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Sometimes we get asked why Oyasumi is not available in supermarkets?
This isn't a coincidence. It's a conscious decision.
From the very beginning, Oyasumi has embraced the idea of creating exceptional olive oil candles , 100% olive wax, 100% safe fragrance concentrations, without compromise. It's just a matter of time. And this is precisely where our philosophy diverges from the way most retail chains and supermarkets operate.
1. Oyasumi – small studio, big aspirations
Supermarkets operate according to a simple equation: low product cost + high margin + high turnover = success .
We operate similarly... i.e. completely differently: safety + quality + honesty towards the customer = something we can sign our name to .
Our olive candle is a product that: is made by hand in a small workshop, not on a production line, is based on 100% olive wax , not on blends (51% soy, 49% paraffin), contains fragrance compositions in concentrations that fall within conservatively calculated safety limits , is created with specific people in mind, whom we meet at fairs, festivals and markets.
And here comes the first reason why you won't find us in the supermarket :
our work model is simply incompatible with the mass sales policy.
2. 100% Olive Wax vs. Budget Scented Candle
A scented candle from a supermarket might theoretically look similar: glass, wick, fragrance, colorful description, sometimes pseudo-soy. But what you don't see at first glance is the ingredients.
We use: only olive wax , no added paraffin, selected, proven fragrance compositions, concentrations calculated based on documentation (SDS, IFRA), and not "because it smells nice" or those that require registration with the PCN (Poison Control Center).
In the supermarket you will often find:
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"soy candle" only in name - in practice a mixture of soy wax and paraffin, which is difficult to distinguish if you do not read the ingredients carefully,
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candles in which the key criterion is the cost per kilogram of mass , not the quality of the raw material,
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products designed for a price range, not for common sense.
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Candles in dangerous concentrations (they have a UFI number on the label )
The soy-paraffin blend drastically reduces production costs, while also allowing us to sell the candle as "soy" because it actually contains some soy, perhaps as much as 51%. At Oyasumi, we don't compromise on such half-measures. If we say it's an olive wax candle , it's truly a 100% olive wax candle—and that costs money. That's the second reason you won't find us in large chains: we don't want to water down the concept of our candles just to meet a retailer's target price.
3. Cinnamon, cinnamic aldehyde, and difficult decisions
Let's take a specific example: cinnamaldehyde – an ingredient that creates the beautiful, festive, warm scent of cinnamon. Perfect for the winter season, a recipe for success, right?
The problem is that:
- it is one of the best documented fragrance allergens ,
- it has very low recommended concentrations in products that come into contact with the skin, according to IFRA standards for many cosmetic categories we are talking about levels of 0.04–0.06% of the composition , i.e. several hundredths of a percent!
This demonstrates how powerful and problematic this substance is. Even trace amounts can cause allergic reactions, and we don't want that.
This is where our philosophy comes in:
- We could create a very "sellable" Christmas scent like cinnamon and apple,
- we could pour a lot of it, report the mixture in the PCN system, stick the appropriate CLP pictograms and... introduce it to the market, as many large producers do, but we consciously do not do it .
Instead, we forgo easy sales if they require the use of components that we have concerns about in terms of comfort and safety for long-term use in our customers' homes.
The third reason we're not in supermarkets is that it's not just sales that are at stake, but trust. We'd rather lose that "trendy Christmas scent" than sleep uneasily, wondering if the candle you're going to put in your living room is really as safe as we'd like.
4. Soy candle from the supermarket – what the label doesn't say
It's easy to find phrases like "eco soy candle," "natural scented candle," or "premium soy candle" on supermarket shelves these days. It sounds lovely. The problem is:
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“Soy” doesn’t always mean just soy
Often, it's a blend of soy wax and paraffin. Paraffin significantly reduces production costs and improves technical properties (e.g., hardness and temperature resistance), but it also distances the product from the ideal of a natural candle. -
No one will tell you how much of what there is
You usually won't see the proportions on the label. You see the words "soy candle"—and that's it. For many people, that's enough to believe they're buying something healthier and more natural. -
Wax is only half the story
Even if the wax is plant-based, there is always the question of what quality the fragrance composition is, what are the concentrations of the individual ingredients, and whether someone has actually calculated the maximum levels in accordance with the documentation and standards.
At Oyasumi we have been saying it straight from the start:
we don't use paraffin, we don't spice up candles with mixtures, we don't sell illusions.
We create olive candles , not market and marketing candles.
5. Margins, trade-offs, and hard math
Another reason you won't see us on a major chain?
Margins. And they're not ours.
This is what it looks like from the inside: the retail chain expects a low purchase price from the manufacturer, and imposes its own margin on it, often a really high one, plus promotions, network discounts, "paid shelf", marketing fees...
For a large factory producing thousands of tons of wax annually, relying on cheap paraffin and extremely simplified recipes , this still seems like a stretch. For a small Polish studio that buys high-quality olive wax , makes short runs of scented candles , and tests fragrance lines for weeks before they go on sale, putting half (or more) of the candle price in the chain's margin simply defeats the entire purpose.
We prefer that part of this amount remains in the quality of raw materials , part supports the development of new fragrances and candle lines , and the rest gives us normal, fair remuneration for work , instead of being just a number in an Excel spreadsheet of a large chain.
6. Instead of supermarkets – festivals, fairs, markets and conscious customers
There is one more very important aspect, namely contact with people .
In the supermarket, a candle is anonymous. It sits on a shelf next to dozens of others. No one will tell you anything about it. No one will tell you: how it's made, why it smells the way it does, how to choose a candle for a specific room or mood, how long it takes to burn for the first time.
At festivals, fairs, markets and markets, we see the faces of people who later light our candles in their homes, we hear stories: it will be a gift for mom, it will be for our first evening together in a new apartment, we can explain the difference between an Oyasumi olive candle and any soy candle or paraffin pfffu from the supermarket , we answer questions about the composition, safety, burning method, and fragrance intensity.
This isn't a "nice-to-have." It's the foundation of how we understand our brand.
7. Does this mean we don't want to earn money?
Of course we do. We run a business, not a hobby crafts club.
But: mass-market sales don't align with Oyasumi's vision. For us, scented candles are more than just something to add to your grocery cart. We leave the supermarkets for those looking for any kind of candle . We create them for those who truly care about what they burn in their homes .
Summary – where to find us?
You already know you won't find Oyasumi on a supermarket shelf. Where can you find us?
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in our online store , where we describe each olive candle in detail
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at fairs, festivals and markets where we can talk to you,
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in good concept stores, places that respect craftsmanship and not just the "cost-margin-turnover" table.
So next time you walk past the candle aisle at the supermarket and ask yourself, "Why isn't Oyasumi here? " the answer is simple: because we chose safety, quality, and authenticity over compromise, half-measures, and mass-market products.