about

Meet the maker.

Hello.

My name is Danielle and I’m the owner and maker behind Firelands Wax – an artisan soy candle company specializing in realistic, clean-burning candles for sensitive people. My candles are handmade using clean fragrance oils, paper core cotton wicks, and 100% soy wax for a long-lasting experience that’s enjoyable even for the most sensitive households. The scents are designed to smell realistic not as a gimmick, but as an intentional alternative to the artificial and often overwhelming fragrances of box store candles.

The business didn’t start on purpose but rather it started as a side project that grew organically until it came to what it is today. If you’re interested, here’s the story.

Firelands Wax - a story

I started making candles in 2015 while building a locally themed gift crate business with a friend. We couldn’t find local candles that fit our vision – minimalist, clean, realistic and seasonal – so I made them myself. At the time, it felt like just another DIY project, in which I was well versed.

I toiled over the recipe and ended up with a product that people quickly wanted to buy on their own. At this point I probably should have just pivoted to candlemaking, but I was compelled by my partnership so I taught my sister Lauren how to make them for me and refocused on the gift crates.

She followed the demand for candles, forming Firelands Wax and officially launching the business while years later, my business partner ghosted, the crates folded, and I found myself trying to figure out what came next. A few years after that, in 2022, my sister decided to pursue nursing and asked if I wanted to take the candles back over.

I said yes.

What I didn’t realize until much later was that the candles had never been just a product – they had been an answer. In 2024 I learned I had ADHD, and suddenly the choices I’d been making all along, including this one, finally made sense.

Artificial scents had always bothered me, and realistic ones did something blended fragrances couldn’t – they pulled me into a specific moment, sparked a memory I wouldn’t have thought to reach for, and grounded me in a season I might otherwise have let slip by without noticing. The scents are designed to capture familiar moments with little embellishment – the first cut grass of spring, the first touch of tomato plants in summer, the first whiff of sun tea warm from the porch.

And anyone who has ever shut the lights off and lit a candle knows what I mean when I say it really shifts the mood. But for someone neurodivergent, that effect is outsized in both directions – a brightly lit, messy room is genuinely distressing but that same room at night with a lit candle can feel like real relief, not just a design statement. This is also why the jars are clear – to maximize the comforting glow of the candlelight itself.

The name Firelands comes from a real place in Northern Ohio, where the candles were first made and where my family still lives today. The region takes its name from land granted to Connecticut families whose property was burned during the American Revolution. Generations later, when I was in high school, my own family made that same move from Connecticut to Ohio – giving the name an additional layer of personal meaning.

Today, every candle is still hand-poured by me using 100% soy wax, cotton wicks, and carefully selected fragrance oils. My goal has never been to create the most powerful candle in the room – it’s been to create the most calming one.

Here’s to taking care of our minds, our hearts, and the spaces we call home.

With love,
Danielle