Back in 2021, when we launched our pioneering refillable candles, there weren’t that many other brands doing candle refills. We had the idea, on freezing cold December day in our parents’ kitchen. A quick Google revealed a handful of businesses offering candle refills, but all in the US or Australia. It seemed like such an obvious thing to do, to us; we couldn’t believe it wasn’t already more established.
We also wanted to offer an easier way to refill your empty candle pots. So, rather than just relying on people bringing us their empty candle pots for a Poured Refill (this is our Poured Refill service and it means we can refill any empty candle pot, from any brand) we also wanted to offer Pillar Refills. Our Pillar Refills simply drop into any empty GHFS pot, refilling it in an instant.
A few months after we launched our luxurious, hand poured, candles we managed to crack the formula for the perfect, easy, candle refill, launched our Pillar Refills, and the rest is history.
Now, more and more brands are offering candle refills. You can even pick them up on the high street! It’s such a simple, brilliant, idea and the more businesses that offer it the more it reinforces the truth that it’s better to choose a refillable candle over a traditional one.
In case you’re not convinced yet, here are three reasons to opt for a refillable candle the next time you indulge.
Reason #1 for buying a refillable candle: it opens up a whole world of scent discovery
This has got to be our favourite reason and, along with the obvious eco credentials, one of the main reasons we worked so hard to pioneer candle refills in the UK.
When you’re set up with an empty candle pot or two, that can be refilled by simply dropping in a Pillar Refill, it makes exploring a wider range of scents much easier.
We talk about our Home Scent Practice. In short; this is our belief in finding the right scent for every season and season of life. So, finding a scent that you connect with and that releases a little of what you need into your home.
Our customers will swap and change which GHFS scent they have on the go, depending on their mood or the season. We have customers who always invest in our latest seasonal edition for example, following a beautiful and nourishing seasonal living approach to home fragrance. We also have customers who rely on our aromatherapy range, choosing between our Heal; Rest; Calm or Restore scents depending on what they need in that moment.
This nuanced, intuitive, approach to home fragrance connects you to the incredible power of scent and helps you capitalise on an under utilised tool in your wellness toolkit.
Reason #2 for buying a refillable candle: it creates less waste
Making sure our candles were easily refillable when we launched felt like the obvious thing to do, as did making our business as sustainable as possible. Of course we use a plant-based wax, organic cotton wicks and plastic-free packaging - we never considered anything else!
We also strive to be as low waste as possible, for example, our luxurious gift boxes make use of surplus hay from our fields on the farm. The hay, with its deliciously sweet scent, fills the boxes, acting as padding to keep our gorgeous ceramic candles, match pots, and tealight holders safe.
Choosing a refillable candle is one easy and enjoyable way to lessen your waste production. When your pot is empty, instead of throwing it away or adding it to the recycling, you keep it, wash it out and pop in a Pillar Refill. It’s simple, sustainable and, importantly, still feels indulgent.
Reason #3 for buying a refillable candle: the candle pots are a work of art
A candle being refillable places a whole new emphasis on the beauty of the candle pot. If you’re going to keep a candle pot for life, treasuring it and reusing it for years, then it needs to be beautiful. Not just beautiful, it needs to be timeless, rather than trend driven, and it needs to made of the highest quality materials.
A key aspect of our business is that we champion and invest in creativity and craft here in the UK. We decided to create handmade ceramic candle pots for a few reasons: they are high quality and will endure for years, it supports independent potters across the UK, they will never go out of style.
Every one of our candle pots is handmade by a brilliant potter, here in the UK. They are each months in the making. Doing it this way, rather than working with a factory, is laborious, slow and expensive, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. Not only does it mean we are authentically championing independent, small businesses. It means we get to make the most beautiful ceramic candle pots.
We can experiment with glazes, play with surface pattern and work in small batches, allowing us to truly innovate. The result is our range of colourful, artful, truly beautiful candle pots.
Your First Refillable Candle Pot
When browsing for your first refillable candle pot, here’s our top piece of advice for making sure you end up with a candle you love for life.
In short: trust your gut. We are naturally drawn to colours and pattern that we love so rather than thinking about the colour of your walls or your decor, let yourself be drawn to the pot that truly sparks joy for you.
We create our candle pots and candle refills in harmony, the candle pot’s design underlining and emphasising the purpose of the scent. In letting yourself be simply be drawn to one of our candles, you will be discovering a scent that nourishes you too.
Choosing Your First Candle Refill Scent
Now your first GHFS candle is empty, how do you choose your first candle refill scent?
Carve out a quiet minute, away from any distractions, jobs or emails and close your eyes. Take a deep breath and ask yourself: what do I need more of, right now?
Then, browse through our Home Scent Practice page, slowly reading about each scent and what it can help you to connect with. As you read take note of how each one makes you feel. When you come across the scent you’re craving, the scent that you’ll really connect with, you will feel the words resonating.
Home Scent Practice is a practice and the more you treat scent with this approach (rather than just repeat ordering the scents you know you like), the more effortless it will become. Our scents can act like a form of prescriptions, little medicinal moments. You need need to make the space for a slow, mindful moment to discover what it is your body is craving first.