Before I was a candlemaker myself, I was an avid candle consumer. I bought a TON of candles. And if you’ve followed anything about my story up until now, you know my candle business arose from a very expensive unisex perfume/cologne habit I have sustained for a very long time. I'm up in my feelings more than Drake over cologne, sorry mum, that aint changin'!
If you wind the clock back 5yrs, I can count on one hand the number of soy candle brands that were around. They were all offering your usual suspects, French Vanilla, Strawberry Champagne etc etc. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a market for that, but it wasn’t what I wanted, let alone the two masculine men in my house. Can you imagine a 26yr old tradie guy (my brother) having a footy night in with the boys and having a Candy Floss scented bloody candle burning? I think not my friends. I wanted unisex. I wanted non-girly.
So fast forward to 2018, I have my own candle company in Melbourne making candles I actually like. But there’s others too, that I either still buy myself or love what they’re about because they’re doing something against the mainstream.
Here’s my 4 top picks of other candle companies that are absolutely killing it…
Based out of LA, these cool cats are probably my favourite candles from my pre-candlemaking days. I actually discovered them about 5yrs ago on a work trip in Chicago and was hooked. Why? Because it was the first time I saw candles that were different, and that appealed to both men and women. Also their packaging is on point, the branding, everything is just super slick. The only catch is, they only come in one, small size. But if you can track them down, they’re definitely worth a look, especially their Tobacco and Teakwood candle.
Just up the road in Northcote is this awesome powerhouse of a Melbourne candle co, Bare Bros Co. Headed up by two bare butted Melbourne lads and their boss lady, Carly, I love everything these guys are about. They keep it fun, make it cool to be a bloke AND like candles, and to top it off they give 10% of sales to charity. No....they really do. Over $16,000 this year alone to various Aussie charities. They basically make everything you need for a Netflix and chill night; candles, coffee scrubs, massage oils (well...daaaamn). Melbourne made. Aussie ingenuity at its best. I’m about it. Check em out.
I came across this brand after I had just come back from Coachella. I was in an outside mall in LA and came across this candle called “Kush”. Safe to say, it reminds me of my Coachella shenanigans EVERY TIME. Oh how I miss my 20s.. 😉. As the name suggests, they aren’t about that girly candle life and thank god for that. I’m pretty sure you can find their range in Australia now.
I’m going to be honest…the main reason I love these candles are because they’re wrapped in leather. Also they’re Australian. My friend had their Wild Mint candle burning at her backyard bbq and I thought the leather looked really eye catching. It also smelt amazing. I don't do any fresh, herby candles so this was refreshing during Summertime.
So there it is, a list of other candle companies bringing something different to the game and that I am genuinely a fan of.
What are your favourite go-to candles? Hit me up and let me know in the comments
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