10 Black-owned candle brands to shop (and sniff) this season

It’s National Scented Candle Day — yes, that’s a real thing — and while we love a seasonal scent from Bath & Body Works, we found some Black-owned brands that will make you want to swap out “Mahogany Teakwood” for something more colorful this fall. Just like Black culture, these candles offer a variety of aesthetics, price points and experiences, and are guaranteed to enhance your home ambiance — and are always great for gifting, too. 

KEYS Soulcare

Created by Grammy-award-winning singer Alicia Keys, KEYS Soulcare offers more than just skincare products. The holistic brand’s Sage + Oat Milk candle provides a sweet and subtle scent that unlocks relaxation for the perfect soul-nurturing ritual. The Pop Sugar Beauty Award-winning candle costs $39 and is available at keyssoulcare.com and Ulta Beauty.

FORVR Mood

Beauty influencer Jackie Aina is shifting the “strong Black woman” stereotype by prioritizing self-care and luxury through the rich fragrances of her FORVR Mood candles. Encouraging women to be “bougie on a budget,” the brand offers a range of candle scents, sizes and sets retailing for as low as $15. Available at Sephora and forvrmood.com. 

Harlem Candle Company

Harlem Candle Co. is a luxury home fragrance company creating scents that the rich culture and history of Harlem inspires. A manifestation of founder & lifestyle guru Teri Johnson’s love for fragrance, jazz and the famed New York City neighborhood, her candle scents draw inspiration from Black trailblazers like Langston Hughes, Josephine Baker and Frederick Douglass. The full-size candles cost $48 and $17 for travel-size. 

CAVO

Mixing home fragrance and music, this vegan, eco-friendly brand offers candles that inform their own playlist. Sisters and co-founders Naomi and Femi Adeyemo use music as inspiration when creating new candle scents and names like “After a Good Cry” and “Wash Day.” The candles are available exclusively at shopcavo.com for $24.

Frères Branchiaux Candle Co.

What started as a plan of young founders Collin (16), Ryan (13), and Austin Gill (11) to earn more money for video games has turned into an international candle company with retailers across the U.S. and Japan. Selling candles named after classic films like “Love Jones” and “Marvel’s Black Panther” for $25, the brand donates 10% of its profits to homeless shelters nationwide. Find local retailers here. 

Bright Black Candles

This family-owned company is using fragrance as a means of spreading the beauty and brilliance of Blackness. Through intentional candle collections like the “Diaspora collection” and “Genre collection,” the brand honors “cities of Black greatness” like Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Durham, N.C. (USA), Kingston (Jamaica), Paris (France) and Salvador, Bahia (Brazil) as well as “the sounds of Black rhythms, beats, sounds, moves and moods: Bachata, Gospel, Hip Hop, Rock and Yemanja.” These $30 candles are available on brightblackcandles.com.

BLK Sunflower

BLK Sunflower uses both custom fragrance blends and scientific studies to develop relationships between fragrance and emotions, all in an effort to make you feel good.​​ The brand is best known for its “Tall Dark & Handsome” scent — aka “Michael B. Jordan in candle form.” These hand-poured, coconut-soy wax candles range between $19.99 and $45 on blksunflower.com

Alexandra Winbush

Best known for making Issa Rae’s favorite scented candle, owner Brittney Winbush encourages everyone to elevate their routine by indulging in luxury candles. However, the brand offers the full experience. In addition to selling individual candles for $29, it also offers sets, including tea blends and curated playlists that compliment each scent. Available on alexandrawinbush.com. 

Beyond Interior

In a fusion between art and fragrance, Beyond Interior’s various silhouette-shaped candles highlight the endless curves and idiosyncrasies of the female body. The 100% hand-poured beeswax candles are crafted to release negative ions that help neutralize toxins in the air and are available for $30 on beyond-interior.com.

LaRoux Fragrances

Born from a random dream of founder Tyshaia Earnest during the pandemic, LaRoux Fragrances is more than just a family company. The affordable, sustainable and user-focused candles allow “women across generations [to] have a deeper connection to themselves, to their communities and the world.” Purchasing any $25 candle leads to donations to programs and organizations supporting women of color. 

Haniyah Philogene is a multimedia storyteller and Lifestyle reporter covering all things culture. With a passion for all things digital media, she goes above and beyond to find new ways to tell and share stories.

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