Meet Dandles Candles
Dandles Candles was one of the very first local artisans Intrigue featured when we first opened, and their stunning, hand-poured candles have been a popular fixture ever since. Over the years, we have developed a lovely relationship with Dana, Dandle’s owner and candlemaker, and make routine trips to Spokane to personally select the candles we bring back to Moscow for your enjoyment. Dana began making candles as an evening hobby while she worked as a reporter in Boise and Spokane.
She sold her first candle twenty years ago, and her business has grown tremendously ever since. In the beginning, Dana usually created classic pillar candles made with paraffin wax, which is still the most common material used in candle making. Paraffin is a petroleum product, so not only is it a non-renewable resource, but it also emits black soot when burned. Dana now almost exclusively works with soy harvested from the Midwest that is then rendered into wax, making it both a more sustainable and cleaner-burning alternative. Dana receives soy wax ‘chips’ from her suppliers. These chips are then melted slowly, infused with the desired scent, and poured into the intended vessel to set.
Speaking of vessels, Dana offers an ever-changing selection of eye-catching vessels to house her creations. With a keen sense of style and strong feel for décor trends, Dandles Candles can be found in any number of delightful presentations. Handsome Cement and Boulder vessels are particularly popular of late, as are the beautiful marriage of texture and color found in her Seafoam and Smoked Glass. These contemporary trends stand alongside the classic mason jar and repurposed tea tin as attractive accents to any living space.
The scents Dana creates are even more varied and just as evocative as the vessels themselves. There are some standards, of course, such as Vanilla Coconut Cream, Lilac City, and Cranberry Spice, which are joined by the perfect facsimile of a fresh pot of coffee, Northwest Java and the pie-like aroma of Brown Sugar Pear and the floral Magnolia Garden. The rest of her scents change with the seasons, with White Pine being particularly popular from Fall through the holiday season. Summer scents like the citrusy Satsuma Blanc, effervescent Peach Bellini, and Surfer Girl, evoke a day at the beach with an heir of Coppertone Suntan Lotion.
Of special note for Summer is Dandles’ line of citronella candles to stylishly keep the bugs at bay. One of the great benefits of our relationship with Dana is our ability to procure specific styles and scents as requested by our customers.
Pop by Intrigue to see these remarkable candles firsthand, and please let us know if there is something you would particularly like to see on our shelves and in your home. “I love us small businesses working together,” Dana says, “and I love that I have a personal relationship with a boutique all the way down in Moscow.” We at Intrigue could not agree more and are proud to share the beauty of Dandles Candles with everyone on the Palouse.
Many thanks to Dana for her time and input on this article. Support your neighbors – Shop local!