Our candle collection joins Yia Mas conscious objects, designed to help you live with greater presence and ease. Our candles are made with all-natural wax, organic cotton wicks, and hand-poured with love in Greece.

Scent helps us become more present and connect deeply to memory and the world around us. Our collection evokes a sensory experience of the land and natural elements of Greece.

SYKIA ~ συκιά~ wild fig tree ~ Fresh and sweet like a ripe fig, but with a hint of the fig tree’s greenery.

Ah, the aroma of August, our favorite summer month in Greece. The fig tree, sacred since Dionysian times, holds a special place in Greek culture. It’s also said the Buddha found enlightenment under a fig tree. We can’t promise you will with our candle… but you can always light it and see. One of the most beloved fruits in Greece, we capture the feeling of catching a waft of its aroma. A sultry, fruity, and sacred scent.

AVLI ~ αυλή ~ basil, citrus, sandalwood. High notes of citrus with complex spicy and woody undertones.

The avli is the place to gather, typically filled with potted herbs. Traditionally, it’s a terrace or courtyard where you’ll enjoy meals, hence the hint of lemon found in our candle, which is always on the table in Greece. We balanced it with sandalwood to give it an earthy, soothing element, not unlike the feeling of having spent a long summer afternoon enjoying coffee or a meal on the avli. This stimulating yet grounding scent also pays homage to our love of Greek herbs.

KAFENION ~ καφενείο ~ Cafè, coffee shop ~ Cosy, woody scent with smoky leathery tones and a hint of sweetness.

Inspired by our love of the Greek coffee ritual and how it grounds and energizes us. The kafeneia in Greece have always been gathering places for discourse and leisure. Greeks love their coffee time and to this day, going for coffee is often referred to as their “therapy.”

This is also our most “masculine” scent.

YIASEMI ~ γιασεμί της γιαγιάς ~ grandmother’s (yiayia’s) jasmine ~ Sweet and sensual, an intoxicating scent.

Our jasmine candle is named for a jasmine plant that years ago traversed the Atlantic from central Greece and wound up in a back yard in Virginia. Yia Yia’s Yiasemi figured mysteriously in our founder’s mind, linking her to a village she visited in the summer, and a great grandmother she never got to meet. A sensory tale of the diaspora and memory, jasmine grows abundantly throughout Greece and can be found everywhere from balconies in Athens to terraces in the village.

THE VESSEL ~

Our candles come in terra cotta vessels, evoking our love for the PYTHOI (amphora) and terra cotta found abundantly in Greek art and architecture. We hope you’ll reuse and repurpose yours ~ they’re perfect for storage, decor, or even planting a small herb! The wooden top, embossed with our amphora logo, can be reused as a lid or coaster. We’re jazzed to have created this candle in collaboration with one of our favorite candle brands, WAKS.

Please do not leave burning candles unattended, never place lids on burning candles, and see the instructions on the bottom of the candle for optimal burning.