Adobe Stock | Photo by Rido
Treasures from these artisanal candle shops, lifestyle stores, and wine bars will fill your Hudson Valley home with delightful scents.
By Francesca Furey and Sabrina Sucato, with additional reporting by Greta Stuckey
When it comes to candle-collecting, our motto is “the more, the merrier.” Whether you stack them high in your bedroom or place one in each nook and cranny you can find, you want the best of the best to brighten your space. Luckily, the Hudson Valley is full of artisanal candle shops that are filled to the brim with hand-poured, all-natural selections that entice with scents ranging from fruity to spicy to downright eccentric.
Check out these shops the next time you need a housewarming gift or birthday present, but don’t be surprised if you head home with extra wax for yourself…because stocking up on the Hudson Valley’s homemade candles is always a bright idea.
P.S. Are we missing a spot? Email us at edit@hvmag.com so we can add it.
Capital Region
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Collar City Candle
Troy
After being named the winner of the All Over Albany Startup Business Grant in 2016, Collar City Candle has been on fire. Discover the all-natural beauty of the pillar candles both online and at the Troy Makers Market inside Riverfront Park every Saturday. With over 100 scents and 20 colors from which to select, you’ll feel like you hit the candle jackpot.
No matter your preference, this shop will meet your candle needs — especially with unique smells like olive and avocado, awapuhi seaberry, and sweet orange and chili pepper. It even started “Craft and Draft” workshops, during which customers can make their own candles at the store or at home.
Columbia County
Hudson Candle
Online
Have you ever wanted a perfectly curated playlist to match the mood of your preferred candle? Hudson Candle does just that. Each scent has its own Spotify playlist, so you can both smell and hear your purchase. The shop’s most popular candle is Unbothered, a cedar and leather candle so distinct that customers have nicknamed it “The Boyfriend” in ode to its masculine aroma.
There are eight other candles from which to choose, and all have their own distinct blends of essential oils and eau de toilette (specially formulated in Southern France, we might add). Not only do the candle jars have style, but the boxes are sleek and have Hudson NY right on the front so you always feel at home.
Poured Candle Bar
Hudson
Going to the Poured Candle Bar is an interactive experience in which guests get to pull up a chair and make their own candles. When there, guests can taste different wines and beers from the local area while they decide whether to create their own candle, perfumes, or diffuser. The bar offers guests over 70 different fragrance options to choose from when creating. The candle making experience lasts 45 minutes and then an additional 120 minutes to cure and pick up. At the end of the session, guests will walk away with a unique piece of the Hudson Valley.
Dutchess County
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Beacon Candle Company
Online
Whether you’re looking for a Buddha, skull, or pyramid candle, Beacon Candle Company has your back. Its unscented beeswax candles — available online and at the occasional Hudson Valley market — will spruce up your living space in a jiffy. The signature yellow tint adds a vintage vibe that’s just as perfect for dinner parties as it is for Halloween.
If you’re in the mood for even more flare, check out the brand’s carved candles, like Love Rose or Honey Comb Cube. An added bonus, beeswax candles clean up the air when they burn.
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Beacon D’Lites
Beacon
Gifting the Hudson Valley with copious amounts of waxy, wonderful fragrances since 2005, Beacon D’Lites is making moves in the candle world. Customers can bask in scents that are available all year — Apple Clove Valley and Moonlit Forest are great perennial picks — or wait for the seasonal options to come around (Pineapple Passion is a summer must).
And who doesn’t love a candle shop that not only smells heavenly, but helps the environment, too? All pillar jars at Beacon D’Lites are refillable, and the store offers discounts for those who want another sniff of the hand-poured delights.
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Moon’s Gold Apiary
Salt Point
Moon’s Gold Apiary harnesses the power of Hudson Valley bees for skincare products, wildflower honey, and, of course, candles. The Dutchess County farmstand also crafts a number of beeswax candles, constructed from the raw honey pulled straight from hives. Each candle comes in the form of delightful shapes, like hedgehogs, owls, and pine cones.
Ye Olde Candle House Gift Shoppe
Poughkeepsie
It’s not every day you get to meet an old-school artisan in her element. Sonya Reynoso, known to most of her customers as “the candle lady,” has been pumping out soy-based candles at Ye Olde Candle House Gift Shoppe since October 2015. She started in a 100-year-old house-turned-shop, and recently moved to Eastdale Village in Poughkeepsie. The shop offers a variety of different candle selections such as tea light candles, drip candles, and aromatherapy candles. The candles come in a variety of different scents such as French vanilla, guava mango, and pumpkin. The shop also offers candle-making classes for $40 to teach people the basics of candle making in two and a half hours.
