Kahale London – Sustainable Luxury Candles

I was immediately captivated by Kahale London by their striking monochromatic vibe. Their photos on social media were strikingly different to what I had seen before, especially for marketing a new candle and this only made me even more intrigued.

Kahale London is a new forward-thinking company creating artisan luxury candles in East London. This premium organic wax that is infused with high-quality fragranced oils in hand poured in the UK. Their containers are sleek and stylish matte black, ensuring their candles are designed to not only look great in your home but delicately lace the air with the most exquisite scents.

Their scented candles come in a signature Kahale gift box that can be reused and recycled and £3 from each candle is also given to The Childhood Trust; a charity that supports vulnerable children living in London.

I caught up with Founder Tobias Wamser to find out more about this new and fascinating home fragrance company.

What is the reasoning behind the name Kahale?

Kahale (ka-hah-lay) is Hawaiian and literally translates to house or home. However, the meaning behind it is a much deeper one and originates from the Polynesian tribes. As voyagers, they travelled the oceans to discover new islands to expand their colonies and harvest resources. While the brave men went through the perils of the sea for their people back home, they never forgot who they are and where they are from. They referred to their home island as ‘hale’.

What motivated you to create a Home Fragrance company?

We know that candles are no longer just a home decor product for women. Men are becoming more aware of the benefits of home fragrances and want to express their personality in new ways. We thought there was a gap in the market, as many other luxury candles are a spin-off of the brand’s perfumes for women and simply get re-branded to be attractive to men. But in the end, they’re just not developed as a true unisex product.

Your first fragrance candles are Peony & Oud, Turkish Fig & Vetiver and Black Pepper & Raspberry, what was the inspiration behind these scents?

In home fragrances, there are essentially four main categories of scents: Fruity, Floral, Woody and Fresh. As we decided not to have a huge portfolio of different scents, we decided to go for the one we liked the best from each category. The fragrances also represent the cultural influences that go into a Kahale candle: Oud Wood is hugely popular in the middle east and is one of the most exclusive ingredients in candle making. The Fig fragrance oil is made from Figs that are grown in Turkey, the world’s largest exporting country of the fruit. And the peppercorn is grown in Vietnam and sun-dried to develop its distinctive colour. So, all our fragrances essentially combine two ingredients: one from a distant culture and one from our home country, the UK.

What’s next for Kahale, any new scents or additional products?

We are currently developing a candle with a fresh scent and we are very excited to launch it next summer. However, we want to keep our portfolio small and we currently do not have any plans to expand into new categories such as reed diffusers. Kahale represents urban sophistication and will never be mass-produced.

Can you tell me a little background about the team at Kahale London?

We’re a group of students and had been working on a project about the home decor market together when the idea came up. Personally, I had never even considered buying a candle for myself. But the more I read about it, the more passionate I became about scented candles. So, we slowly started to develop our first scents and experimented with dozens of fragrance oils, wax blends and wicks. It’s been a long journey from the first idea to the final product. But we absolutely love it and are super proud of it.

 

You can Indulge in the urban sophistication of Kahale London by visiting kahalelondon.com