A Beautiful Burn: Aussie Label Flint Reimagines the Candle Lighter As Chic Design Object

Ever gone to light a beautiful candle, then looked down and felt mildly defeated by the ugly fluoro fire sparker in your hand? Or worse – a plastic cigarette lighter that burns your fingers whenever you try to angle it into a pillar candle or votive holder?

Chloe Mehrtens feels your pain. The founder of Flint is a candle enthusiast and, since launching her Melbourne-based label in 2020, a crusader against average-looking disposable lighters.

“I really love buying nice candles, and I was like, ‘I don’t understand why there’s nothing nice to light them with, and nothing more sustainable’,” Mehrtens tells Broadsheet. “I was using the Bic ones from the supermarket, and I just felt like they were really cheapening the experience.”

Instead, Flint rechargeable electric candle lighters are pleasingly designed, weighty and minimalist – made to leave on display next to your most cherished concoctions of wax and wick rather than shoved out of sight in a drawer. As a bonus, they last for years and don’t require liquefied gas refills.

“I’ll be honest, it definitely was all about aesthetics at first,” Mehrtens says. “I want to live a sustainable life and I care about the environment, and that’s part of it, but it definitely was all about how it looked [and] making the lighter an enjoyable part of the candle experience.”

After a lot of research, the former designer and retail buyer managed to source her perfect lighter and work with the manufacturer to create a branded Flint line with signature gold colourway – and now a new gunmetal grey addition.

Made from zinc alloy, it’s powered by a lithium-ion battery that recharges via USB. Press the ignition button and the battery sparks a high-voltage current between two small prongs at the end of the stick, creating an electrical arc that’s just enough to light a candle, incense stick, oil lamp or gas flame.

“It looks great on display, and it feels nice as well. It’s very heavy,” Mehrtens says. It’s also less wasteful than disposable versions: one charge will light about 150 candles, and each lighter should last at least three or four years.

While Flint is currently a one-woman show (with a little extra packing and dispatch help from Mehrtens’s mum), the venture has already sparked a side business importing hard-to-find artisan candles from overseas.

“While I was working on Flint, I was sourcing all these candles to use in photoshoots. And I had to import a lot of them because they weren’t available here. That’s where Too Pretty To Burn came from – it brings all these brands together in one place. There are a lot of cool products on there.”

In the end, it’s all about taking time for yourself and finding that glow, she says. “Candles are the ultimate in self-care. I feel like you’re living in the moment when you light a candle. It requires a bit of attention. But it’s a nice thing to do for yourself.”

The Flint electric lighter ($69) is available online and via specialist candle and interior design outlets across Australia and New Zealand.

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