Aromatherapy Candle Making Workshop in London

Most people arrive not knowing what to expect. They have booked a candle making workshop in London because it sounded like a good evening, or because someone gave it to them as a gift. An hour later they leave holding a candle they made themselves, scented with a blend they chose, and something has usually shifted.

That hour is the whole point. Not a craft class exactly, and not a wellness session either. Somewhere between the two: an hour of working with your hands and your nose, in a room that smells extraordinary.

What you actually do

The workshop runs for an hour. You sit at the table with tea in your hand while your tutor talks you through the oils. Then you smell your way through the signature blends and choose the one your candle is for: sleep, stress relief, mood, or energy.

From there it is hands-on. You melt the eco soy wax, measure the essential oils into it, and pour your own 170ml candle. The cotton wick is set by hand. Your candle sets before the class ends, so you carry it out with you the same evening. It gives you around 35 hours of burning.

No experience is needed and nothing is expected of you. If you can tell one tea from another, you can tell one essential oil from another.

Why essential oils, and not fragrance oils

This is the part that surprises people. Most scented candles, including expensive ones, are built on synthetic fragrance oil. It is cheap, it is strong, and it smells the same in every batch.

Yougi candles are blended from 100% pure essential oils, distilled from real plants. It means the scent behaves differently: softer, more complex, and it changes a little as the candle burns. It also means the oils carry the properties they carry in aromatherapy. Lavender settles. Bergamot lifts. Cedarwood grounds.

You learn a little of how that works in the session: which oils sit at the top of a blend and disappear first, which ones hold the middle, which ones stay in the room for hours. If it catches you, every oil we use is written up in the Oil Library.

Where the workshops run

We have two studios in London. 31 Connaught Street, Marble Arch, W2 is the flagship: a shop and a workshop space, open six days a week. 53 Fashion Street, Whitechapel, E1 is workshops only, a larger room, by booking.

Each date tells you which studio it runs in. Full directions go out with your booking confirmation.

What it costs, and what is included

The candle making workshop is £42 per person. That covers everything: the 170ml candle and its vessel, the eco soy wax and cotton wick, your choice of essential oil blend, refreshments when you arrive, and a Yougi tutor with you for the whole hour. You bring nothing.

Every workshop is designed by Emily, who founded Yougi in 2019 and still blends every formula in the range. Most sessions are taught by the Yougi team, all of whom trained with her.

Coming as a group

Roughly half our bookings are groups. Birthdays, hen parties, team away-days, mothers and daughters. It works because everyone has something to do with their hands, which takes the pressure out of the room, and because everyone leaves with something they made rather than something they were given.

For groups of eight or more we close the studio and design the session around you. That is set out on the private events page, along with what we can do at your own venue.

If candles are not quite your thing

The candle workshop is the one most people start with, but it is not the only one. There is a natural perfume making workshop, ninety minutes, where you build a scent from more than thirty oils and leave with two 15ml perfumes. There is soap making, and a body butter workshop for the end of the day. The full list is on the workshops page.

The bit nobody books it for

People book a candle making workshop because they want a nice evening, and they get one. What they tend to mention afterwards is different: that for an hour, nobody looked at their phone.

Working with scent does that. It is hard to think about your inbox while you are trying to decide whether a blend needs more bergamot. That hour of attention is the thing you take home, along with the candle.

Dates and booking are on the candle making workshop page. Come and make something.