Charleston Candle Co. is run by the husband-and-wife duo Chaz and Kristen Schwiers. Fun fact: Chaz attended the College of Charleston, Go Cougars.

Prepare to make decisions you'll have to choose from dozens of scents to craft your perfect candle. | Photo provided by Wawner Strategies

How things got started
During the summer of 2016, Kristen started making candles for fun out of the couple’s apartment kitchen. Once she began designing scents inspired by Charleston, the hobby expanded to an Etsy shop and eventually grew into a booming business that now calls a cozy St. Phillip Street shop home.

City Editor Callie here. Early this fall, Erika and I joined a candle-making class, and we had a blast. It was so fun choosing and mixing our hand-picked scents to create our custom candles; we even had the chance to name them. I opted for a musky + woody scent for candle one and a Christmas scent for candle two.

Quick facts

All candles are hand-poured in small batches locally.
Candles are made with all-natural soy wax.
The fragrance oils are free of phthalates, carcinogens, mutagens, reproductive toxins, organ toxins, and acute toxins.

Get a hands-on experience
Keep an eye out for upcoming candle-making classes. Pro tip: Sign up for classes well in advance, as they are likely to sell out.