Terms of Service

1.Acceptance of these Terms

By visiting the site or placing an order, you agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy, incorporated here by reference. If you do not agree, you may not use the site or purchase our Products.

These Terms operate together with our Shipping Policy and Refund & Returns Policy, all of which are part of this agreement.

2.Eligibility

To place an order, you must be at least eighteen (18) years of age, or the age of majority in your jurisdiction, and able to form a binding contract. You represent that the information you provide is true and complete.

We currently sell and ship to addresses within the United States, including Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories. We may decline service at our discretion and as permitted by law.

3.Orders & account information

When you place an order, you agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information. You are responsible for its accuracy; we are not responsible for delays or misdelivery resulting from incorrect information you provide.

4.Order acceptance & cancellation

Your order is an offer to purchase, subject to our acceptance. No contract is formed until we send an order confirmation or dispatch the Products. An acknowledgment or payment authorization is not, by itself, acceptance.

We may refuse, limit, or cancel any order — even after confirmation — for reasons including product unavailability, pricing or description errors, suspected fraud, or violation of these Terms. If we cancel a paid order, we will refund the affected items to your original payment method.

5.Pricing & payment

All prices are in U.S. dollars and exclude applicable taxes, duties, and shipping, added at checkout where applicable. Prices and availability may change without notice. If a product's correct price is higher than shown, we may contact you before shipping or cancel and notify you.

Payment processing (Stripe)

Payments are processed securely by Stripe, Inc., our third-party processor. We do not store your full card number — Stripe handles it under its own terms. By paying, you authorize us, through Stripe, to charge your payment method for the full order amount including taxes and shipping, and you represent that you are authorized to use it.

6.Shipping

Shipping rates, processing times, carriers, the free-shipping threshold, and territory notes are described in our Shipping Policy, part of these Terms. Risk of loss passes to you upon delivery to the carrier; estimated delivery dates are not guaranteed.

7.Returns & refunds

Our return and refund rights and procedures — including the 14-day window for unused, unopened items, handling of damaged or defective Products, non-returnable items, and how refunds are issued via Stripe — are set out in our Refund & Returns Policy, part of these Terms.

8.Handcrafted products & descriptions

Our Products are handcrafted in small batches using natural ingredients, so color, scent strength, texture, weight, and appearance may vary slightly between batches and from images shown. This natural variation is a characteristic of handmade goods, not a defect.

Skin sensitivity & intended use

Our Products are cosmetic and home-fragrance goods for ordinary external use. They are not drugs and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you have sensitive skin or allergies, review the ingredients and patch-test before use; burn candles responsibly per the label. You assume responsibility for proper use.

9.Intellectual property

The site and all of its contents — the "Essence Soaps & Candles" name, logos, brand elements, text, graphics, photographs, product designs, scent names, layout, and code — are owned by us or our licensors and protected by intellectual-property laws. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, revocable license to use the site for personal shopping only.

You may not copy, reproduce, modify, distribute, frame, scrape, data-mine, or create derivative works from any part of the site, nor use our trademarks, without our prior written permission. All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

10.Acceptable use

You agree to use the site only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You agree that you will not:

• Violate any applicable law, regulation, or third-party right;
• Submit false, misleading, or fraudulent information, or place orders using an unauthorized or fraudulent payment method;
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the site, its servers, or any related systems or data;
• Introduce malware, interfere with the site's operation, or circumvent any security feature, including the Cloudflare Turnstile protection on our forms;
• Use any robot, spider, scraper, or automated means to access the site or harvest data; or
• Use the site or our communications channels to transmit spam, abusive, or unlawful content.

We may suspend or terminate your access for any violation, and may report unlawful conduct to the appropriate authorities.

11.Disclaimer of warranties

Except as expressly stated in our Refund & Returns Policy or as required by non-waivable law, the site and the Products are provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement.

We do not warrant that the site will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain exclusions, so some of the above may not apply to you.

12.Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, in no event will Essence Soaps & Candles or its owners, employees, contractors, suppliers, or agents be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data, or goodwill, arising out of or relating to your use of the site or the Products, under any theory, even if advised of the possibility.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total aggregate liability for any claim relating to the site, the Products, or these Terms will not exceed the amount you actually paid us for the Product(s) giving rise to the claim. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited under applicable law.

13.Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Essence Soaps & Candles and its owners, employees, contractors, and agents from any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from: (a) your breach of these Terms; (b) your misuse of the site or Products; (c) your violation of any law or third-party right; or (d) content you submit through the site.

14.Governing law

These Terms, and any dispute relating to them or to your use of the site or Products, are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and applicable United States federal law, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. The U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply. Subject to the arbitration provision below, the exclusive venue for any matter not subject to arbitration is the courts located in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

15.Dispute resolution & binding arbitration

Please read this section carefully — it affects your legal rights, including your right to bring a claim in court and to participate in a class action.

Informal resolution first

Before initiating any formal proceeding, you agree to first contact us through our contact form or at hello@essencesoaps.com and give us a good-faith opportunity to resolve the matter informally within thirty (30) days.

Binding arbitration

If we cannot resolve a dispute informally, you and we agree that any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms, the site, or the Products will be resolved by final and binding arbitration administered by a recognized arbitration provider under its consumer rules, rather than in court, except as provided below. Arbitration will be before a single arbitrator, the Federal Arbitration Act governs this section, and judgment may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Class-action waiver

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you and we agree that each may bring claims against the other only individually, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims or preside over any class or representative proceeding.

Exceptions & opt-out

Either party may bring an individual small-claims action within that court's jurisdiction, and either party may seek injunctive relief in court to protect its intellectual-property rights. You may opt out of arbitration by written notice to hello@essencesoaps.com within thirty (30) days of first accepting these Terms; if you opt out, the governing-law and venue provisions above apply. If the class-action waiver is found unenforceable as to a claim, that claim proceeds in court.

16.Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date and post the updated Terms here; changes are effective when posted. Your continued use or placement of an order after changes are posted constitutes acceptance. The Terms in effect when you place an order govern that order.

17.General provisions

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, Shipping Policy, and Refund & Returns Policy, are the entire agreement between you and us and supersede prior agreements on the subject. If any provision is held invalid, the rest remain in effect. Our failure to enforce a right is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign them in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

18.Contact us

If you have questions about these Terms, please reach us through our contact form or by email at hello@essencesoaps.com. We are a handcrafted soap and candle business based in Puerto Rico, serving customers across the United States.