Why the Best Fragrances Usually Start With a Little Risk
Sometimes finding your signature scent means choosing the fragrance you almost passed over.
One of my favorite moments during our candle making workshops happens after everyone has created their fragrance.
I gather the group together, and we start passing our stirring sticks around the circle.
Everyone passes their stick to the left, smelling the fragrance someone else created.
Then suddenly, the passing stops.
“Wait... who made this?”
Someone starts trying to read the name written on the end of the stick.
“Who’s Janet?”
Janet raises her hand.
“What is in this? This smells amazing!”
I love that moment.
And strangely enough, it almost always happens when someone creates something a little unexpected.
The Problem With Having So Many Choices
Our Scent Library at Embrace Candles has grown to more than 240 fragrance oils.
That gives you a tremendous amount of freedom when you sit down to create your own candle or fragrance.
But freedom can also be intimidating.
Standing in front of that many fragrances, some people freeze.
So they reach for vanilla, or coffee, or another fragrance they already know they like.
And I completely understand why.
Safe feels like control. If you already love vanilla, adding vanilla to your candle feels like a pretty good guarantee that you're not going to hate what you created seven days later.
But safe doesn't always create a “Who made this?” moment.
The Tiny Risk That Changes Everything
Something changes when a guest decides to take one tiny risk.
They smell something they weren't expecting to like.
Maybe it's Vetiver.
French Baguette.
African Rain.
Russian Leather.
A floral they would normally never choose like Snapdragon or Moonflower.
Or some strange combination that doesn't make much sense when you say the ingredients out loud.
Instead of immediately putting it back, they trust their nose.
They become a little childlike about the whole thing.
“What if I put this with that?”
Sometimes all it takes is a little nudge from one of us.
Try it. Put them together. Smell it before you decide.
And then, BOOM.
Something unexpectedly beautiful happens.
That's What Our Scent Library Is Really For
The size of our Scent Library isn't about being able to say we have hundreds of fragrances.
It's about possibility.
We don't know what you're going to love when you walk through our doors.
Honestly, sometimes you don't know what you're going to love.
That's part of the experience.
Our job isn't to tell you exactly what your candle should smell like. We're here to give you the ingredients, guidance and freedom to explore until you find something that feels right.
And occasionally, you create something none of us would have thought to make.
Those are often the fragrances that stop the stirring sticks from moving around the table.
When a Creation Becomes Your Signature Scent
My second favorite part sometimes happens weeks or months later.
Someone walks back into the shop carrying an empty candle vessel.
They've burned their candle all the way to the bottom, and they want it again.
Not one of our fragrances. Their fragrance.
What started as a little creative risk during a candle making workshop became something they want in their home again and again.
It became their signature.
Their creation.
That's one of the things I love most about fragrance. Your favorite scent doesn't necessarily have to come from a perfumer, a big fragrance house or even from us.
Sometimes you just need enough possibilities to discover it yourself.
Create Something That Feels Like You
If you've been playing it safe at the fragrance wall, that's totally okay.
But next time you're here, take one tiny risk.
Smell the fragrance whose name sounds strange.
Try the combination that shouldn't work.
Trust your nose before you trust the label.
You might create something you don't like.
Or you might create the fragrance that makes everyone at the table stop and ask: “Wait... who made this?”
And maybe a few weeks later, you'll be walking back through our doors asking us to make it again.
Find the uniqueness that's already in you.
Visit Embrace Candles at Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment in Huntsville, Alabama, and explore our Scent Library for yourself.
See you at the table,
Gabe
Embrace Candles
Change the feeling of a room.
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