How did this get on my coffee table??!!

This may come as a shock.

But perfectly curated, beautiful, delicious candles do not just fall from the sky. No one is more upset about this than me. 😩 

There is a whoooole process that goes into a new candle collection; it’s like a Level 4 shower. (You know the one. It’s a 45-minute marathon of shaving, exfoliating, and 27 different bottles of product—half of which use the word “mask.” 🧼)

Step 01. COLORS

This might seem backwards, but I started out with colors being my last step, and almost all my labels ended up being a shade of brown. No hate to brown, (shoutout to my gals, Beige and Taupe, I love you forever). 

Sometimes, I'll use a picture that captures the essence of my vision for the collection (take a shot for every buzz word in that sentence), and I sample colors from the image. The current fall collection colors come from a picture of my husband and I from two Falls ago that I LOVE, with jaw-dropping leaf colors. The first drafts of every color this Fall come from that picture. (🤯, IKR?)

All the colors I’ve used for candles live together on a nice mood board, where they all get along and are best friends. A comprehensive candle collection is suuuupper important to me. If all your 5th + R candles are sitting together on a shelf, I want you to lean back and say, “OoOooOOohh. . . now *that* looks NOICE.” Your other candles will be jealous of the coolest candle posse in town.  

My candles are made to peacefully coexist with each other, and that is one way that candles are superior to many humans. JOKES, JOKES, but once I have colors picked out are look *mwah* with each other and with past candles, we move to step two.

Step 02. NAMES

Still seem backwards? It probably is a little bit. Naming candles is a lot like naming children in 2023—I just keep a note on my phone with ideas. 📝 

My running list has potential candle names that help spark ideas for each collection. They’re all one-word names whose vibe is on-brand and not too overdone. One thing I will avoid like a -- wet cough on the bus -- is a candle cliché. If there are 10,000 other candles with the same name and same scent, why am I wasting time making a copy?? We are original or nothing, m’friends. 

I assign a name to each color, based on what season the collection is for and how the names within the collection sound together. Sometimes I have more than one option for a name, so I say all the candle names together just shy of a billion times to see how they all sound together. I also love to pester my co-workers relentlessly about candle things and get second thoughts on which ones are better. (Most of them are probably reading this 🥹, and if they’re not, I’ll pester them to read it later.)

Step 03. SCENTS

Weird that this is the final design step? After I have a color and a name, I put them together on a label digitally before I attach a fragrance to the candle. I trust in my branding so much (my marketing degree at work, folks), that I am more worried about the look and feel of the candles, because I am CERTAIN I will find the perfect fit for a delicious scent once the other elements are established.

It might seem like a real gamble, but it’s worked every time! I smell through tons and tons and tons of scents, while looking at my color and name together, and eventually, one of the scents *clicks* and I know it’s the right scent. 

Think of the “zing” from Hotel Transylvania, or the Force, or any type of love at first sight. It’s pretty much like that. And then the angels sing the hallelujah chorus, and a new candle is born. 👼 *cue my harp solo* 

Steps 04 - 12. EVERYTHING ELSE

After the new candles are designed and tweaked 1,493 times, the work is not over yet. 😬 With a finalized design and final fragrance chosen, the creativity has spoken (*creativity mic drop*) and production begins. Production is a topic for another email, but it basically entails these next steps: 

Finalize labels, order labels, order fragrance, make a candle, write product descriptions, prep announcement posts, take pictures of new candles, post product listings on website, make a full stock of candles (which is 312 other steps), label all the new candles, final touches on all the candles.

*whew* are you still with me?? 😅

So basically…

Candlemaking is a lottttt sometimes (just ask the wax spots all over my kitchen, oops), but the creative expression 🤌🏼, and the feeling of it all coming together 🤌🏼, and providing you a well-rounded candle that is safe and brings you joy 🤌🏼? Yes, yes, and yes. 

Creatively yours,