Located online and at 1804 Nicholson Avenue in Waveland, Miss., Waveland Candle Co.’s soy candles are unique in the Waveland-Bay St. Louis area due to their lotion-like properties. The company’s subsidiary business, Wicks & Wine Candle Bar, provides customers with a fun, social event for family and friends to enjoy where they can customize their own candle through the process of picking the fragrance they want, determining the container size, and designing their own label – all in the span of 2 ½ hours.

     Since the business’s beginning 13 years ago and the introduction of Wicks & Wine Candle Bar in 2023, Waveland Candle Co. has expanded to include over one hundred fragrance options in a wide range of smells in the categories of Foody, Designer, Masculine, Feminine, and Earthy that can be incorporated for candle enthusiasts to enjoy.

     A self-proclaimed “tree hugger,” Chuck Underwood – owner of Waveland Candle Co. and Wicks & Wine Candle Bar – asserts that he tries “to keep everything as natural as can be” with his candles so they are “environmentally safe for your home and family.” An additional reason for the candles being 100 percent natural between the soy oil and fragrances is so that “anybody can use them,” even people with fragrance allergies like Underwood himself.
     Underwood states that he constantly reminds himself that “you’re buying for the customers, not for yourself” and that “just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean that my customer base doesn’t like it,” which is why he tries to have as diverse of a selection as possible in fragrances so that every person can find at least one – preferably several – smells they love.

     Chuck Underwood entered the candle making business in 2010 after the candle supplier for his gift shop retired and shared with him the important aspects and secrets of the trade. Eventually, because of the high demand for his all-natural soy lotion candles, he turned wholesale with Waveland Candle Co. and started to attend markets throughout the country, where he continues to sell candles to gift shops and small retail chains, though they are also available for purchase on his company’s official website. Underwood states that “we’re basically across the United States now. The furthest we can be found is North Dakota,” which exemplifies how successful and prolific Waveland Candle Co. has become since its creation.
     Compared to Waveland Candle Co., which has been operated by Underwood for well over a decade, Wicks & Wine Candle Bar is a much newer endeavor for the inventive candle maker, as it opened its doors in January of 2023. Having recently passed the one-year anniversary of its inception, the candle bar’s popularity continues to increase with the knowledge that a completely customizable candle experience with friends and/or family is available in Waveland, Miss., becomes more widespread.

     Waveland Candle Co. is a wholesale candle company, meaning that its customers are primarily gift shops, small chains and hospitals included, as well as drug stores and restaurants along with the less common but still applicable pecan suppliers, micro-breweries, etc., though Underwood declares that he doesn’t support big chains and refuses to sell to them.
     Local spots in Mississippi that sell Waveland Candle Co. candles include but are not limited to flower shops such as Village Florist and Rose’s Florist in Poplarville and Gulfport, respectively, in addition to drugstores like Owl Drugstore in Hattiesburg and the Channel chain. Waveland Candle Co. also holds a vendor spot at the Mississippi Antique Galleria located at 1909 E. Pass Road in Gulfport where over 50 fragrances are available accompanying Underwood’s Men Care – a men’s product line consisting of beard oils, aftershaves, body lotions, bath gels, etc., for purchase and found also at Century Hall in Old Town, Bay St. Louis.

     Underwood often attends markets across the United States, including the Biloxi and Jackson Wholesale Market shows in Mississippi, where he showcases the newest and most popular options out of the roughly 120 available fragrances businesses can order. Every six months, he says, he tries to do a few new fragrances, which means that those he is selling the least of are eventually discontinued or retired.
    While Underwood does have help with the sales side of his business, he meticulously pours every candle himself so that he knows “everything is done right” and to guarantee the best quality possible for his customers. Waveland Candle Co. prides itself in selling all-natural, soy lotion candles with only skin safe, nonallergenic fragrance oils incorporated and no dye or chemicals added so that anybody and everybody can enjoy a good-smelling, long-lasting candle. The soy candles have the additional benefit of acting as a moisturizing lotion due to their lower burning temperature than paraffin or coconut oil candles (do not put on skin) and are nongreasy in texture, making them especially great for people with eczema or psoriasis.

