12 Local Candle Companies to Shop This Fall
It is officially autumn in Milwaukee. The weather has cooled and the days are getting shorter-- it’s a great time for a cozy night in. Create ambiance in your space and fill your home with incredible scents with a candle (or three!) from some of Milwaukee’s many makers.
BUSHYL is bringing in the season with a fall collection of both candles and soaps. With scents like mulled cider, apple harvest, foliage and hunting lodge, you can make every room in your home smell like autumn. They offer their candles in tins as well as larger ceramic vessels. You can order online and get it shipped to your home or pick it up at their Third Ward studio.
Becky of Wick and Bean creates hand-poured candles out of her home in Milwaukee’s Washington Heights neighborhood. Her scents are created around the best of what each season has to offer. The fall collection includes the scent Sweater Weather, with notes of Fresh Mint, Apple, Jasmine and Musk; the scent Cinnamon Chai with notes of Cinnamon, Cardamom, Orange Peel and other autumnal aromas.
Self-proclaimed “Candle Queen” Danielle White is owner of Dwight Candle Co. White’s store features over 15 autumnal scents including hazelnut coffee, pumpkin chai latte, white birch and more. Candles are offered in 4, 9, 16 and 22 ounce containers, so you can pack a small one into a hostess gift and use the larger ones as a statement on your coffee table.
Copper Wings Candle Co. has been featured on Apartment Therapy, The Strategist and others. Even celebrities Quincy and Rashida Jones call themselves fans!. Each unique scent-- Bury Me in Glitter, Queen of Hearts, Liquid Gold and more-- come in a reusable glass jar and feature wooden wicks that crackle as they burn.
Perhaps the most resourceful business on the list, LitMKE was created in 2015 when owner Mike Bate was working as a bartender and noticed just how many cans and glass bottles were getting tossed away. Customers can choose their liquor bottle or can of choice and fill it with one of a variety of scent options, including Oak Moss and Amber, Mango Papaya, Blue Volcano and more.
CTOAN Co. is owned by Jodyann Morgan, a queer Black woman with her wife, Chaya Milchtein, a.k.a. TikTok’s MechanicShopFemme. Morgan’s candles are in the shape of bodies of all shapes, sizes and colors. She believes that everyone should be able to see their bodies, or the bodies of people they love, in accessible art.
Blossom Candle Co. is a lifestyle brand that aims to create elevated scents customers can use in every room of their home. The Gratitude candle features a blend of fresh flowers and light coconut with a musk and sandalwood base. The Prosperity candle features the scents of black tea steeped with orange and fresh crumpets. The Black woman owned shop offers shoppers two different sizes of candles. You can catch Blossom Candle Co. at a local farmer’s or maker’s market.
Milwickee candles are made with coconut wax poured into simple rocks glasses that can be reused after the candle is finished. The shop features seven core scents, ranging from an earthy green scent in their forest park candle to citrus and rose scents in the old country candle. You can order Milwickee Candles online or check them out in person at one of their several retailers.
Slow Burn’s bright hexagonal beeswax taper candles would make a lovely addition to any autumn tablescape. The beeswax in each of the 10” candles is largely sourced in Wisconsin. If you can’t get enough of Slow Burn’s scents, you’re in luck. They also make soaps, solid perfumes and fragrance oils.
Milwaukee Candle Company owner Kevin Gouzwaard created the company’s first line of candles, The Hometown Collection, to explore the idea of scent and memory connection. The Milwaukee themed range includes scents like Brewery Tour, Brady Street Days, Bradford Beach and more.
Big White Yeti Co. sells soy wax candles made with pure fragrance oils, essential oils and cotton wicks in scents like Cardigan Climate, with notes of apples and spice and fall weather, and North Woods Cabin, that smells of fir, balsam, moss and cedar. These oh-so-fall scents are just some of their many options that come in either 6 ounce tins or 8 ounce jars.
Get In On The Fun…
Inspired by Milwaukee’s many candle makers? Well now you can get in on the fun. Glass Note Candle Bar, located in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood, offers the candle making experience from start to bottom-- choose scents you love from over 100 options, mix them to create complexity, combine with melted wax and pour into a Milwaukee-themed vessel. The process takes between two and three hours, during which you can indulge in some craft cocktails and enjoy the view of surrounding historic buildings.
