Good Buys: Stone Candle Bar

Almost as soon as we moved to Santa Monica, I noticed Stone Candle Bar. I'm one of those women who loves candles beyond all reason, so I found my way there pretty quickly. I wasn't disappointed. Not only is it independent and locally-owned, they actually make the candles right there on-site. When I visited last year, I bought three 3" x 3" pillars, plus a drip catcher. Those candles lasted me a year. I used up the last one about a month ago and finally got around to visiting the store again last week.

I happened to stumble upon their red tag sale. Anything with a red tag was 50-70% off. While I didn't find much in the red tag section that I wanted, the pillars that I typically buy were also on sale, $4 off each. Here are the candles I got:

Their scents are (l-r, back row): Kieffer Lime & Lychee; Green Tea & Fig; and Honeysuckle. The honeysuckle one in particular smells divine. The small one in the front is a coconut wax candle. Unsurprisingly, it smells like coconut. Its wick is made of wood, and I've found that it doesn't easily stay lit. However, since that candle was my one red tag purchase, I got it for only $2.50, so I'm not too upset if it doesn't work out.

Although I didn't need another one, I bought myself a new drip catcher. It too was $4 off:

For comparison, here's the one I bought last year:

My one quibble about this place is that I'm not clear on the parking situation. A sign out front says "parking in rear," but I don't get where it is behind the building (not that I've really tried all that hard to explore it).  There's a huge parking lot next to it that apparently belongs to the dental office next door, although it's pretty much empty every time I go past. When I went to Stone Candle Bar last year, I walked there and back. This time, I had my husband drop me off at the post office around the corner on his way to work, walked to the candle store from there, and then walked home. It's approximately 2 miles one way.

I made this purchase of 4 candles and one drip catcher for around $37, which I felt was entirely reasonable. Needless to say, I'll be going back again!