P.F. Candle Co. makes high quality fragrance for your atmosphere— independently owned and operated since 2008.
Hi, we're P.F. Candle Co. — a Los Angeles-based home fragrance company owned and operated by Kristen Pumphrey and Thomas Neuberger.
We believe that fragrance is an extension of your home design, and we create high quality products with accessible price points in mind.
OUR PRODUCTS
The entire P.F. collection is vegan, cruelty-free, and phthalate-free — always. All of our candles are made with 100% domestically-grown soy wax. While our production methods have improved over the years, something that hasn't changed about P.F. products is the people behind them. All of our products are developed, produced, tested, and packed by our team out of our warehouse in Los Angeles, CA.
Classic Line Shop Now
Alchemy Line Shop now
We wrote a book Order your copy
Meet the crew
WE BELIEVE IN...
DESIGN
Inspired by memories, designed tocomplete your space. We believefragrance is an extension of homedesign, directly impacting yourmood and the way you feel. Ourfragrances are created to makeyou feel good while adding thefinal touch of interior design toany space.
DIY
P.F. began as a one-woman Etsyshop back in 2008 and hasproudly grown into a dedicatedteam of fragrance experts. At ourcore, we are makers, and all of ourproducts are developed, tested,produced, and packed from ourHQ in Southern California. We areproudly independently owned andoperated — reporting to ourselvesand our customers, not investors.
ENVIRONMENT
We are dedicated to theenvironment, both your space andour planet. We create homefragrance goods that are cruelty-free, phthalate-free, andresponsibly sourced. We arecommitted to sustainability, andwe’ve joined forces with ClimateNeutral, an organization that helpsus offset and neutralize ourcarbon footprint.
COMMUNITY
We care for our community bycreating an inclusive space — bothfor our team of makers and oursupporters. We invest time anddonate to local organizations thathelp support our communitybecause, to put it simply — wewouldn’t be able to do what we dowithout you.
Yearly, we donate a portion of our total net profits to local and national charities. We are proud to contribute to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and Communities for a Better Environment.
These organizations represent issues we care deeply about: environmental advocacy and fighting hunger.
We are proudly Climate Neutral Certified!
P. F. OVER THE YEARS
2008-2011:
The Beginning of Pommes Frites
After losing her job in the 2008 recession, Kristen left New York and headed to Austin, Texas. There she met Tom, and soon she started running an Etsy shop out of their home’s second bedroom, selling candles, book safes, buttons, and more.
Can you guess what sold the best?
She named the business after her DIY blog: Pommes Frites. It’s a play on her last name, Pumphrey. The best part? It translates to french fries.
This was never a side hustle. Kristen had known she wanted to make a living out of making things, so she did. Even if it took a while.
2012: Making the Move
In 2012, Tom decided to go back to school in Southern California. Kristen had always wanted to live there, so moving P.F. to the West Coast just made sense. After Tom graduated, Kristen had an opportunity to land a huge candle order for a national retailer. If she got it, Tom promised to make all the candles. She did, and they officially became business partners.
2013-2014:
The First Big Order! That order changed everything, allowing business to move out of the apartment and into an actual studio (finally!) in Downtown L.A.
And after tons of questions about the whole ‘french fries’ thing, Pommes Frites Candle Co. turned into P.F. Candle Co. — just to make things easier. Business didn’t slow. Kristen and Tom tied the knot, and reinvested the money from that first big order back into the business to hire the P.F.’s first team members.
The Etsy shop was still up and running, pfcandleco.com was launched, and soon the line got picked up by Urban Outfitters, CB2, and Madewell. In just a year, the iconic amber jar candles went from selling to just a handful of independent stockists to a few hundred. We couldn’t believe it, either.
2015-2017:
Growth Spurt: In 2015, we outgrew our downtown studio and moved operations to Boyle Heights — no more broken-down freight elevators! The company grew to 20 team members, and in 2016, the smallest member of the team was welcomed: Kristen and Tom’s daughter, Poppy.
2018:
P.F. celebrates 10 years with 45 employees as we open our first brick and mortar shop in Echo Park, Los Angeles.
2019: A New Line
We added the Sunset Line inspired by 1970s summers in California. The design was totally new, featuring unique vessel colors with cheerful motifs.
2020:
Watch out San Francisco! Our third store opens (during a pandemic, no less!) in the Bay Area and showcases the entire P.F. line along with goods from our favorite makers.
2021:
More Growth, Our First Book + More
Our team continues to grow to an incredible 95 team members, all helping bring handmade home fragrance to the world. It didn’t seem possible, but we ran out of space (again!) and in May 2021 we moved our office to DTLA and continued to run our production out of our warehouse in Commerce, CA.
At Home with Fragrance
Tom + Kristen wrote a book — equal parts design and DIY, and will help anyone become a scent expert, too.
We launched our first functional fragrance product, Hand & Body Wash, in four best-selling scents.
With a growing team, two stores, and tons of new launches in the works, we can’t wait to show you what the future of P.F. looks like.
