Gift pick No. 37: Pommes Frites candles, an affordable luxury

With luxury candles often costing $100 or more per wick, the hand-poured soy wax candles of Pommes Frites Candle Co. are a welcome respite.

Each candle may be poured, labeled and packaged by Kristen Pumphrey and husband Thomas Neuberger in their downtown Los Angeles studio, but each still retails for about $18.

Pumphrey said she wanted to create “an affordable but quality candle -- simple packaging, fine fragrance, domestically grown soy wax, cotton wicks. Nothing too gimmicky, just a candle that can be appreciated by men and women alike.”

Essential oils evoke pine trees (a variety called Spruce), a day at the spa (Fig & Jasmine), summertime (Grapefruit) or a night around a roaring campfire (Campfire Special). This year, the pair added Teakwood & Tobacco and Amber & Moss scents to the mix for a masculine/unisex option. We enjoyed the sweet-smelling Grapefruit, and when the candle was done, we repurposed the apothecary-style container as a jam jar.

The candles burn for about 40 hours. They are sold in more than 65 boutiques nationwide, including the Market section of West Elm stores, ReForm School and select Steven Alan stores. You also can shop for Pommes Frites candles this weekend at the Renegade Craft Fair Winter Market in Los Angeles or on the Pommes Frites Etsy shop.

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