“It’s a scary feeling to have to stop what you’re doing, find something else and reinvent yourself,” says Corrine Habel, owner and candle maker at Gib and Nimm.
Until a few years ago, Corrine made beautiful stained glass windows, but the harsh chemicals and cuts to her hands made her reconsider the longevity of her choice.
“I thought, I can’t be doing this when I’m 50.”
So she faced the difficult decision of swapping a career she loved for the unknown.
Thankfully, she wasn’t in limbo for long.
“Candles were something I was exposed to by a friend of mine who started a soy candle company [in the States]. It was such a lovely business. So healthy and peaceful,” she says.
That experience stayed with her and inspired her to launch her own soy candle company, Gib and Nimm, three years ago at the Squamish Farmers’ Market.
Corrine and husband Marc now attend markets up and down the coast, and supply weddings, hotels and stores with their hand-poured, high quality, soy wax candles.
What sets them far apart from other candle makers is their ethical sustainability. The soy they use is GMO and pesticide-free, and their scents are predominantly essential oils.
“A lot of soy candle companies use fragrance oils. That’s like taking a beautiful natural product and then dumping a chemical on top of it,” says Corrine.
Another ethical aspect is you can return your candle holder to be re-used, and receive a discount for doing so.
They offer a range of sizes from tea lights to pillar candles, and there are over 20 scents, many of which change seasonally.
“Lemongrass is great with mosquito control. It’s also the best natural air freshener there is,” says Corrine. “Lavender releases dopamine in the brain, hence the use of it as a means of relaxing.
“Peppermint and rosemary, and spearmint and eucalyptus are all vasodilators, so they’re good if you’re having breathing problems or allergies. Rosemary is also really good for keeping fruit flies away.”
Gib and Nimm’s high-quality candles are also great value. A regular tea light, Corrine explains, burns for about an hour, but hers burn for up to seven-and-a-half.
“Break down by hour what you pay and you actually end up saving a little bit of money,” she says. “You also just burned something that has a natural essential oil in it and was a botanical product. It’s better economy and healthier for you.”
Less-expensive paraffin wax candles are, of course, an option but, as Corrine explains, “A paraffin candle has over 250 chemicals in it. It’s not something you should be lighting on fire in your home.” It also burns at dangerously high temperatures.
“Ours burn much slower, cooler and safer,” she says. “If you spilled a soy candle on your hand it would just feel warm.”
Gib and Nimm candles are also water soluble, so any spillages can be washed out.
Gib and Nimm are at Squamish Farmers’ Market on August 23. For all candle enquiries visit www.gibandnimm.com.
