Inventory: 6 B.C. candle companies to brighten your day

1. Buzzy Vibes

After visiting his native Ukraine, Igor Negrebetsky found that his creativity was sparked: he designed a candle for his daughter’s seventh birthday inspired by traditional Eastern European-carved candles. Using his background in 3D graphics, Negrebetsky creates intricately patterned beeswax candles that are so delicately beautiful you might feel bad burning them—until you find out that his Vancouver-based BC Candles brand supports Pollinator Partnership Canada. bccandles.com

2. Brighten Your Day

Meghan Wylie had no intention of starting a business, but when her loves for crafting and candles collided back in 2015, Lit Soy Candles was born. Suddenly, Wylie was hooked on creating clean-burning scents. Using inspiration from travels and experiences, the Victoria-based brand prides itself on transparency around its materials: think 100-percent natural soy wax and fragrance oils that are vegan, not tested on animals and free of parabens and phthalates. Plus, the wood wicks are FSC-certified and sustainable.  litsoycandles.com

3. Waxing Poetic

Small batch, ethically produced and sustainable may sound like a mouthful, but Victoria-based Cordova Candle Co. manages to take all that and more into consideration when crafting its clean-burning candles. With scents inspired by nature and travel (like Sooke, which smells like blue spruce, pine and musk), customers can breathe deeply knowing that their candles are free of carcinogenic ingredients.  cordovacandleco.com

4. Cereal Shopper

Mala the Brand may have started as founder Melody Lim’s side hustle, but the Vancouver-based hand-poured candle company has gained a cult following due in no small part to nostalgic scents like its infamous Cereal. The brand keeps sustainability and the health of its customers front of mind, ensuring FSC-approved wood wicks, lead-free cotton wicks and recyclable tin vessels. “Knowing that candles can be toxic and that plastic is so prevalent, I decided from the get-go to go plastic free, using ingredients that are kind to you,” Lim says.  malathebrand.com

5. Heaven Scent

Megan Camp started the Maple Ridge-based Camp Candle Co. with the mission to create “clean and healthy scented products for your home, family and the environment.” Her aesthetically outdoor-chic candles are made of sustainably grown and harvested soy and coconut wax, and are pet-friendly as they omit essential oils. Camp points out how important it is for her to give back to B.C., explaining that it’s “one reason why we plant trees and kelp with every purchase.” The other reason is to inspire others to do the same.  campcandleco.ca

6. Wick-edly Beautiful

Alicia Haque and Matt Hutchinson’s Vancouver-based Roam the Brand brings the outdoors inside with luxury and eco-friendly candles. This summer, the couple launched the Wild outdoor candle, which not only smells of lemon eucalyptus, citronella, lemongrass and cedarwood but also keeps mosquitos away. The husband-and-wife duo are committed to giving back through charitable initiatives: five percent of profits are donated to the nonprofit Coral Gardeners to help restore coral reefs. And, in the case of the Churchill candle, 10 percent of profits are donated to Polar Bears International.  roamthebrand.com