Refund policy
Refunds & Returns
Because our products are handcrafted in small batches — and because balms go directly onto your skin and candles are burned — all sales are final. We're not able to accept returns, refunds, or exchanges.
Please read the ingredients first. Every product page lists the full ingredient deck — no "fragrance," no hidden blends, no exceptions. If you have a known sensitivity, check the list before you order. For balms, patch test when your order arrives: a small amount on your inner arm, then wait 24 hours. This is the same advice we'd give a friend, and it's worth the day.
Scent and texture are personal. Our products are scented only with botanicals, so they smell like what's in them — which means softer and less uniform than a synthetic fragrance, and that's the point. Texture and scent throw vary with the season and the batch: that's what happens when a formula is real ingredients rather than stabilizers. We can't offer returns or exchanges based on preference, so if you're unsure, start small.
A note on warm months (May–September)
Balms. Tallow melts. That's not a defect — it's the ingredient behaving exactly like the natural fat it is.
Between roughly May and September, your balm may arrive soft, runny, or fully liquid. If it does: put it in the fridge for a few hours and it will re-solidify. The texture may set slightly differently than it started, and because our balms are whipped, a re-set jar can look less full than when it left us. We fill every jar to the top. What you're seeing is air leaving, not product missing.
The ingredients are unaffected. A melted balm is the same balm.
Candles. Natural wax is sensitive to heat too. In summer, a candle may arrive with a softened or uneven surface, small beads of oil on top, or wax that has pulled slightly from the glass. Let it sit at room temperature, away from sun, and the surface will re-set. Frosting, faint cracks, and minor color shift are normal characteristics of natural wax — they don't affect how it burns.
We pack with the season in mind and coordinate with our shipping team on our end, but we can't control the temperature of a truck in July. Priority shipping shortens the trip and is worth considering in summer. (Note that shipping speed affects transit time, not the time it takes us to make and pack your order.)
If you order in warm weather, you're accepting that it may show up soft. We'd rather say that plainly up front than surprise you.
If something goes wrong in transit
Two things we will always make right:
- Your order arrived damaged — a broken jar, a cracked lid, a shattered candle vessel.
- Your order was lost in the mail — it never showed up, or tracking stalled out and it never arrived.
Email hello@alcheme.earth with your order number, and a photo if it's damage. We'll take care of it.
To be clear, since it's the most common question: heat-related softening isn't damage. A melted balm or a re-settled candle surface is covered in the section above. This section is for broken glass and orders that don't arrive at all.