Hand-poured in small batches · Hyderabad, India
Lumina & Co. is a small-batch candle studio for people who read labels. We hand-pour luxury scented soy candles online in Hyderabad using 100% natural soy wax, lead-free cotton wicks and pure essential oils — never paraffin, never phthalates, never the synthetic fog that leaves a room smelling like a department store. What remains is a slower, cleaner burn and a scent that settles into your home like sunlight through linen.
Batch No. 042 — hand-poured, cured for 14 days, test-burned in Jubilee Hills
Our Craft — Est. 2019
Most candles are designed to perform in the first five minutes of a photograph. Ours are designed for the fifth hour of your evening — the point at which the room has softened, the noise has thinned, and the scent is still there, quiet and true. Every Lumina & Co. candle begins with a simple question: what are we actually burning?
The answer, for much of the candle industry, is paraffin: a waxy by-product of petroleum refining, often blended with synthetic fragrance oils to mask its smell. It is inexpensive, it holds colour beautifully, and it throws scent across a room with undeniable force. It can also produce black soot, leave a film on walls, and release volatile compounds that many sensitive people experience as headaches, irritated throats or a stuffy nose. For a product meant to make a home feel calmer, that trade-off has never made sense to us.
Not every paraffin candle is dangerous, and we won't pretend otherwise. But "not obviously harmful" is a low bar for something you light beside your bed. Studies on indoor air quality have found that paraffin candles can emit fine particulate matter and volatile organic compounds — including benzene and toluene — particularly when a wick is too long or a fragrance load is too high. Synthetic fragrance blends may also contain phthalates, the plasticisers used to make a scent linger, which is why so many conventional candles smell stronger than the room can comfortably hold. Our position is straightforward: if there is a cleaner way to make a beautiful candle, why wouldn't we use it? So we don't use paraffin. We don't use synthetic fragrance. We don't use dyes, plasticisers or lead-core wicks. What you light is what you get: soy wax, cotton, essential oils and glass.
Each batch begins with 100% soybean wax — a renewable, biodegradable material that burns at a lower temperature than paraffin. We melt it slowly in small copper pitchers, never above the temperature that would scorch the oils. Our essential oil blends are added at precisely 65°C, stirred by hand for a full three minutes, and poured at 60°C into thick amber glass. The wick is centred by eye, then checked again. The candles are left to cure for fourteen days — an unhurried step many larger manufacturers skip — so the wax and oil bind properly and the scent blooms evenly from edge to edge rather than only at the top. Every batch is test-burned before it leaves the studio. If it tunnels, soots, or the wick drowns, it doesn't ship.
Soy wax has a lower melting point, which means a cooler, longer burn and a scent that unfolds rather than announces itself. Our 220 g candles burn for roughly 50–55 hours — not because we've added hardeners, but because the wax itself is generous. You may notice the difference in the first ten minutes: no sharp alcohol opening, no synthetic sweetness, no headache waiting at the edge. Just lavender that smells like a garden after rain, vanilla that smells like the inside of a pod, sandalwood that smells like a warm room in winter. We consider that restraint a feature. The finest fragrances in the world are the ones you notice twice: once when you enter, and once when you've forgotten they're there.
“A candle should not compete with your home. It should complete it.”
Lumina & Co. is a small team of four in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. We pour in batches of sixty, label every vessel by hand, and ship in plastic-free packaging. Our founder, Ananya, trained as a perfumer in Grasse and returned home frustrated by how difficult it was to find a candle that was both beautiful and honest. The studio began as a weekend experiment on her kitchen counter; the first forty candles sold to friends who wanted something gentler for their bedrooms. We still pour the same way — slowly, in small runs, with a notebook open and a test candle burning at the edge of the table.
Ananya Rao
Founder & Perfumer
50–55
Hours of clean burn
14
Days of curing
0
Paraffin, phthalates or dyes
60
Candles per small batch
The Signature Scents
Small-batch, essential-oil-led and made to be lived with. Every 220 g candle is hand-poured in Hyderabad, cured for 14 days and test-burned before it's wrapped.
Need help choosing?
Sleep & Calm
French lavender, crushed sage and a breath of cedarwood — a clean, herbaceous scent made for the hour before sleep. Pure essential oils, a low fragrance load and a slow soy burn, without the synthetic sweetness that lingers in curtains.
