One thermometer, a kitchen table, and a lot of patience.
We're a two-person studio in Frome making candles the slow way — because the fast way never smelled like anything real.
Wick & Ember began with a leftover jam jar and a stubborn problem: every candle we bought promised 'fireside' or 'sea breeze' and delivered a headache. So we bought a bag of soy flakes, a cheap thermometer, and started testing. Badly, at first. The wax tunnelled. The wicks drowned. The kitchen smelled like a scented-marker factory.
It took eleven months and roughly two hundred failed pours before we had one candle we were proud to give away. That candle — cedar, a whisper of smoke — is still on our shelf today as Hearth & Cedar. Everything else grew out of getting that one right.
We'd rather pour forty jars we've smelled ourselves than four thousand we haven't.
Four steps, no shortcuts
- 01
Blend
We mix soy and coconut wax and weigh every fragrance oil by hand — no guessing, no rounding up.
- 02
Pour
Each jar is poured at exactly 54°C so the surface sets smooth, then rested overnight to cure.
- 03
Test
One candle from every batch gets burned end to end. If it tunnels or smokes, the batch doesn't ship.
- 04
Wrap
We pack in recycled board, tuck in a care card, and write the batch number on by hand.
Nadia & Tom
Nadia runs the fragrance bench — she's the nose. Tom keeps the pours consistent and the numbers honest. We share the same little studio, the same kettle, and a rule we've never broken: nothing leaves until we'd happily burn it at home.
test pours
signature scents
soy & coconut wax
Come find your scent
Every jar on the shelf started as a failed pour on our kitchen table. Have a browse — we think you'll find one that feels like home.