Also at Ye Olde Candle House, visitors can shop lotion candles made of wax that doubles as lotion and 24-inch self-extinguishing versions that are perfect for that friend who burns candles 24/7. The shop also sells incense, candle holders, essential oils, diffusers, perfume, and custom-made jewelry. The candle lady’s square taper candles have been featured in The CW’s TV series Supergirl.
Orange County
Corner Candle Store
Washingtonville
A hidden gem in Washingtonville, Corner Candle Store operates out of a 175-year-old barn that’s stocked to the rafters with gifts, jewelry, soaps, and more candles than you can count. Depending on the season, the store offers cozy scents like beer, wine, pumpkin spice, and balsam pine. The candles also come in unique shapes like pears while others are put in colorful glass jars. Pick up a single candle to burn at night or shop the giftable wares before birthdays, holidays, or just-because occasions.
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Hudson Naturals
Newburgh
Don’t worry — owning tons of candles is totally natural. The next time you want to add to your collection, reach for a new jar from Hudson Naturals, which has been selling soy wax candles infused with 100-percent natural oils since 2015. At both its online site and in Field Trip, its flagship store in Newburgh, shoppers can browse the plant-based candle collection with ease.
If you’re in the mood for summer scents, check out the always popular lilac candle or sniff the campfire candle, which brings the outdoors straight to your home. Coming in a jarred glass container with a lid, these candles stay fresh for burning. Don’t be shy to stop by the shop once a month for free candle-making and body butter workshops.
The Candle Shop
Sugar Loaf
In the heart of Sugar Loaf’s Arts and Crafts Village, visitors can stumble upon the distinct scent (that’s right, just one) of The Candle Shop. Hand-dipping candles for over 40 years, this shop offers three different sizes of taper candles that encompass the smell of Sugar Loaf, named after the very hamlet in which the fragrance is made.
Though only one scent is available, chandler (that’s a candlemaker for you) Peter Lendved offers dozens of colors, which range from moody mauve to neutrals like caramel and bright granny apple. The candles bring comfort and light for 60 or more burning hours. Custom and bulk orders are available by contacting the store.
Putnam County
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Jar Worthy
Carmel
Only the best of the waxy wonders can claim a spot at Jar Worthy, Carmel’s candle shop. Opened in 2016 by Dana Hanrahan, the space stocks tons of soy wax and cotton wick candles. As for smells, the popular Spa Day calms your senses while the unique scent of Namaste, with black tea and currant, keeps you on your toes. Described as a “tiny shop with a lot going on” by Hanrahan, it makes passersby feel right at home.
In addition to operating the shop and appearing at local festivals, Hanrahan also hosts make-your-own parties and crafts custom favors for special occasions. The shop also offers custom orders and “pour your own” candles.
Ulster County
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Candlestock
Woodstock
With a massive collection of candles, Candlestock has been serving Hudson Valley candle lovers since 1970. Whether beeswax, drip, or scented, each style comes in shapes like animals, fairies, music notes, and peace signs, to name a few. The shop offers many unique candle options with quotes, paintings, and silhouettes. The store’s choices of holders and candle décor seem infinite, too.
Make sure to check out the enormous Drip Candle Mountain, a formation of 20,000 colorful candles that began in 1969 and now stands over six feet tall.
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Hill Valley Candles
Kingston
A newcomer to this list, Hill Valley Candles opened its doors in December 2021. Resident chandler Paul Rakov crafts a variety of colorful beeswax candles. In addition, he hosts hand-dipped candle workshops, letting customers get in on the fun. Themed classes include “beer and beeswax” and “dip and sip,” serving Hudson Valley beers and wines during the workshop. The cozy vibes of this Kingston store are especially palpable during the chilly winter months.
Little Light of Mine Village Candle
New Paltz
Open since February 2019, Little Light of Mine is the home base for chandler Ingrid Gersiek, who crafts the store’s hand-dipped tapers, votives, pillars, tea lights, and soy jars herself. In addition to candle crafting, Gersiek hosts Sip & Dip workshops to teach people how to make beautiful waxworks of their own. Seasonal scents such as woodsy florals and dark cocoa amber are offered. Little Light of Mine candles make appearances in gift shops across the Hudson Valley, so don’t be surprised if you see the sweet soy jars or beeswax votives scattered around the region.
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Rosendale Waxworks
Rosendale
Discover wax wonders from near and far at Rosendale Waxworks. Opened in 2019 by husband-and-wife duo Shaun Johnston and Wilda Gallagher, this candle and soap shop provides customers with an array of candles made both in and out of house. Candles are handcrafted by the owners or sourced from local artisans like Heart & Arrow Handcrafted. Scents from Wilda’s “Comfort Zone,” a collection full of calming smells, and eccentric wax designs found throughout the shop will make any room smell (and look) top-notch. In addition to candles, the couple also makes homemade soaps in a variety of scents, colors, and designs.
