Inside the Ingredients and Studio

Inside the Ingredients

Here's what you'll find inside every jar and bar - and why it matters.

I choose each ingredient slowly and with purpose, balancing the science of skincare and candle performance with the poetry of scent and ritual. Every element is here for a reason - to bring comfort, pleasure, and nourishment to the senses.

Essential Oil Blends

At the heart of everything I make is scent. Each Bread & Weather candle and soap is scented with a custom blend of essential oils that I created from scratch and layered slowly, drop by drop, to evoke a feeling, a memory, or a mood.

I choose to work with individual essential oils instead of ready made blends. This allows me full control over the quality, character, and balance of every scent. I use around 30 different essential oils in my studio to create seven unique blends for candles and diffusers and six distinct blends for soaps.

Each oil is a natural material, and like all things from nature, it can vary with the seasons. That’s why I remake and re-test every blend regularly - adjusting wick sizing, testing throw, and fine-tuning the balance to ensure a consistent, beautiful result every time.

You might notice that the blends for candles and soaps are different. That’s deliberate. Through hours of hands-on experimentation, I’ve found that the best combinations for soap don’t always work in a candle, and vice versa. Each medium has its own rhythm, and I build each blend to suit it.

These scents aren’t just smells - they’re small rituals, hand-mixed to support your senses and bring a little more beauty and presence to everyday life.

Candles

Our candles are hand-poured using soy wax, a sustainable, plant-based alternative to paraffin. Soy wax burns slowly and cleanly, giving you longer-lasting light and reducing indoor air pollution.

They’re scented with essential oils, not synthetic fragrance. These oils are distilled directly from plants and retain the therapeutic properties of the original material. Think of them as scent with substance; calming, clarifying, grounding - depending on the blend.

Each candle is poured into amber glass jars with gold lids to protect the scent and provide a warm, timeless glow in your home.

Soaps

Our soaps are made using the traditional cold-process method with bee-friendly Irish rapeseed oil. This oil is rich in skin-loving nutrients and supports biodiversity on a small Irish farm. It’s gentle, moisturising, and deeply nourishing for dry or sensitive skin.

You’ll also find natural ingredients that benefit your skin - like finely ground Irish oats and organic honey in our Oat & Honey bar for soothing and calm, or homegrown bay leaves in our Rose Geranium soap to gently exfoliate while uplifting the senses.

Production & Environment

All Bread & Weather products are made by hand in small batches in our Co. Wicklow studio.

I never test on animals, just friends and family.

Every stage of packaging and shipping is 100% plastic free and either recyclable or compostable. The materials I use reflect the care I hope you’ll feel in the finished product.

I hope to use 100% organic ingredients in future, and already do where possible. For now, I work with what’s most accessible and effective in small-scale production, always prioritising sustainability and integrity.