🕯️ About Les Fondeurs d'Histoires
About Les Fondeurs d'Histoires
Les Fondeurs d'Histoires (literally “the story casters”) is a craft workshop founded in September 2025 by Mathieu and Franck in Loctudy, in the heart of the Pays Bigouden in Brittany. Here we imagine and make scented candles and wax melts inspired by stories, memories and local legends.
Who is behind Les Fondeurs d'Histoires?
A Breton workshop, two pairs of hands and a lot of warm wax.
In a nutshell
Les Fondeurs d'Histoires is a Breton craft workshop based in Loctudy, Finistère, specialising in hand-poured scented candles and wax melts.
Every creation is made in small batches, in our own workshop, from plant-based wax and fragrances selected in Grasse. We pay particular attention to materials, to every gesture and to the final quality of each piece.
For us, a candle is a thoughtful, carefully made object, designed to accompany everyday life with simplicity. We make our candles and wax melts in the workshop, and select some accessories from partners to enrich the experience.
How the workshop began
Les Fondeurs d'Histoires was born from a desire to create differently: to work the material by hand, to slow down and to give value back to the objects around us.
The first creations came to life through trials, fragrance tests, formula adjustments and many hours spent understanding wax, wicks and their delicate balance. Little by little, the workshop took shape, guided by a demanding and consistent craft approach.
The project was built step by step, respecting the time every handmade creation needs. To understand where our stories come from, we wrote a whole page: where the stories are born.
Our story in a few dates 📜
A year of chapters written by four hands, from the very first pour to shops across western France.
- September 2025Les Fondeurs d'Histoires is born. Mathieu and Franck create the brand in Loctudy, in a penty (a traditional stone cottage) in the Pays Bigouden. The idea: to bring a little magic into everyday life, travelling without leaving your living room.
- 23 October 2025The online shop opens. The first scented stories leave the workshop for the whole of France.
- November 2025First market, in Trégunc. Our first stall at the Trégunc Christmas market. Plenty of stage fright, careful decoration and crib notes ready to answer every question.
- 21 March 2026Le Télégramme devotes a portrait to Mathieu. “The Loctudy craftsman who turns wax into stories”, by Anne-Marie Quéméner.
- 2 April 2026Ouest-France features the workshop. “Every candle evokes an emotion”: Ouest-France in turn tells the story of the young Loctudy brand.
- June 2026L'Empreinte 1892, our first Signature fragrance. A fragrance imagined around Théodore Bramant, a Parisian apothecary in 1892, and found nowhere else. Discover L'Empreinte 1892
- 2026A bespoke candle for Hôtel La Butte. A creation designed to reflect the hotel, and sold on site.
- September 2026One year, and new roots. The workshop celebrates its first year, Volume I of our stories, and joins an association of craft makers from the Pays Bigouden.
- October 2026New partner shops. Our creations arrive in Brest on 1 October, in Rennes on 10 October, then in Saint-Brieuc on 22 October. See where to buy
The Loctudy workshop 🌊
A lively place, shaped by the seasons, the pours in progress and the sound of the sea not far away.
It is in Loctudy, in the heart of Finistère, that every candle and wax melt is imagined, poured and finished by hand. The workshop is set in a penty, a small traditional Breton stone house.
The workshop is a lively place, shaped by the seasons, the pours in progress and the different stages of making. We work in small batches, to preserve the quality, consistency and care given to each creation.
This bond with Brittany is an essential part of our identity and the way we create. The legends of this land, its light, its scents: they all end up in our stories.
Our craftsmanship ✨
Time, precision and complete mastery of every step.
Melted, scented, then slowly poured
The wax is melted, carefully scented, then poured slowly. Resting and setting times are respected to ensure a steady burn and a harmonious release of fragrance.
Every creation is checked before leaving the workshop
Each piece is then checked before it leaves the workshop. This handwork can sometimes lead to slight variations, typical of handmade, which make every piece unique.
A candle isn't made quickly.
It is heated, weighed, rested, then tested. Patience is part of the recipe.
Fourteen steps behind every candle 🕯️
From the first idea to the sealed parcel, everything passes through our hands. Here is the journey of a candle, step by step.
- The idea: a place, an era, an emotion.
- Writing the story: the tale is written before the fragrance.
- The drawing: every label begins in pencil.
- The printing: labels and cards are printed on site.
- The cutting: one sheet after another.
- Safety: we write the safety sheets ourselves.
- The tests: every creation is tested before going on sale.
- The pour: by hand, jar after jar.
- Resting: the wax sets slowly, at its own pace.
- The jars: cleaned one by one before labelling.
- The label: applied by hand on every candle.
- The seal: the gold seal, also applied by hand.
- The engraving: the wooden lid goes under the laser.
- The packaging: each candle leaves in its kraft box, with its collector's card.
The materials we choose 🌿
Few ingredients, but each one carefully chosen and true to our craft approach.
