Brooklyn Candle Studio
Quick verdict: This is the one you buy when the jar has to look good on the shelf and you still don’t want paraffin in the room. Vegan soy wax, cotton wicks, phthalate-free fragrance, from a founder who has deliberately kept the company small and unowned by anyone else. What it hasn’t got is a single outside certification. Our rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Who they are
Tamara Mayne started making candles as gifts in 2012, moved to an Etsy shop, and founded Brooklyn Candle Studio in 2013. A 10,000-candle order from Urban Outfitters in 2015 forced the jump to a real studio and staff. She’s talked publicly about turning down outside investment and staying small on purpose, which is why the ownership answer here is as clean as it is.
What they get right
The design is the product, and that’s a legitimate thing to want. Most of this category asks you to accept a slightly worse-looking object as the price of not burning petroleum. Brooklyn Candle Studio doesn’t. The minimalist vessels are the reason it gets given as a gift, and there’s no ethical cost to preferring a nice one.
100% domestically grown soy wax with cotton wicks. No paraffin, so none of the petroleum-byproduct question, and cotton wicks sidestep the metal-core wick issue entirely.
Vegan across the range, which beeswax brands like Fontana can’t offer.
Woman-owned, independent, and staying that way by choice. No fund, no parent, no exit pending.
Refills exist, so the vessel you paid for the design of doesn’t become landfill when the wax runs out.
Where they fall short
No certifications at all. Not MADE SAFE, not B Corp, not Leaping Bunny. The soy content, the phthalate-free fragrance and the vegan claim are all the company’s own account. That’s the single reason this sits at the bottom of our candle ratings despite being a lovely product, and it’s the honest reading of our criteria rather than a knock on the candle.
Phthalate-free is a subtraction, not a disclosure. You’re told one class of thing isn’t in the fragrance. You aren’t told what is. Grow Fragrance prints the full list, and this doesn’t.
You’re paying for the vessel. Around $34, and a meaningful share of that is the ceramic or the glass rather than the wax or the scent. Fine if the object is part of what you wanted. Poor value if you just want candlelight, where Slow North does more for less.
Soy behaves like soy. It frosts, and it’ll tunnel if you cut the first burn short.
What they sell and what it costs
Candles around $34 across several vessel collections, plus refills, matches and other home fragrance. Poured in Brooklyn.
Who it’s actually for
Buy this as a gift, or buy it when the candle is going somewhere people will see it. It clears the clean bar that matters most, which is no paraffin and no phthalates, and it looks better doing it than anything else in our roundup.
If you want an independent body to have checked the ingredients, Fontana is MADE SAFE certified and cheaper. If you want the full list printed, Grow Fragrance. If you want the cleanest burn, Keap.
Deals and discounts
No affiliate relationship on our side. Refills are the cheaper route once you own the vessel.
Related reading
- The Best Non-Toxic Candles That Actually Smell Good
- Do Candle Wicks Still Contain Lead?
- Is Paraffin Wax Actually Toxic?
Frequently asked questions
Does Brooklyn Candle Studio have any certifications?
No. There’s no MADE SAFE, B Corp or Leaping Bunny certification on the brand or its products. The 100% soy wax, cotton wicks, vegan formulation and phthalate-free fragrance are all stated by the company rather than verified by an outside body. It’s the main thing holding the rating down.
Are Brooklyn Candle Studio candles vegan?
Yes. The range uses soy wax with cotton wicks and contains no beeswax or other animal-derived ingredients, so it works where a beeswax candle wouldn’t. That claim is the company’s own, since no third party certifies it.
Who owns Brooklyn Candle Studio?
Founder Tamara Mayne, who started it in 2013 after selling candles on Etsy. It’s woman-owned and independent, and she has spoken publicly about deliberately avoiding outside investment to keep the business small and under her own control.
Why are the candles more expensive than plain soy candles?
The vessels. A good deal of the price is the ceramic or glass the candle is poured into, which is the point if you want an object worth leaving out and a waste of money if you don’t. Buying refills afterward brings the ongoing cost down a lot.