About

Pore Over Collective is a woman-owned business based in San Francisco, CA. We sell candle products and accessories, and are available for custom orders and corporate events. 

  

Mission, Vision, & Values

Our mission is to create beautiful, high quality and long-burning candles, using unique fragrance blends.  We want our candles to feel special, but not so special you don't enjoy using them in your home! We use luxury, eco-safe oils and vegan waxes to provide the cleanest burning candles. We test each candle configuration to ensure quality and safety.

  

The Origin Story:

2021: After taking a candle-making class with my friend Allison, the process engineer in me was inspired to optimize both the candle format and the method. I immediately dove into testing waxes and wick configurations, trying to find something both aesthetic, and of high quality and functionality. The amount of candle-making YouTube videos I watched was embarrassing, but I kept pulling tips and testing new methods, and tweaking. I gave away many, many, many candles - not all of them great, but that's how you learn. I taught my friends to make them in my kitchen. I taught my coworkers to make them at a few office workshops, which also taught ME how to optimize for scale. 

2022: In the midst of an amazing, yet clearly mind-altering Thai massage in Vancouver, BC, I had a vision to create Pore Over Collective - the name that came to me as my mind tried to distract me from the contortions my body was being put through. A road map for my business laid out clearly in my mind, with everything starting with the candles I had been obsessively perfecting over the years. But I wasn't ready. 

2024: With a layoff at the end of 2023 (or RIF, as they say), I had some time on my hands to dream a little, but I still didn't know if I was ready to start my own business. With enough encouragement from friends, however, and even some strangers, I decided it was finally time. Two years out from the Vancouver vision, but still clearly excited about candles, here we have landed!

I hope you very much enjoy every candle you purchase from us- a lot of hard work and a lot of joy went into making them especially for you!