Feeling the need to unwind? Want to support a stylish local business? Strike a light and relax as hard as you can with these recycled, vegan candles from Oxon-based Hunters Moon

A London events guru once told me that to make a space feel luxurious and inviting, you should light scented candles an hour before guests arrive. But what if you’re too knackered to have guests around? Or – like me last night – you’re spending your evenings with a scrubbing brush looking at not terribly relaxing inside of an oven?

The message from Hunters Moon, an Oxfordshire company, is to light it anyway. A candle isn’t for Christmas (well it is, but you know what I mean) it’s a mood enhancer, a ‘me-time’ grabber, a signal that life isn’t just about home chores and functional mid-week dinners.

The company is run by two sisters Lucy and Alice in the Oxfordshire countryside. Their aim – aside from creating a covetable range of toiletries, candles and diffusers – is to encourage us all to make a moment for ourselves everyday. In fact, so ardent are they in their mission to ensure we enjoy and burn the candles in our homes, they’ve introduced a subscription service so you are presented with a brand new candle every month. Any guilt you might feel in scenting your kitchen on a Wednesday evening will be quickly dispensed by the knowledge that a replacement is turning up in eight days’ time.

Made from plant-based wax, the hand-poured vegan candles sit in apothecary-style jars made from recycled glass starting. There are eleven fragrances to choose from, including Sea Kelp, Black Oud and Fresh Linen and at from £16 each, they represent a very reasonable stab at bringing some much-needed luxury home.

Words @Lucy__Foster