I am a personal advocate of "me" time, and spending time to rejuvenate my senses and mind is one of my priorities to keep myself sane. A perfect way to complete my daily chores or work in peace and solitude often involves lighting up a candle to get me through. 

The flickering light, blazing heat and distinct aroma and scent that comes from such a small vessel of joy brings me warmth and comfort when I am looking to relax. 

In fact, as I am writing this article, I have also lit up my candle ("Lemon Lavender from Yankee") to accompany me through this journey. 

My personal experience with candles have been wonderful so far. Apart from the candles with extremely sweet scents that I dislike, I've always had a preference for natural, flowery scents. But to each his own right? I'm not too sure about you, but I always gravitate towards scents like lavender, peppermint, berries etc. They almost always transform my home into a flower garden, which makes me feel a little more calm despite the amount of work I have to do. 

If you have always wanted to begin your candle journey, look no further! I will be introducing various Singaporean-based companies (local pride) that produces these wonderful babies for you to bring home without breaking the bank! 

1. To Be Calm

These babies are perfect for a gift, especially Christmas, and they come in a wonderfully made tin that you can use to put your small accessories after your candle has served its time. Speaking of gifts, you will be able to get these babies gift wrapped for free, placed inside a bright red box that will bound to attract the attention of many! For a mere $2, you will be able to wrap it with a white gift box or silk bag (up to you to decide)! 

Popular choices include: 

Journey (White Tea and Ginger)

Journey comes in 5 sizes, and gives you a light and fresh scent with a hint of lemon and pepper, and extra spicy notes of ginger, complemented with the aroma of white tea. Journey in size Luxury Large burns for 80 hours, and contains natural soy and coconut wax, perfect for the environment. To soothe your senses, it is also made with essential oils for the perfect experience, or should I say, journey?

Embrace (Lavender and Neroli)

Embrace is definitely a fan-favourite, for it is made up of both lavender and neroli (extracted from the blossoms of the bitter honey trees). Unlike lavender, neroli is less commonly used in fragrances but they have a sweet and honeyed scent, which is very complementing of the flowery notes from the lavender. Both scents will bound to make you feel so relaxed, even in the most tense situations. 

To Be Calm's exquisite candles start from $18 and they burn at varying durations, with accordance to the sizes. For your convenience, I will list the durations below so you will be able to decide early!

Mini Candle (starts from S$18): 25 hours

Medium (starts from S$37): 40 hours

Luxury Large (starts from S$80) : 80 hours

Deluxe XXL (starts from S$130): 120 hours 

Tea Caddy: price unavailable

2. Diadem Candles 

These environmentally conscious candles will bound to make your heart melt with the efforts that the founders have put in to ensure that their candles remain environmentally-friendly and heartwarming. Their popular recycled bottle series that are made from recycled bottles look and work just as well as a new candle (x2 points)!

Popular choices include:

Lime Basil and Mandarin 

I honestly cannot wait to try this scent for my next buy. What an interesting mix and innovative mix of flavours and scents for this baby! Sour and sweet notes from the lime and mandarin will bound to open up your senses throughout the day! 

For just S$24.90, you can get their 120ml that burns up to 25 hours or S$35.90 for 250ml that burns up to 35 hours. What's more worth it? You do the math! 

Singapore Orchid

A perfect way to match the Singapore theme are none other than the Enamel Mug Candles in the scent Singapore Orchid! These mugs turned candle holders are so nostalgic and serve as a wonderful table top piece for your home and it is simply wonderful how the company prides themselves on doing their part for the environment so why not?

Enamel mug candles are starting from S$39.90 for 300ml (40 hours) and a little more for 400ml (50 hours)! Super worth it!

Oh! Did I fail to mention that they also do affordable refills from S$19.90 for 120ml? Talk about perfect! 

For those who like to get down and dirty, here is a candle-making workshop just for you! 

Sally's Room

Sally's Room is a quaint little establishment that offers candle-making workshops at an affordable price tag. For just 3 hours and S$118, you will be taught the various fundamental candle making skills and elements and be provided with your own container, candle wax and ornament! 

Beyond that, they also offer varying types and levels of candle-making classes, ranging from Beginner to Master classes, so you can be your very own candle expert! 

Tip! Candles are a no-brainer gift and bound to make your loved ones feel touched and happy knowing that the gift was handmade just for them! 

Check out the prices below!