Our Story
Hi, I’m Sue - and I’m the light behind Piha Candle Co.
What was once a part time passion for me, is now a full-time pursuit!
I’m a huge fan of scented candles, and for many years I practiced a daily ritual of coming home, lighting a candle, transforming my space and letting my favourite fragrance carry me away.
Being environmentally conscious, I also used to recycle my old candles; scraping out the leftover wax and combining it in recycled jars to make beautiful new ones (that’s where I honed my chandlery skills!).
What I didn’t realise was that the candles I was buying from mass retailers were not quality wax blends and contained paraffin wax, palm wax, petroleum and all sorts of carcinogenic nasties - so these products were not enhancing the wellbeing of me, my loved ones or the planet. So this set me on a quest; to create my own hand-crafted, eco-friendly candles, using the cleanest-burning, most natural wax I could find.
And that’s when I discovered coconut wax.
What I learned was that coconuts are one of the world’s most environmentally sound and sustainable crops. This excited me, as I’d been in Borneo a few years earlier, working to rehabilitate Orangutan, so I had seen the devastation that crop growing (namely palm oil) can have on native forests and wildlife first hand.
Fast forward to today. I have a small, intimate and eco-friendly production line going with my candles. I craft and pour them individually, using 100% pure coconut wax as the base for my aroma blends. The range of fragrances I’ve chosen are precious to me, as they encapsulate the scent and beauty of Piha, on the West Coast of Auckland, where I live and spend my days in awe of nature. Sweeping seascapes that change with the seasons, the vast Waitakere Ranges clad in beautiful native bush, and magnificent sunsets all year round.
I hope my candles bring you the same feeling of joy and wonder, and take you to a very special place, as they do me.
Every day is a wonderful day, especially with a candle.
Piha Candle Co.
P.S As my father would say ‘ I looooove candles!’
Created in his memory xxxxx