Nekono Beespoke Hand-Poured Beeswax Candle
Nekono Beespoke Hand-Poured Beeswax Candle
Hand-poured Australian beeswax, in a jar shaped like a cold drink.
Beespoke started with a question: why does a candle have to look like a candle? The answer turned out to be the pour — two stages, with a translucent top layer sitting on the wax the way cream sits on cold brew before you stir it. Once the jar looked like a drink, it needed a drink's name, and the rest of the menu followed.
The top layer melts into the pool on the first long burn and is meant to be temporary.
Beespoke = Bee Wax + Bespoke
- Australian beeswax
- Hand-poured in small batches
- Fragrance oil only — no essential oils in anything we make
Batch 01 is forty-eight jars, twelve of each scent. Once a batch sells out, the next is poured to order — no two batches are identical.
A note on scent: fragrance oil vs. essential oil
These are different things, and the difference is why Beespoke smells the way it does while staying free of essential oils. Essential oils are steam-distilled straight from a plant, which is also how they end up carrying concentrated phenols and monoterpenes — the compounds that make certain oils a problem for cats. Fragrance oils are compounded scent formulations built to smell a certain way; they don't carry those specific plant-derived compounds. Our scented jars use fragrance oil. Original uses neither, and has no added scent at all.
The menu
Original, unscented
100% Australian beeswax, a cotton wick, and nothing else in the jar.
Most scented candles on the shelf are built on citrus, tea tree, pine or eucalyptus. If you live with a cat, that list is a problem, and it is most of the category. Original is the version with the problem removed.
Beeswax has a faint smell of its own, closer to honey than to anything you would call a scent. It shows up when the candle is warm and goes when it cools. If you want the shortest possible ingredient list, or you simply don't like fragranced candles, this is the one.
Osmanthus Milk Tea
Osmanthus reads more like apricot than like a flower. We poured it over a milk tea base, the way it's most often met: in a cup. Dried osmanthus and flakes of gold leaf sit in the top layer, standing in for the blossom itself.
Notes: osmanthus, apricot, black tea, milk.
Peach Oolong Milk Tea
A good oolong is worth more than one steeping. The first cup is bright and slightly sharp, the second rounder, and by the third you're drinking something the first cup didn't mention. Peach oolong is what happens when a tea shop decides not to wait for the third cup.
Opens fruitier than the Osmanthus and dries down greener. Cousins, not twins.
Notes: white peach, roasted oolong, cut grass, milk.
Iced Coffee
The one the series came out of. Poured in two layers that set separately: a cream-coloured soy top over a coffee-brown base, so it reads as a drink before you ever light it. Smells more like the coffee than the sugar.
Notes: cold brew, roasted bean, a thin line of cream.
All three scents are a soft throw, on purpose. These aren't candles built to fill a house.
What is in it
- Australian beeswax. Original is 100% beeswax; the scented variants are beeswax blended with soy
- Cotton wick
- Fragrance oil in the scented variants, no essential oils in any of them
- Dried osmanthus and gold leaf in Osmanthus Milk Tea
- Candle pigment in Iced Coffee, for the coffee layer. Everything else is undyed
Burning it
- First burn: 2 to 3 hours, long enough for the melt pool to reach the glass
- Trim the wick to about 5mm before each burn
- No more than 4 hours at a stretch
- Stop burning when about 10mm of wax is left in the base
- Never leave a burning candle unattended
When the candle is finished
The jar outlasts the candle. Once the wax has fully set, lift the plug out with a spoon — it usually comes out in one piece — and peel off the wick holder underneath. Wipe out any remaining film with a paper towel first, then wash the jar in warm water with dish soap.
Don't put a jar with leftover wax in the dishwasher: melted wax can end up coating the inside of the machine. And don't rinse solid wax down the sink — scoop it out while it's solid and bin it. Once the jar is wiped clean and just needs a normal wash, it's dishwasher safe.
Cleaned out, it makes a good jar for cotton buds, hair ties, or a spare wick trimmer.
Refill it instead
We pour these ourselves, so we can fill the jar you already own. Same wax, your choice of scent, for less than a new candle costs. Bring it back to us, or hand it over at a market we're at.
Custom Vessel Service
Send us your own jar and we will pour into it. Two working days from the time it arrives, and we send a photo before it ships.
We can pour into: ceramic mugs, thick heat-safe glass
We cannot pour into: wine glasses, champagne flutes, thin glass, cookware, decorative jars not built for hot liquid
If a jar arrives that we don't think will hold up, we'll tell you before we pour and send it back at our cost.
Questions people ask
Are candles safe to burn around cats?
No candle maker can honestly certify that, and we won't pretend otherwise. If your cat shares the room, our unscented Original is the one we'd recommend. Whichever jar you choose, keep the room ventilated and don't leave a lit candle unattended around your cat — a flame at tail height is a risk regardless of what's in the jar.
Where can I buy a beeswax candle with no fragrance in Australia?
That's our Original. 100% Australian beeswax, cotton wick, no fragrance oil, no essential oils, no dye.
Which candle scents should cat owners avoid?
Ones built on citrus, tea tree, pine, eucalyptus, peppermint, wintergreen, clove or cinnamon essential oils. That's a large share of the candle aisle, which is why we built our menu out of tea and coffee fragrance oils instead.
Do you use essential oils?
No. Our scented jars use fragrance oil, not essential oil — the two are compounded differently, and fragrance oil doesn't carry the plant compounds that make essential oils a concern around cats. Original has no added scent of either kind.
How long does a Beespoke candle burn?
Around 35 to 45 hours for the 250ml jars, burned properly. Burn time moves with wick trimming, session length, draughts and room temperature, so treat that as an estimate.
What's in the top layer of the Osmanthus one?
Dried osmanthus flowers and gold leaf, suspended where the two layers meet.
Can I get a refill instead of a new candle?
Yes. We pour these ourselves, so bring the empty jar back and we'll refill it in the scent you want, for less than a new one costs.
For the love of cats.