PETALING JAYA, June 26 — Julie Yim attended her cousin’s wedding last May in Melbourne where she received a soy candle as a wedding favour. She was fascinated and decided to do more research on the difference between paraffin and soy candles.

"Soy candles are less toxic compared to paraffin candles because they have a lower burning point. It is also less likely to create an after effect of soot in your candle. I found out that it burns slower and cleaner. Paraffin candles burn for seven hours while soy candles burn for 15,” she said.

Inspired by her entrepreneur friends, Yim decided to start Lilin + Co, a home-based brand that sells artisanal soy candles. It took her almost a year doing research and developing the right formula because chemistry is involved in the process of making the candles.

She was also looking for suppliers for her raw materials. Moreover, soy wax tends to be quite fickle especially when it comes to the temperature it becomes liquid. You need the right temperature to mix when the wax is boiled and also the right temperature when you pour it into the glass jar. According to Yim, precision is essential with soy candle making. If it’s not done properly, the candle will have a crack in the middle.

Lilin + Co’s Julie Yim loves the fragrance and eco-friendliness of soy candles.

Yim also likes the fact that soy candles smell good. The other benefit of soy candles include low heat so your house remains cooler and it is eco-friendly — it is renewable and biodegradable. "I wanted to fill the market gap with a mid-range product because there is IKEA which is very accessible and there is Diptyque which is more towards the luxury spectrum. There weren’t any hand poured soy candles in the market either,” Yim said.

Almost all of the parts of Lilin + Co candles are imported, including the paper wick, the soy wax, the essential oils and the muslin cloth packaging which is custom-made. "I wanted to make something that also looks good. Aesthetics plays an important part in Lilin + Co. The candle must also look good in the house,” she said. While doing her research, she found out that soy candles are a big thing in Australia and the US. There are even some makers in Singapore and Jakarta. In Malaysia, there are less than a handful of soy candle makers.

Lilin + Co was launched on Instagram and Facebook in February this year. Yim loves fragrances so she was naturally drawn to the lovely fragrance of soy candles.

Soy wax is renewable and bio-degradable which is better compared to paraffin wax (left). The right temperature is needed to ensure that the candles turn out right (right)

Since everything is hand poured with love, it takes a lot of time to produce the soy candles. Yim makes 40 candles per week. It takes a few hours to pour and a week for the candles to cure.

"I went through a lot of trial and error. Since the US and Australia have a big community of soy candle makers, I went on forums to find out more. All the materials including the soy wax are also produced there so they would have all the information,” said Yim.

Currently, Lilin + Co has a range of three scents. Strawberries and Champagne is their first scent while their second scent, Burnt Fig and Cassis, is a best-seller. Lilin + Co recently released a new scent, Lychee and Black Tea. The candles are priced from RM18 to RM20. Next, Yim will be releasing a creme brûlée flavour.

Making soy candles is not an easy process but it is rewarding.

The reason why all the candle scents are sweet is because Yim is a fan of sweet stuff. However, that’s going to change soon. "I have requests from customers and friends to have specific scents so I will cater to what they like. Some have requested for mint, some have requested for lemongrass,” she said.

Yim also has plans to bring in different jars in the future to give variation to her current glass jar range. This includes marble jars and even jars made from chrome and gold. There are also plans to introduce larger jars. The current jars have a capacity of 65 millilitres and she plans to make new batches with a capacity of 175 millilitres.

Lilin + Co’s name was chosen because it sounded simple and it shows local pride. Customers who buy the soy candles are mostly people who love candles, a mix of males and females and people from all ages. Not surprisingly, a lot of the customers are Malay. It could be due to the name which translates to candle in the Malay language.

The soy candles have gained popularity quickly as there are even customers from East Malaysia and Brunei. Yim hopes to introduces more variety of scents and have the soy candles sold through stockists.

Find out more about Lilin + Co from their Facebook and Instagram pages:

FB: www.facebook.com/lilinandco

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lilinandco