About NZ Candles
The reference directory for NZ-poured candles.
NZ Candles is the editorially maintained reference directory for artisanal candle making in Aotearoa: 13 verified studios, 5 scent families, and 8stockists across the country. Every entry is researched and confirmed against the maker’s own studio. Every link routes to source.
Listing standards.
Three requirements. The candle is poured in Aotearoa — not branded-here-distributed-here. The wax base is soy, coconut, rapeseed or beeswax; paraffin is a petroleum by-product and is excluded as a matter of editorial policy. And the studio is verifiable — every maker is confirmed against a working address, contact channel and live retail presence before listing, and re-checked annually. Beeswax-using makers are cross-referenced against Apiculture New Zealand membership and credited at the listing level.
What is excluded.
Re-labellers — operators who import bulk candles from offshore factories, decant them into NZ-branded vessels and trade on a local story. Paraffin candles in any percentage, including paraffin-blend wax. White-label fragrance bricks marketed as botanical blends. If the pour-house cannot be verified, the brand is not listed.
Indigenous notes, used with care.
Mānuka, kawakawa, kānuka and pōhutukawa appear across the catalogue. The directory flags makers who source these botanicals with appropriate cultural footing and credit, and notes the relationship on the listing itself. Makers using these notes purely as exotic top-notes, without grounding, are noted accordingly.
How the directory is organised.
Editorial team based in Aotearoa.
- Makers — every studio, grouped by region. 13 listings across 8 regions.
- Scents — 5 fragrance families with NZ-native anchor notes, cross-referenced to the makers who work them.
- Stockists — 8 retailers across Aotearoa worth driving for, with visit tips and the makers each one carries.
- Journal — long-view writing on burn time, wick chemistry, wax-base differences, and what kawakawa actually smells like.
A note on phone numbers.
The directory is editorial, not a call-routing service. Every listing links directly to the maker’s own shop. To contact a studio, use the details published on the maker’s own site.