Brooklyn Candle Studio, a New York company that started as an Etsy store, has grown to become a hipster favourite – they’re now stocked everywhere from Anthropologie to the Hoxton Hotel in Williamsburg in NYC. And they’ve just arrived in Ireland, at a couple of interesting stores, including Kim Gray General Store: see this website also for good-value enamel bowls and jugs, linens, glass jugs, wooden washing-up brushes, chunky Aran jumpers by Moss + Cable, plus tons of other useful homewares – it’s a bit like an Irish version of London’s brilliant Labour & Wait, and it’s hard to resist Adding to Basket. The candles are also set to be stocked at The Interiors Project in Stepaside, and Summer House Studio in Cork city. 

Founder Tamara Mayne set up the company in 2013, with an emphasis on minimalism in design, and simplicity and sustainability in the ingredients and processes she uses. In glass jars, the candles make chic gifts (€35), with travel candles in neat golden tins at €19. There are so many candle brands now, some charging a fortune (when Cloon Keen’s peerless candles, in exquisite silver jars, cost €42, you have to question the idea of paying €70 and beyond for a smaller, perfectly ordinary scented candle in a plain glass jar, as some designer brands do). What makes the Brooklyn candles special then, in a very crowded field? They use entirely soy wax for a “clean burn” (they’re also petroleum-free, cruelty-free and entirely vegan, with lead-free cotton wicks). Packaging is minimal and recyclable.

And the scents are striking. They range from Japanese Citrus, a fresh and zesty one, to Santal and Palo Santo, one of my favourite smells – that aromatic, atmospheric woody smell is madly popular at the moment. Try also burning Palo Santo sticks (I like Nunaïa’s, as I know they are sustainably and ethically sourced, which is crucial; €12.95, www.nunaia.com). There are also scents inspired by places, from Kyoto to Santorini and Brooklyn.

If you’d rather stick with Irish candles, there are of course TONS of brilliant choices, from the previously mentioned Cloon Keen (Noble Fir is certainly not just for Christmas), to Max Benjamin’s refillable ones (€25, €17 refill) and D8 Candle Co’s madly popular Wedding Day (€35) and Love Lane (€40, both at Brown Thomas).

www.brooklyncandlestudio.world