Hot Stuff Candle Co. is a line of clean-burning, eco-conscious candles by McKenzie Hare Design, LLC. Each candle is derived from a custom blend of wax and health conscious fragrance oils. They are hand poured, and encased by either secondhand pieces or hand made, pit fired ceramic pieces. Due to the inconsistencies in coloration from the firing process, each ceramic vessel has its own uniqueness.

Because the ceramic pieces are pit fired, they are not glazed and therefore unsealed, making these pieces not food safe. So please take note not to use these to eat from. However, they are ideal for a second life of being a planter, a bowl for trinkets and jewelry, or just decorative use, the possibilities are endless. If none of these appeal to you, you have my blessing to regift the ceramic piece, to pass it on to give them a new purpose with someone else!

Why is HotStuff Candle Co special?

The idea of starting HotStuff Candle Co came to mind after my father, who suffered from Dementia, passed and my mother moved to an Alzheimers facility in 2020. I single handedly cared for my mother in our family home during the first year of her decline, so I experienced the effects of it first hand and learned how to interact with someone who is affected by it. It consumed much of my life and thoughts, and it has completely changed the way I view preserving and valuing your mental health. I toured close to 16 Alzheimers facilities before choosing the best place for my mom. Both fortunately and unfortunately, I have a number of family members and parents of my friends who had the experience of moving a loved one into a facility who gave some good advice. Having visited so many places I come across so many people who have the disease and even more loved ones that are also affected by their disease.

Regularly visiting my mom, I’ve become friendly with a number of the other residents, some of which are meeting me for the first time every single time I see them, but are so cheerful and chatty! Then one day their photo is at the front desk in their memory. After spending 90% of my time caring for my mom, in 2021 I finally had freedom with my time and was met with wondering how being an artist, creating artwork, could have greater value and even attempt to make a difference after focusing only on caring for someone else.

In honor of my mom, $1.00 is donated from each individual candles’ purchase to the Alzheimer’s Association. These funds are donated quarterly.

While planning a series surrounding the subject of Alzheimers, I considered using wax/candles and fell down a rabbit hole. Candles are used to celebrate the passing of time as with birthdays, and to commemorate the passing of a loved one, varying between religions and cultures. I found during my research, candles also have a “memory”, referring to the ring that occurs from prematurely extinguishing the first light of the candle. (More on that later.) So combining my practice of ceramics and the sought after greater purpose for my artwork, HotStuff Candle Co was created.

As I spoke to older relatives about family traditions, I learned that my mothers side of the family would make all of their own candles used in the home! Instead of pouring them into a vessel, they used TP rolls which they would remove before use. (Ironic connection to the TP Crisis of 2020.)

On the “memory” of candles: The first burn of the candle is the most important. If you do not let the candle burn long enough it will not melt the top layer of wax all the way to the edge of its container. Once it cools, it is left with a “memory ring” showing where the candle stopped melting from being blown out too soon. Because of this, that the wax will never melt outwards to the rim past the memory ring. It will only melt downwards and you will have wasted much of your candle.

It is 2022 and there still is yet to be a cure to stop the progression of Alzheimers. It is usually 10 years into its progression before the patient is formally diagnosed. This is why it is so hard to deter it early on. For more information about the signs of a memory related disease, you can look here. While there is no cure, there are many solutions to slow the progress and lessen the side effects to make their life and your relationship with them easier.

Thank you so much for visiting the site, and for your potential purchase! It means so much to me to be able to help the little bit that I can. If you’re interested in more of my artwork, you can go to my main shop in the main menu at the top. Or if you just like watching people making art, you can watch me behind the scenes on my youtube channel linked at the top of the page.