About Us

James McGuinness, Founder of Bristol Melts 

Hi there!

I'm James, the 'founder' of Bristol Melts (honestly I hate that title but I don't know what else to call myself!) and surprise surprise *Cilla Black voice*, I'm also from Bristol, UK. 

Thank you so much for visiting Bristol Melts, a company that started from very humble beginnings on a stove top in my Dad's kitchen!

I truly believe that fragrance/smell is one of the most powerful senses we have and that smells are imbedded in our memories. For instance, a perfume my sister wore in my childhood immediately transports me back to evenings on the sofa watching Friends whenever I smell it! That's one of the reasons I started making Wax Melts in the first place, I wanted to recreate my favourite scents that no other company seemed to be doing and wanted to gift them to my friends and family as Christmas presents, the company just developed from there.

As a company I want to offer as much variety as possible, we'll never be just 5 scents with the added 2 or 3 at seasonal periods, I get bored too easily! We will however always be the best quality, I have done endless amounts of research into every aspect of the business; waxes, colourants, fragrance oils, wicks, glitters, packaging, plastics, biodegradables, cardboard types, label glues, tapes, ribbons. You name it and I've probably looked into it, and having come from a fraud & legal background, there's been many nights spent reading numerous legislation and laws to make sure I'm always up to date and covered legally.

So what are our 'Ethos & Values'?

  • Vegan Friendly & Cruelty Free - I love animals so I'll be damned if I were to be adding anymore to animal cruelty. 
  • Eco-friendly (wherever possible) - I have tried my absolute best to ensure we are as eco-friendly as possible. For instance - our loose snap bars and samples come in glassine bags which are biodegradable, our clamshells are from recycled plastics and can be recycled again, our glitters are changing over to biodegradable glitter made from vegetable starch (Industrial composting (EN13432, EN14995, ASTM D6400, ISO17088), Home composting environments (TÜV OK compost HOME), Waste Water biodegradation approved to ISO15986). We also try our best to re-use our box fillers from suppliers such as our biodegradable peanuts (put under warm water for some at home magic!) to air-bags. I will NEVER bulk purchase plastic bubble wrap, so if you do receive some in your package then I can guarantee it was just being reused from one of our suppliers deliveries. 
  • Luxury & Affordable - now I know what you're thinking, how can you be luxury but affordable?! Well it's actually quite simple, I aim to offer the very best products on the market using the very best ingredients using the best suppliers that I can, but I also will make sure that I don't charge an arm and a leg in the process. However, by using the very best it does mean that prices can seem high, the difference between what my 'high' prices are compared to the likes of these high end 'luxury' fashion brands is that I would never charge £200 for a candle that cost me £5 to make!
  • UK Made & Hand Poured - everything we sell is lovingly hand poured by me in Bristol - that's all wax melts, candles, room sprays, soaps, lotions, reed diffusers, all still poured in my dad's house! Of course, our wax burners & home accessories aren't made by me, but I ensure that these products are the very best on the market and will be bought from UK suppliers (cause honestly who can get their head around EU import laws post Brexit?!).
  • Finally - but by no means least - Test, Improve & Learn - I went into this business very much of the mentality that I wanted to be clued up as much as possible because I believe with knowledge comes great products. However, what I didn't realise was that testing was just as important as having the knowledge behind it, Wax Melt & Candle Making is often described as being science based and it very much is the case, any variable can go slightly different and cause the whole product to collapse. Therefore, any product you buy from Bristol Melts, will have been personally tested by me. Every wax melt batch has been melted and tested, every candle batch has had a candle tested, any soaps or lotions have been tried by me, any diffusers I've had one in every room of the house and I've carried room sprays around with me for months to use wherever I go! I would never sell a product onto you that I didn't have 100% faith in that it is the best product I was able to offer. That's not to say I won't make mistakes, what works for me might not work for you, certain scents might be TOO strong, or ones I didn't want to be overbearing you wish were stronger, that's why I am always grateful for your feedback as it helps me to learn & improve on any issues. 

Well there we have it, thank you so much for reading if you managed to get this far! I hope the above wasn't too boring but I wanted to make sure I covered as much as possible to let you in behind the scenes and to understanding what goes on inside my head when it comes to Bristol Melts. If this is your first time buying from us or even if you're a returning customer, thank you so much for choosing Bristol Melts, honestly it means the world and I'll continue to happy dance to each and every order. 

James x