Local Candle Brands to Shop for Your 2022 Holiday Gifting

Surround yourself with the warm scent of candles this Christmas

Whether you’re preparing for a gathering with your favorite people or planning on spending some quiet time alone, candles are a perfect holiday companion. 

Restorative and relaxing, candles are scientifically proven to generate positive health benefits, reduce stress, and help improve self-awareness. What exactly is the science behind this? The low light from the flames creates a soft illumination that calms us down and puts us into a meditative state.

A perfect gift to cultivate self-care, you can opt to give candles to your loved ones, or consider this a special treat for yourself this festive season. Go on and treat yourself: Here, a list of local shops where you can find the best candles for gifting.

L’Abondance

For those who love scents inspired by Europe, L’Abondance offers candles, wax melts, interior fragrances, and personal care products. (These are curated in small batches by their half-French, half-Filipino founder.) 

L’Abondance candles are made of a vegetable wax blend of coconut, soy, and beeswax, infused with fragrance oils that are phthalate-free, toxin-free, and paraben-free. Here, you can find a variety of sizes, too: wax melts (₱300), 3.5 oz (₱400), 6 oz (₱900), 9 oz (₱1,200), and 12.5 oz (₱1,600). 

L’Abondance’s “Nöel” collection has three options to choose from. Sapin is a fresh scent with notes of resin, crisp air, fresh snow, amber, and pine tree bark. Tarte au Pomme has a sweet gourmand scent with notes of granny smith apple, dried ginger, freshly grated nutmeg, and cinnamon. Chalet has the warm woodsy scent of cedarwood, pine, leather, Madagascar vanilla, and frankincense. These scents are available as wax melts and a 9-oz candle, but if you want the full set, there are linen spray and hand soap versions as well. The thoughtfully designed packaging of L’Abondance has an artisanal flair that is perfect for gifting.

Ilum Studios

In Ilum Studios, every scent is made meticulously by blending fragrance oils together to capture the essence of Christmas. The brand’s holiday collection “Gilded” creates the perfect ambiance, whether it’s for setting the mood for a late-night celebration or for snuggling under the sheets as the months grow colder. The available holiday scents include December, Gala, Reverie, Sweater Weather, Wonderland, and Woodlands, packaged in jars that are carefully designed with intricate Christmas scenery.

Feeling like a warm embrace, one of the favorites is Sweater Weather with the cozy scents of cardamom milk, frothed cream, almond tree blossoms, honey toasted oats, Violette leaf, praline woods, shea musk, and sandalwood. They also brought back Reverie, one of their bestselling scents inspired by the serene calm of Japanese gardens lit by dancing lights. It has meditative notes of hinoki, incense, palo santo, marjoram, bayberry, frankincense, and myrrh. Ilum Studios’ 3.5-oz candles are priced at ₱400 while the 7-oz items are priced at ₱685 (complete with a box packaging). In addition, as an Instagram-only exclusive, Ilum Studios is offering limited edition Gilded duos housed in beautiful golden jars for ₱1,550, packed in a special box with ribbon and paper bag.

Lumina Candles PH

This shop hopes that every lit Lumina Ph candle ignites the light within, reminding you of your innate goodness. This brand’s candles carry affirmations to inspire during the days when you need encouragement. The I am Loved candle—with its comforting scents of vanilla, rose, and jasmine—has the intention of reminding you that the greatest love can be found inside your heart, flowing with abundance from the Universe. If you need help with calming your mind or with relieving anxiety, the I am Peace candle (with lavender, eucalyptus, sandalwood, and vanilla) is a good choice, too.

Lumina Candles PH’s hand-poured candles are made from 100% soy wax with phthalate-free fragrances. The 30 g scented candles are priced at ₱130 and come in a tin can-type packaging, while their 170 g scented candles are priced at ₱525 with a wooden wick and come with boxed packaging. You may light these candles during meditation or journal writing, trusting that all will be well.

Home Studio Scents

Offering different thematic candle series, Home Studio Scents has something for everyone. Its premium, hand-poured candles are available as gift sets all year long with prices ranging from ₱510 to ₱1,150. These can be ordered exclusively through the Home Studio Scents Instagram account. 

For the White Series Box, you have the option to choose one candle (4 oz or 10 oz) and a linen spray (50 ml or 100 ml), pick from the available scents: Lost Letters, Sunglow, and Moonlight Florist. For the Original Box, meanwhile, the available scents for candles are Bedtime Stories, Clean Sheets, Baker Street, Campfire, Sunday Brunch, Into the Woods, Starry Night, The Cabin, Morning Brew, Aroma Café, and Dirty Chai Latte.

This holiday season, Home Studio Scents even curated a luxe candle trio set called A Night Before Christmas priced at ₱2,390. It comes with the light floral Mistletoe Champagne (tart berries, wild honey, Brazilian orange, pink currant, sparkling citrus, rose petals, blackberry, buttery toffee, and iced vanilla), the gourmand and nutty By the Fire (fig tea, nutmeg, pumpkin puree, English walnut, butter, cocoa powder, cinnamon, vanilla cream), and woodsy Winter Snowflake (cashmere woods, black pepper, balsam, oakmoss, crystal pine, vanilla amber, spearmint leaves, and peppermint).

Suma Home

Made for those who enjoy the simple pleasures of being at home, the minimalist aesthetic of Suma Home ought to resonate with those who love Scandinavian interiors. This brand’s hand-poured candles are made of 100% soy wax packaged in gold tin cans. Here, the 200 ml candles are regularly priced at ₱950 but the shop has ongoing discounts for the holiday season.

Savor the scents of Christmas with Suma Home’s limited-edition gift box. The package comes with the complete set of holiday candles: Warm December (peppermint and mocha), Feeling Festive (pine, cinnamon, and orange), Pine Forest (pine, cedarwood, and bergamot), and Winter Village (a blend of peppermint, ylang-ylang, and lemon). 

Which candle scents sparked your interest? Whether you opt for a single candle or a full-on candle haul, may you find the perfect match to share the gift of light this Christmas!