Our Story
A woman-owned candle brand born from resilience, healing, and the belief that you are enough.
meet our founder
Hi I'm Shay, creator of The Phoenix Candles. I didn't grow up feeling safe. Chaos and instability were my normal, and I left childhood carrying wounds that quietly shaped how I saw myself and the world around me. For a long time, I didn't have words for what I was carrying. I only knew that survival mode had become my default.
But somewhere along the way, I made a choice: I could succumb to my pain, or I could rise. I chose to rise. And in doing so, I began to break a generational cycle, healing not just for myself, but for the people who would come after me.
That journey is the heartbeat of this brand. Every candle I create carries a piece of it.
The Phoenix Candles was born from the ashes of my trauma and the rising of my healing.
PROUD TO BE A FEMALE AND BIPOC-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS
The Phoenix Candles was born from the ashes of real struggle — and the rising of real healing.
why the phoenix
The phoenix has always been the right symbol for this brand. A bird that rises from the ashes, proof that destruction is never the final word. Resilience is.
It's the story of so many women we know. Women who carry more than anyone sees. Who keep rising anyway.
Every candle in our Classics collection is named with intention: Perseverance, Hope, Optimism, Empowerment, Nurture, Intuition, Xenacious. Together, they spell PHOENIX.
That's not a coincidence. It's a promise.
A Full-Sensory Experience
Every Phoenix candle is built on four layers: Aromachology, color psychology, sound, and a crystal. Each one speaks to a different sense.
None of them ask you to stop or become someone else. They're here to move alongside you, exactly as you are.
SMELL
Aromachology
Each fragrance is built around scent notes that research has associated with specific emotional states, designed not just to smell beautiful, but to move alongside how you feel.
SIGHT
Color Psychology
From the vessel's hue to the glow of the flame, every color is chosen with color psychology in mind, for warmth and calm.
SOUND
Wooden Wick
Our FSC-certified wooden wick crackles softly as it burns, like a small fireplace in the corner of the room.
TOUCH
Crystal Infusion
A genuine crystal rests at the base of every candle, sealed beneath the wax and revealed only once you have burned all the way through. We won't claim it heals you. It's a quiet anchor for your intention, and a small reward for the woman who makes it to the bottom.
it takes a village
Behind every Phoenix candle is a small web of people you will never see. We source our raw materials exclusively from small businesses, and most of them are woman-owned. The wax, the oils, the vessels, the wicks, they come from makers who care about their craft the way we care about ours.
That choice costs more. We know it, and we make it anyway. A cheaper supply chain was never the point. When we spend with small, women-led businesses, the dollar you spend here keeps moving, into another woman's livelihood, another family, another community trying to build something honest. Quality matters to us, but so does where that quality comes from and who it lifts.
Because thriving was never meant to be a solo act. We want to see women rise on every level, financially, creatively, emotionally, as whole people, and that starts with how we choose to build, one relationship at a time.
meet Charlotte, owner of Makesy
Makesy is the woman-owned company behind our vessels, wicks, and lids. It started as a wood wick supplier and grew into a full resource for candle makers, from fragrance to materials to know-how. Sustainability runs through everything they do, from responsibly sourced wood wicks to eco-conscious packaging. They build for makers like us, and we're glad to build with them.
The Phoenix Candles is proud to be Makesy MadeBetter™ certified for our commitment to sourcing clean, eco-friendly materials.
built for you
If you're the woman who holds everything together while quietly wondering if she's doing enough, this brand was made for you. You deserve moments that truly see you. Moments that honor the full complexity of who you are, not just the version you present to the world.
The Phoenix Candles exists to remind you of something you may have forgotten: you are inherently worthy of peace, presence, and care. Not someday. Right now.
with love and light, Shay
Giving Back
Books were an escape for me as a girl. A way to find myself in stories and imagine something different. I want that for every kid.
So for every full-size candle you bring home, we place one children's book in a little library in our community. One candle. One book. Every time.
We also make a monthly contribution to Save the Children. Because the women we make these candles for were girls once, and that's where this work starts.
- Shay, Founder of The Phoenix Candles