Notes French lavender · Wild sage · Cedarwood
Warmth
A warm, resinous blend of vanilla bean, creamy sandalwood and a trace of amber. The vanilla is real and unhurried — not the sugary note of mass-market candles — and the essential-oil base keeps it close to the skin.
Notes Vanilla bean · Sandalwood · Amber
Romance
A soft, romantic floral built around blush peony, petal-rose and white musk. The scent of a dressing table, fresh linen and a window left open in spring — feminine without being powdery, present without taking over.
Notes Blush peony · Damask rose · White musk
The bedroom, reimagined as a place to rest
The Bedroom Ritual
Bedrooms are where a candle earns its keep. A clean-burning natural soy candle gives you light without the tight, stuffy feeling that paraffin can leave behind — and a low, essential-oil scent that signals rest rather than stimulation.
Our Lavender & Wild Sage was made for this room. Light it thirty minutes before bed, dim the overheads, and let the day loosen its grip. If you're looking to buy natural soy wax candles for bedroom use, start with something quiet. Your nervous system will notice.
Shop the Sleep Ritual
The Art of Gifting
The most considered gifts don't ask to be displayed. They become part of a life: the candle lit at bath time, the scent that now means "home", the small ritual someone looks forward to after everyone else has gone to bed.
Lumina & Co. gift sets are assembled by hand in our Hyderabad studio, wrapped in recycled cotton paper and finished with a hand-written note. Whether you're marking a housewarming, a wedding, Diwali or a thoughtful thank-you to a team, we'll help you build something that feels personal — not corporate. For orders of twenty sets or more, our studio offers custom scent selection, foiling and delivery across India.
Studio orders close 21 days before Diwali, Christmas and wedding season. Message early to reserve your batch.
In Their Homes
“I've stopped buying supermarket candles. The vanilla one fills our living room without that sharp, headachey smell — and it burns for weeks.”
“The lavender candle has become part of my wind-down routine. Subtle, never synthetic. The packaging is beautiful enough to leave out.”
“Gifted the trio to my sister for her housewarming. The handwritten note was such a thoughtful touch. She's already asked for a second set.”
Good to Know
We'd rather you know exactly what you're bringing into your home. If your question isn't here, our studio replies personally — usually within a working day.
Ask the studioMost commercial candles use paraffin wax — a petroleum by-product — and synthetic fragrance oils, because both are inexpensive and throw scent aggressively. Our luxury scented soy candles are made with 100% natural soy wax, lead-free cotton wicks and pure essential oil blends. The result is a cooler, slower burn, no black soot, and a scent that sits close to the room rather than filling it. We also cure every batch for fourteen days and test-burn each one before it ships.
Yes — with the usual common sense. We use no paraffin, no phthalates, no synthetic musks, no dyes and no lead-core wicks. Our non-toxic aromatherapy candles are formulated at a low essential-oil load so they remain gentle in bedrooms and living spaces. That said, no candle should be burned in an unventilated room for hours, and anyone with a diagnosed respiratory condition or fragrance allergy should check with their doctor before trying a new scent. Always trim the wick, keep the candle away from drafts and never leave it unattended.
Each 220 g candle burns for approximately 50–55 hours, depending on scent and room conditions. On the first burn, allow the wax to melt to the edge of the glass — usually two to three hours — to prevent tunnelling. Thereafter, trim the cotton wick to 5 mm before every light and burn for no more than four hours at a time. Keep the candle away from fans and open windows; a steady flame is a clean flame.
We ship pan-India from Hyderabad. Orders are dispatched within one to two business days and typically arrive in two to five business days; remote pin codes may take a little longer. Shipping is complimentary on orders over ₹1,999, and every order is packed in plastic-free, shock-safe packaging. Because checkout happens over WhatsApp, our team confirms your address and shares tracking details personally.
They are a thoughtful choice for housewarmings, weddings, Diwali and corporate gifting. Our Peony & Blush Rose and Signature Trio are the most gifted, and every order can include a hand-written note and recycled gift wrapping. Custom labels and scent selection are available from twenty sets, with delivery across India.
Small batches cost more to make. We use cosmetic-grade soy wax, pure essential oils and thick amber glass, pour by hand in runs of sixty, cure for fourteen days and test-burn every batch. There is no paraffin filler, no synthetic fragrance to stretch the oil, and no warehouse full of unsold stock. You're paying for a candle that burns for 50+ hours, smells like something real, and doesn't leave your room feeling worse than before. We think that's the more honest luxury.