     Waveland Candle Co.’s 100 percent pure soy oil candles do not produce soot, as Underwood specifically uses lead-free cotton wicks, meaning they are environmentally safe for the home and family. . The candles range in size, including 5.5 oz., 7.5 oz., 9 oz., 10 oz., and 15 oz. They also hold up to 12 percent fragrance, whereas a regular paraffin or soy blend candle only holds 4 percent, giving Waveland Candle Co.’s products an 8 percent increase over opposing companies in the dispersity and longevity of the candle’s smell. While soy candles do require to be put into a container, they do not accrue the “tunnel effect” where the candle burns through the center and leaves the surrounding wax and instead burn solidly across and evaporates all the way to the very bottom. If the tunnel effect does start to occur, simply take a hairdryer and melt the entirety of the top layer and then light it; then the candle will “remember” and burn evenly across instead.

     The number of candle batches made per week is contingent on the number of orders, but each batch is poured in groups of six and one fragrance at a time so there is no worry of accidental mixing. After putting on the warning labels, wicking them, and pouring them, the candles set for a week to make certain they are fully hardened/cured before being shipped out. This means the process typically takes anywhere from two to three weeks but could take up to six weeks depending on the volume of orders ahead, as they are processed in the order they arrive.

All the same ingredients from the soy oil base and fragrance options to the containers – sizes 8 oz., 12 oz., 16 oz., and 22 oz. available – are used at Wicks & Wine Candle Bar, a subsidiary business of Waveland Candle Co. The candle bar is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings as well as Saturday mornings for a 2 ½ hour candle making session for groups of six to 12 starting at $35 per person. Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and the child per adult ratio must be 1:1, meaning that a group of six children requires six adults to supervise. The adult must also sign a release form stating that they are 100 percent responsible for their child as well as assist with pouring their candle.

     Candle supplies are provided, and drinks and food must be brought by the group. The session starts with picking the fragrance and container size before going step-by-step through the candle making process. This takes around 30 minutes and then the group members are free to enjoy the music, food, and drinks for the remaining two hours while the candles set, with larger vessels taking longer to set, so that they can take them home the same day. Once set, each person creates a customized label for their candle to make them uniquely theirs.

     Perfect for small bridal parties, birthday celebrations, group date nights, or simply to spend time with friends and family, Wicks & Wine Candle Bar provides a great hands-on activity for people of all ages to enjoy and a way to socialize whilst creating something that can be kept for yourself or given to a loved one and in the process support a local Mississippi business. Underwood encourages people to check out some of the top-selling fragrances, such as the fruity Volcano, Sweet Grace, Midnight for Men, Bourbon Blend, or his personal favorite, Grandma’s Kitchen, which has an “apple pie-type smell with a hint of cinnamon.”
     Underwood recalls one candle bar party where Hancock County CASA Mardi Gras Queen members were involved, saying “I created them a label, CASA Queen candle labels…I gave them their labels when it came time to label their candles and they all loved them. They had a great time.”    

     Located at 1804 Nicholson Ave., Waveland, MS 39576, Wick & Wine Candle Bar serves groups of six to 12 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday nights or Saturday mornings. If you are a gift shop, restaurant, boutique, retail outlet, or otherwise small business or chain interested in purchasing candles wholesale from Waveland Candle Co., email chuck@wavelandcandle.com for more information and complete the wholesale application form for consideration.

     For more information, visit Waveland Candle Co. at www.wavelandcandle.com, call 228-220-4716. Keep up to date on the newest fragrances by checking out Waveland Candle Co.’s Facebook, Twitter “X”, Tumbler, and TikTok pages.

Maya Wood

Southern Miss Gulf Scholar! Maya Wood is a native Mississippi resident currently working on obtaining her bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Southern Mississippi ‘s Gulf Coast campus. She plans to continue on to a master’s degree with an emphasis in literature or creative writing and is currently a member of the inaugural class of the nationally recognized Gulf Scholars Program, which is a program that focuses on supporting states and communities along the coast. This article is one of several stories for her Gulf Scholars project whose purpose is to highlight local businesses and their contributions to providing “the good life” for Mississippi residents and visitors. Maya’s long-term goal is to do what she loves full time: work as a writer and eventually become an author, as she finds great joy in reading and wants to spread that feeling to others.