential oils, we can proudly say our candles are 100% non-toxic and the first candle to be certified MADE SAFE®!

Learn More About Fontana:

"How I Turned My Hobby Into a Career" Authority Magazine

Lancaster Lebanon SCORE Business Profile

Lancaster County Magazine October 2019 Feature Article

Read Reviews from our #CleanCandle fans here!

Introducing Essentials by Fontana

In 2021 we decided to take our clean home scenting mission beyond candles! We want you to be able to fill your home with the scents you love and trust.

Our clean candle fans have been asking for different ways to enjoy their favorite scents, and we are now proud to offer Wax Melts, Bar Soaps, Bath Soaks, and Home Sprays

FONTANA GIVES BACK

Breathe Hope

Cancer has shaped who we are as people, as a family, and as a company.

In early 2021, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society challenged our Founder, Katie, to raise funds to help children battling blood cancer for the Man & Woman of the Year Campaign. Katie spent ten weeks raising funds every way possible in memory of her late father.

Katie created a Breathe Hope t-shirt campaign, created raffle baskets, and rallied local business leaders to donate product and create their own fundraisers. Fontana proudly donated funds from our "Charity Candle of the Month."


We are proud to announce that Katie raised $23,934 during the campaign!

Supporting Cancer Warriors

Fontana is honored to be the candle that cancer survivors and current warriors burn and trust. When we hear a member of our community is battling cancer, we send them a care kit of Fontana products. We know what this fight feels like, and we hope our candles and essentials provide a bit of comfort during a stressful and trying time.