Charleston Candle Co.

Charleston Candle Co. started in 2016, when Kristen Schwiers began making candles for fun in the kitchen of the small apartment she shared with husband Chaz. What began as a hobby grew into a family-run candle business that still hand-pours every candle in small batches at its downtown Charleston shop rather than outsourcing production, using soy wax and eco-friendly wicks.

The scent lineup is built directly around Lowcountry places and character rather than generic fragrance names: No. 07 Folly Beach opens with sea salt, ozone and lemon notes meant to evoke the coastal marsh, while No. 13 Spanish Moss leans on sage, orange and grapefruit to suggest the region's hanging tree cover, and a specialty Haint Blue Citronella blend nods to the traditional porch-ceiling color found across Charleston homes. Additional candles reference specific barrier islands, Kiawah, Wadmalaw, Sullivan's, Daniel Island, carrying the same sense of place through to the label. Beyond the Signature, Seasonal, Architecture and Beach Scents collections, the shop at 218 St. Philip Street runs candle-making classes and takes custom and wholesale orders, extending the couple's original apartment-kitchen hobby into a storefront that still makes everything it sells on-site.