🌿 Plant-based wax
Our candles are made of soy wax (80%) and plant-based stearin (10%), our wax melts of rapeseed and coconut wax (89%). No paraffin or palm oil, for a gentle flame and beautiful fragrance release.
🌸 Fragrances from Grasse
Composed with a master perfumer in Grasse, free from CMR substances and phthalates, and always used at 10% in every creation, candles and wax melts alike.
🕯️ The wicks
OEKO-TEX certified cotton, neither bleached nor chemically treated, on a lead-free metal base. A steady flame and wax used right to the end. Alongside, we are finishing our stock of maple wood wicks.
🏺 The amber glass
A thick 30 cl amber-tinted glass, reminiscent of apothecary bottles, which warms the light of the flame. Strong and beautiful enough for a second life once the candle is finished.
📜 The wooden lid
Raw wood, with no paint or finish. Our laser engraver adds our logo, and can engrave your own message inside to make a candle truly unique.
📦 The packaging
Dye-free kraft cardboard, with a clear window made from corn. Plastic-free paper labels and collector's cards are printed and cut one by one in the workshop. A gold seal, applied by hand, holds a silk ribbon.
What makes us different
Every Les Fondeurs d'Histoires creation is designed as a coherent whole. The fragrance, the name, the story and the visual world are developed together to create something recognisable, clear and harmonious.
This approach gives every candle and every wax melt its own identity, without ever standardising the creation. Our work follows a craft approach where aesthetics, meaning and quality move forward together.
The workshop in numbers 🕯️
What we would note in an apothecary's register, if the workshop kept one.
Workshop register, Loctudy
The makers behind the stories 🕯️
Together, we create much more than candles: we light up emotions. We are two people passionate about creating, materials and stories, and every creation comes to life with four hands, from the first trial to the finished product.
Mathieu
- He hand-pours every candle and every wax melt
- He imagines, tests and adjusts the scented recipes
- He brings our visual worlds to life and runs our social media
He is the one who shapes the magic, drop by drop.
Franck
- He builds and maintains our website
- He handles shipping with care, from the ribbon to the box
- He takes part in communication and social media
He is the one who makes sure every story reaches you in perfect condition.
Each of us brings our own eye, sensitivity and know-how, in a constant dialogue between technique, aesthetics and consistency. And plenty of discussions around a pot of still-warm wax. 🌙
In the press 📰
The Breton press came to push open the workshop door.
Le Télégramme
21 March 2026, by Anne-Marie Quéméner
“My aim is for it to feel like opening a book”
Mathieu Arhuro, the Loctudy craftsman who turns wax into stories.
Read the article (in French)Ouest-France
2 April 2026
“Every candle evokes an emotion”
Loctudy: Les Fondeurs d'Histoires, a young craft brand of scented candles.
Read the article (in French)Articles reserved for subscribers on the newspapers' websites.
Step into our workshop
Bring your story to life. Find us on Instagram too, @les.fondeurs.dhistoires ✨
The sound of the workshop 🎧
There's the fragrance, there's the story, and there's the sound. This playlist plays while the wax cools, and goes with us to every encounter.
La Bibliothèque des Fondeurs
An old library, gentle magic and forgotten grimoires. Press play, and let reading become a journey 🌙
Listen in full on SpotifyPreview only. The full playlist opens in Spotify.
Go further 📜
For those who want to discover the heart of our approach and what lies behind our relationship with stories and creation, we have written two separate pages.
👉 Where the stories are born
Why a fragrance always awakens a memory, and how a creation goes from a scribbled sketch to a flame lit in your home.
Discover the page ✦👉 Our commitment to transparency
How our visuals are made, what role our digital tools play and why every creative decision stays in our hands.
Discover the page ✦Discover the world of Les Fondeurs d'Histoires 🎁
Each collection is a different door. It's up to you which one to open.
Every candle carries a story 🌙
Imagined and hand-poured in Loctudy, in the heart of Finistère, where magic takes root. Each creation is a story you light, a fragment of light designed to soothe the soul.
You can find our creations in the online shop, at our stockists, or come and smell them in person at our next markets and makers' fairs. We'll be delighted to tell you all about it face to face.
Discover all our collectionsWhere to buy“We don't just sell candles. We pour wax around the stories we'd love to tell you.”
Collections
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🕯️ Scented candles
🕯️ Handmade candles – Flames that tell a story Born of patient...
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🔥 Scented wax melts
Small but mighty, our scented wax melts 🕯️ are real concentrates of...
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Scented objects & accessories
Because a handmade candle deserves all your attention, discover our selection of...
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👉 Our best-sellers – Our customers' favourite stories
On the shelves of our workshop, some stories come back more often...
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🌊 Brittany – Finistère & Pays Bigouden
Brittany collection – Finistère & Pays BigoudenScented candles & wax melts Some...
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🌲 Woody fragrances
Scented candles & wax melts Some fragrances decorate the air.Others give a...
