NY Wax Boutique (CLOSED)

In July 2009, married couple Louis and Yvoni (who asked that their last names not be used) moved from Greece to America with plans of opening a candle shop. “It’s very hard to open a very small shop in Greece,” Louis says. “There are mostly large department stores or chains.” Now, the pair has settled into their LES boutique, which features colorful scented candles ($19–$140) lining bright-orange shelves. Sobota handmakes the candles in the basement workroom, layering products of nature (flowers, palms, dried fruit pods, bark, etc.) in the wax. Some standouts include a small round ivory gardenia-scented candle with woven grapevines and birch branch accents ($23); a rectangular mahogany-scented rust orange vessel with four tea lights and a pinecone decoration ($60); and a light burgundy rectangular piece that’s clove-scented and features sea sponge, preserved wax rose, palm leaves and salt stones ($43).