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Naturally Bright: 10 Sustainable Candle Brands To Shop

Good-smelling, nice-looking and clean-burning, the artfully crafted candles from these eco-friendly brands will turn your home into a dreamy scentscape

By María Elisa Gómez Sosa

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Home is where the heart is, and where our favourite candles glow. Whether to create a cosy ambiance, set the tone for a relaxation ritual, or simply add decoration, candles make any space look, feel and smell more inviting. And if they’re made with clean ingredients, all the better.

We share our list of top brands from around the world that have harnessed the power of the flame for a planet-friendly burn, a heavenly smell and a homely feel – all in one chic package.

Mala

Aiming to create a deliciously scented burn without taking a toll on the environment, Mala began in 2019 as a side hustle for Canadian creator Melody Lim, and has since evolved into a fully sustainable business. Using 100% vegan ingredients (such as natural coconut soy wax, essential oils and wood wicks), producing in small batches and pouring the candles into fully recyclable tin vessels, the brand’s collections offer a fragrant addition to your home that’s zero-harm and zero-waste. Plus, for every candle purchased, Mala plants a tree as a way of giving back. Choose from the hearty Cabin Fever, the sweet Matcha Latte, or their bestselling Golden Hour – or simply take their quick scent test to find the perfect aroma for your space.

Voluspa

If you have even the slightest candle obsession, you’ve probably burnt a Voluspa before – and if you’re not yet a candle lover, this will be the brand to ignite your passion. Famous for their rich and intoxicating (yet not overpowering) aromas, as well as their stunning, ornate vessels, Voluspa candles are a crowd favourite when it comes to fragrance, aesthetics and sustainability; all candles are hand-poured in California using a natural coconut wax blend and hand-set wicks, free from sulphates, phthalates and parabens. With an impressive burn time of 100 hours, you’ll only need one powerful scent to cover the entire season. Their bestseller is Santiago Huckleberry, a powerful combination of huckleberry, vanilla and crushed sugar cane, but given their wide variety of fragrances – from floral to spiced, woody, fresh and aquatic – you’re sure to find your aromatic soulmate somewhere in there.

CaiCai Handmade

Looking for more than a nice scent? This Texas-based brand makes truly unique works of candle art. From a seasonal acorn-shaped candle to a set of stackable blocks, an elegant, flowing silky pillar, or a stunning nest and tree set (perfect for gift-giving), CaiCaiHandmade takes inspiration from Japanese craft traditions to create quirky, one-of-a-kind decorative candles using non-toxic natural soy wax, organic white beeswax and 100% cotton wicks. Some feature gentle aromas while others are completely unscented, but let’s be honest: they’re so visually stunning, you won’t want to burn them anyway.

Casa Viviana

More independent artisan than full-on ‘brand’, Casa Viviana is the inspiring work of Doña Viviana, who comes from a 300-year-old family line of candlemakers in Oaxaca, Mexico. She creates delicate 100% beeswax candles by hand, pouring over 1,000 individual layers, one by one, to allow for longer burn times. Plus, her intricate floral designs, while unscented, exude the comforting aromas of honey and wood fire even when they aren’t burning.

Suki Home

Handmade in Melbourne, Suki Home candles provide a lot more than a nice scent. In addition to using a higher-quality soy wax for a longer, more even burn, the brand’s designs – from a ‘couple’ candle to wavy pillars, cute bubbles and cool Aztec faces – are sculptural, quirky and sure to become a talking point for your guests. And even though Suki Home offers all their candles in seven fragrances and ten colours, you can still personalise them further by requesting a specific fragrance and colour blend.

Omori Warosoku

Long before candles were mass-produced and made with oil-based waxes, Japan had wa-rousoku – handcrafted candles made from Ha-ze (urushi or sumac) tree seeds. Today Omori Warosoku, run by 6th-generation candlemaker Taro and his son, is one of the last remaining workshops to employ these dying skills – meticulously applying layers of wax by hand, according to 300-year-old techniques, to create these famous non-drip, brightly flamed, uniquely shaped candles. If you happen to stop by their workshop in the small town of Uchiko in Ehime prefecture, you can watch the crafting process live. Everyone else can purchase their small-batch candle sets online.

Ponoie

This Avignon-born candle boutique mixes two essential elements for any luxurious relaxation ritual: candles and flowers. To bring customers closer to the scents and colours of southern France, they craft their signature product using eco-friendly, 100% vegetable-based, GMO-free waxes and adorn them with handcrafted sprinklings of locally grown dried flowers and herbs. Their catalogue includes a refreshing blend of lemon and cedar, a calming lavender aroma and a holiday-inspired version featuring orange peels and cinnamon sticks. Want to add a dash of creativity to your wellness ritual? They also sell a DIY candle kit so you can create your own decorative piece.

Siblings

While many candle brands base their clean approach on natural ingredients and reusable vessels, Siblings takes it to another, even more responsible level. Not only do they use a 100% natural blend of coconut and soy wax with non-toxic fragrances and essential oils, but they also make sure you can burn your favourite candle over and over again without any waste. Their candle refills, which come in 100% compostable bags made of 99% plant-based materials, let you pour your own candle in three simple steps, giving new life to those old empty jars or mugs you may have lying around. Plus, they offer a wide range of scents to choose from and a 60-hour burning time to complete the full ‘reuse, refill, relax’ cycle.

Keep Candles

Another great waste-free approach is to deliver candles in containers you’ll actually reuse; after all, who really repurposes those generic glass vessels from conventional companies? Keep Candles couldn’t agree more. This British brand smartly pours their natural coconut and rapeseed wax candles, scented with essential oils, into food-safe ceramic mugs, glass tumblers and even egg holders, so you have a new homeware addition once the wick has fully burnt away. All candles are available in four calming and refreshing aromas, which makes them perfect gifts. Who doesn’t love a gift that keeps on giving?

Happy Organics

Part of a third generation of beekeepers, Jessica González founded the Happy Organics project as an extension of her family’s tradition. From her base in California, she handcrafts 100% beeswax candles that are not only cruelty- and pesticide-free, but also uniquely designed and delightfully honey-scented. Her iconic farm-produce-themed candles are individually shaped using moulds cast from real fruits and veggies, making them a great decorative addition to the kitchen, even or a unique, clean-burning cake topper. The (quite literal) cherry on top? The candles’ air-purifying properties are particularly beneficial for people with asthma or allergies, so they’re great to light any time – birthday party or not.