Walk into any home goods store and you'll find hundreds of candles. Most of them are paraffin. Some are soy. A few claim to be "natural" without specifying what that means. The packaging is often beautiful. The ingredients are rarely discussed.
We think that's worth changing.
What paraffin actually is
Paraffin wax is a byproduct of petroleum refining. It's inexpensive, easy to work with, and takes dye and fragrance well — which is why it dominates the candle industry. When it burns, it releases compounds including toluene and benzene, both of which are classified as known carcinogens. The amounts are small. But they accumulate, especially in enclosed spaces, and especially with frequent use.
Most people burning candles at dinner every night don't think about this. We do.
Why beeswax burns differently
Beeswax is one of the oldest materials humans have ever used. It comes from honeybees — a byproduct of honey production — and it has properties that no synthetic wax replicates.
It burns at a higher temperature than paraffin, which means a steadier, longer-lasting flame. The light it produces sits in the warm spectrum — closer to golden hour than fluorescent white. If you've ever wondered why candlelight in old paintings looks so rich and alive, part of that is beeswax.
It also costs significantly more than paraffin. A pound of quality North American beeswax costs many times what a pound of paraffin does. That cost shows up in the price of the candle. We think it's worth it — and we'd rather be honest about why our candles are priced the way they are than pretend otherwise.
The dye question
Most colored candles are dyed with synthetic dyes — petroleum-derived compounds that produce vivid, consistent color. They work. They also burn along with the wax.
At GLŌAM, we use natural plant-based pigments. The colors are more complex — not the flat, saturated tones of synthetic dye, but something with depth and variation, the way color looks in nature. Each shade starts with experimentation: mixing pigments, testing on wax, adjusting. Some colors take weeks to get right. The Spring 2026 palette — botanical greens, grounding browns, soft blues, warm creams — came out of months of work.
We're not the only ones doing this. But there aren't many of us.
How to get the best burn from a beeswax taper
Beeswax tapers are designed to burn virtually dripless — but only if you treat them right. Keep them away from drafts. Trim the wick to a quarter inch before each use. Don't move a burning candle. And don't let them burn all the way down to the holder.
One more thing: if you're relighting a beeswax taper, don't trim the wick first. Let the naturally curled burnt wick light as-is. It sounds counterintuitive, but it produces a cleaner burn on relighting.
Why we started GLŌAM
GLŌAM was started by Sigal, a designer with a background in cultural anthropology, interior design, and psychology. She grew up mixing pigments in her grandfather's chicken coop in the Mediterranean, and later experimented with natural dyes in a farmhouse kitchen in southern France. The candles came later — but the curiosity about color, natural materials, and the alchemy of making things by hand was always there.
Every GLŌAM candle is hand-dipped in our Santa Barbara studio using 100% North American beeswax. We make them in small batches. We care about what goes into them. That's the whole story.
