est.1951™ is our most elevated candle collection yet; crafted and introduced in celebration of Empire Candle Co.’s 75th anniversary in 2026.

These natural candles pair luxurious fragrance with sculptural design, blending decades of craftsmanship with a fresh, modern perspective. It’s heritage, reimagined.

The name is a tribute to 1951, the year Empire Candle was founded in Kansas City. Introducing a small-batch luxury candle collection in our 75th anniversary year felt like the right moment to honor that heritage while pushing our craft forward.

est.1951 represents everything we have learned about hand-pouring premium scented candles over seven decades, brought to life in a line designed for the next generation of fragrance lovers.

It starts with the fragrance. Every scent in the est.1951 collection is developed alongside the same world-class perfumers behind some of the most recognized fine fragrances on the market. The result is a luxury scented candle with the kind of complexity and depth you would expect from a much higher price point, crafted with essential oils and presented in a vessel designed to be as beautiful on your shelf as the fragrance is in your room.

Behind every est.1951 candle is 75 years of American candlemaking expertise. Our proprietary natural vegan wax blend, lead-free wicks, and rigorous burn testing ensure that every hand-poured candle performs as beautifully as it looks. Four collections, each with its own design identity and sculptural glass vessel, give you options whether you are shopping for yourself or looking for the perfect gift.

Honestly, they are some of the best candle gifts out there, and we designed them that way from the very beginning. Every est.1951 premium scented candle arrives in gift-ready packaging right out of the box, with no wrapping required. Whether you are shopping for a housewarming, a birthday, a holiday, or just because, there is an est.1951 candle for the moment.

Our Contours collection, available in both a 10oz and a generous 28oz three-wick format, is particularly popular as a gift. The hobnail glass vessels are as beautiful to display as they are to burn, and the larger format makes a stunning statement for anyone who deserves something truly special. The Metro collection's sculptural fluted glass and city-inspired fragrances make it a natural choice for the well-traveled person in your life, while our Boost+ collection brings a wellness angle to gifting with its mood-enhancing fragrance technology.

Whatever the occasion, est.1951 makes it easy to give a gift that feels considered, luxurious, and genuinely useful. Visit est1951.com/dealers to find an authorized retailer near you, or shop the full collection at est1951.com.

Good things take time, and we are almost there. Our small-batch luxury scented candles are in their final stages of production, and we could not be more excited about what we have created.

est.1951 will be available for purchase right here on est1951.com beginning in July 2026, with a rollout to independent gift stores, boutiques, and specialty retailers across the country beginning in August.

Whether you love shopping online or discovering new candles in your favorite local store, we will have you covered. In the meantime, follow us on Instagram at instagram.com/est1951candle for sneak peeks, fragrance reveals, and all the latest launch news. Trust us, it is worth the wait.

est.1951 luxury scented candles are available at independent gift stores, boutiques, and specialty retailers across the country. Visit est1951.com/stockists to find an authorized retailer near you.

If there isn't a store carrying est.1951 in your area yet, you can also shop our full collection right here on est1951.com or on Amazon. And if your favorite local shop doesn't carry us yet, tell them they should — we would love to be on their shelves.

Every est.1951 candle is hand-poured right here in Kansas City, Kansas, by a team of craftsmen who genuinely love what they do. We are proud to be an American-made candle brand, and that commitment to domestic craftsmanship shows up in every burn.

Behind est.1951 is Empire Candle Co., which has been pouring candles in Kansas City since 1951. That is 75 years of expertise, passion, and an awful lot of great fragrance - and we pour every bit of it into every est.1951 candle we make.

We spent a lot of time getting this right. Our proprietary wax is a plant-based, vegan blend engineered specifically for fragrance performance, delivering a clean, even burn that fills your space without the soot or harsh chemicals you might find in conventional scented candles.

No parabens, no phthalates, no hazardous waxes - just a thoughtfully crafted essential oil candle that is as kind to your home as it is beautiful in it.

The result is a hand-poured candle that burns cleaner, throws fragrance longer, and feels good to have in your space. Exactly what you expect a premium scented candle to do.

Absolutely! We blend essential oils with perfume-grade fragrance oils to create layered, sophisticated scents. It’s a defining feature of our premium scented candles: refined, mood-setting fragrances with immersive olfactory complexity.

Yes, every est.1951 candle features 100% lead-free wicks, typically made from cotton or other natural fibers. It’s part of our commitment to elegant candles that not only elevate your space but also burn clean and safe, without the toxins often found in lesser-quality scented candles.

No parabens. No phthalates. No thanks.

Our natural candles are formulated without these common additives to ensure a cleaner, safer fragrance experience.

You’ll enjoy sophisticated scent profiles without compromising your wellness standards.

Absolutely. These are natural candles with ethics - no animal byproducts, no animal testing. Just thoughtfully sourced materials that align with your values and your sense of style.

