These 12 Arizona-based candle makers are lit (See what we did there?)

Discover locally made (and terrifically smelling) gifts at these 12 candle makers and shops in Arizona. 

There’s never been a better time to be a candle fan residing in Arizona. There are so many Grand Canyon State-based brands that are churning out some truly great and one-of-a-kind creations. Plus, the holiday season is weeks away, and candles make great gifts!

Here are 12 Arizona-based candle makers and shops to check out.

1. Light & Bark Candles

In this Old Town Scottsdale shop, visitors can whip up their own custom-scented candles. Customers can choose from a plethora of scent oils and create a unique blend in the store. They also can purchase signature scents like spring bloom, but first, coffee, and bottomless mimosa. Light & Bark also pours seasonal scents like Cozy Season, which is a mix of pumpkin spice, marshmallow, and cider.

All of the candles here are made with 100 percent soy wax and cotton wicks. As an added bonus, a certain percentage of the proceeds support dog rescues and shelters.

2. The Candle Company

This Scottsdale-based candle company—aptly called The Candle Company—was founded by a husband-and-wife team after she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder. The brick-and-mortar Scottsdale location opened in 2023.

Candles here come in plenty of food scents, like watermelon, warm baked apple pie, vanilla bourbon, sugar cookie, and rosemary mint. They are made out of a premium food-grade paraffin beeswax blend.

3. Koko’s Candles

After Janeen Kokodynski lost her one-month-old son Matthew to a congenital heart defect in 2005, she started to fundraise for the Children’s Heart Foundation in his honor. In 2017, she created Koko’s Candles to help out the foundation in another way. A portion of the profits from each candle benefits the foundation. Each candle also comes with a pewter heart to remind customers that they are loved. Those same hearts were passed out at his funeral.

Some scents listed on the website include lavender, Sedona sunset, and pumpkin souffle. Customers can order custom lid and comfort candles for those dealing with grief.

4. Scottsdale Candle Company

Scottsdale Candle Company takes empty (mostly) booze bottles and repurposes them into soy wax candles with its signature scent featuring tangy grapefruit with citrus, peach, and a hint of vanilla.

Owner Mikyla was working in the nightlife industry and saw so many beautiful bottles getting thrown out and decided to repurpose them. Each of the bottles is hand cut—the tops are typically removed to create a vessel for the candle wax—and then ground, smoothed, and polished. You can find candles made out of bottles of Bulleit Bourbon, Grey Goose, Hennessy, and Dom Perignon. Customers can even have custom candles made out of their old bottles.

The company estimates that it has recycled around 25,000 bottles. 

Photo courtesy of Scottsdale Candle Company.

5. Bisbee Soap and Sundry

The Bisbee Soap & Sundry company is perhaps best known for its high-quality soaps, but its candles are noteworthy, too. Find mostly locally influenced scents like Bisbee blue, gingerbread, harvest, and even creosote—the plant that makes the air smell oh-so-fresh after a desert rain. 

6. Arizona Craft & Candle

Arizona Craft & Candle’s scents are entirely inspired by desert surroundings. It offers scents like monsoon, cactus and jade, white sage, and blue agave. All of the products are handcrafted in Tucson. Many of the soy candles are in clear glass jars and feature a braided cotton wick.

7. WickIt Love Candle

Chandler, Arizona-based WickIt Love Candle company is run by a mother and daughter team that wanted to create candles that were free of chemicals. Daughter Zoe struggled with headaches from candles and other scented products and wanted to create alternatives. WickIt Love is what they came up with. The pair creates small-batch soy candles that are free of dyes and additives. Enjoy scents like Autumn Nights (a mix of apple, maple, and bourbon) and Serendipity (a mix of grapefruit and mangosteen).

8. Mame Soy Candles

Since 2011, Megan Hull has handcrafted luxurious candles from 100 percent soy wax and based on what she loves. Expect creative scents in gorgeous packaging, like the Pink Peppercorn, Black Dahlia, and Rosewater candle that’s wrapped in a pink label. The holiday collection features all-black candle vessels in scents like white grapefruit, tuberose, and musk.

You might have even seen these candles elsewhere. Mame makes private label candles for The Phoenician Resort, LGO, PXG, and Manor. 

Photo courtesy of Mame.

9. Yuma Candle Company

Located in Yuma on Main Street, the Yuma Candle Company makes hand-poured soy candles. Some come in very creative scents, like gunpowder or brisket. The Yuma-specific collection features scents like cactus flower, date farm, cotton fields, and flower market.

10. Crass Candle Company

This company’s name says it all. Customers can expect to find a variety of hand-poured soy candles with clever names.

One of this woman-owned company’s latest offerings? The Basic Bitch, a blend of cinnamon, vanilla and pumpkin, with a tagline of “What more do you need?” Just in time for Halloween is the Black Flame candle, which features black wax that’s just perfect for the spooky season.

Photo courtesy of Crass Candle Company.

11. Bee Rooted Candle Co.

Prescott’s Bee Rooted Candle Co. features candles made primarily with beeswax. Many of the custom blends found here are unique to Prescott. Find candles like the Prescott pines—a blend of pine needle, fir needle, cedar, and amber—or the Arizona sunrise, which is a mix of gardenia, geranium, orange, and grapefruit essential oils.

12. Candle Chemistry

The make-your-own candles trend is quite a thing, and Candle Chemistry is a big part of that. With three locations in the Valley, they’re by far the largest of this type of business in the Valley.

Here, you can make your own special scent. You’ll see plenty of couples on dates and large friend groups creating custom scents from over 100 scent oils. Oils range from typical aromas like vanilla bean to inventive offerings like bubble bath and Earl Grey tea. If you’d rather not whip up your own, Candle Chemistry does sell a few scents.

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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