Great question, and one worth answering properly. Clean-burning means minimal soot, no harsh chemicals, and a smooth, even melt from the first light to the last.

est.1951 hand-poured candles are made with a proprietary natural wax blend that includes a small amount of paraffin, which helps hold and evenly distribute the fragrance throughout the burn. We use lead-free wicks and fragrance oils that are free of parabens and phthalates, and our wax blend is rigorously tested to ensure a clean, consistent burn every time. The result is a premium scented candle experience that performs beautifully and feels good to have in your home.

We believe in being straightforward about what goes into our candles. Our proprietary wax blend is primarily composed of natural waxes, but like many premium scented candles, it does include a small amount of paraffin. We include it for a specific reason: paraffin is exceptionally good at holding and evenly distributing fragrance throughout the burn, and removing it entirely would compromise the scent experience we have worked so hard to create.

What we can tell you is that every est.1951 candle is free of parabens, phthalates, lead, and petroleum-based fragrance additives, and is rigorously tested to ensure a clean, even burn. We are proud of what goes into our candles, and we think that kind of transparency is exactly what you deserve from a brand you are bringing into your home.

Absolutely, and we take this seriously. Every est.1951 hand-poured candle goes through rigorous testing for burn quality, fragrance throw, wick performance, and overall safety before it ever reaches your home. With 75 years of American candlemaking behind us, we have learned a thing or two about what makes a premium scented candle perform beautifully from the first light to the last.

Our testing process ensures a clean, even burn every time, with no tunneling, no excessive soot, and consistent fragrance throw throughout the life of the candle. When you light an est.1951 candle, you can do so with complete confidence.

As a company of avid animal lovers, we will always ensure that our candle fragrance formulations contain low enough essential oil concentrations to safely burn around your pets.

We do recommend that you burn our candles in an area safely removed from curious paws and wagging tails.

We want every est.1951 candle experience to be as enjoyable as possible, and a little know-how goes a long way toward getting the most out of your hand-poured candle. Here are the essentials:

The first time you light your candle, let it burn until the entire surface has melted to the edges of the vessel before extinguishing it. This prevents tunneling and ensures a beautiful, even burn every time after. Plan on about one hour per inch of diameter for that first burn.

Always trim your wick to a quarter inch before each use, keep your burn sessions to four hours or less, and never blow your candle out. A candle snuffer or wick dipper is the way to go. Finally, stop burning when a half inch of wax remains at the bottom of the jar.

For our complete candle safety and care guide, including storage tips and a full list of safety guidelines, visit est1951.com/safety. Your est.1951 candle is a premium scented candle built to perform beautifully — a little care goes a long way toward making that experience last.

Burn time varies by vessel size and the number of wicks, and we have thought carefully about both. Every est.1951 candle format is optimized to deliver the longest possible burn time without compromising fragrance performance or safety. A single-wick candle in a smaller vessel and a three-wick candle in our generous 28oz Contours jar are going to burn differently, and both are engineered to make the most of every hour.

For specific burn time estimates by collection and format, visit our product pages where each candle's details are listed. What we can promise is that however long your est.1951 premium scented candle burns, it will fill your space beautifully from the first light to the last.

We want you to love every est.1951 candle you bring home, and we are here to help if something is not right. Our full return, exchange, and shipping policy can be found at est1951.com/shipping-returns. For assistance with a specific order, contact us at info@est1951.com or call us at 1-800-231-9398.

We know you are excited to get your hands on your new premium scented candles, and we do our part to make that happen as quickly as possible. All est.1951 orders are processed and shipped within 2 business days via UPS or USPS ground shipping.

Delivery times after shipment will vary depending on your location within the continental United States. Once your order ships, you will receive a tracking number so you can follow your candles every step of the way.

Fragrance is where est.1951 begins, and we have put a lot of love into every scent in the collection. Every fragrance is developed alongside world-class perfumers using essential oil-based formulas, resulting in complex, layered scents with the kind of depth you would expect from a fine fragrance house.

Two fragrances run like a thread through the entire line: Lime Leaves + Amber and Vanilla Orchid + Patchouli. These are our signature scents, available across multiple collections, and they represent the heart of what est.1951 fragrance is all about. Lime Leaves + Amber opens with sparkling citrus and cool eucalyptus before settling into the golden warmth of amber. Vanilla Orchid + Patchouli layers silky vanilla orchid over resinous amber, grounded in the smooth depth of sandalwood and patchouli.

Beyond our signatures, each collection is driven by its own distinct fragrance inspiration. Metro draws from the energy of the world's great cities, with destination-driven scents inspired by Barcelona, Paris, Tokyo, and Manhattan. Contours is warm and comfort-forward, designed for gathering and everyday living. Boost+ channels mood-enhancing fragrance technology into six emotionally driven scents designed to support calm, energy, focus, and more. Mirage takes a clean, modern approach inspired by fine fragrance and the luminous quality of west coast light.

For the full fragrance lineup, visit our collection pages at est1951.com.