Our interview with founder Kristy Payne continues — we talk about a scent for the President of the United States and her dream project. If you missed Part 1, you can read it here.
Because the part of your brain that transmits smells from your nose is part of the brain’s limbic system — an area so closely associated with memory and feeling that it’s sometimes called the “emotional brain” — the brain automatically links scent and emotions. This means that smell can call up memories and powerful responses almost instantaneously. The power of smell can bring on a flood of memories, influence people’s moods, and even affect their work performance.
I love that I get to create scent for people’s homes that can do all those things. And because I don’t know the stories of my customers, it’s one of the best compliments to hear that one of my candle scents reminds someone of a wonderful time or person in their past.
I think the idea that candles are a “lady product” is becoming less and less true. The men in my life buy and use candles just as much as the women. I get photos all the time of them with a candle burning while watching the footy, when they go camping, and even once when one of them took a bubble bath! Men go crazy about good smells — it’s just about finding the right ones.
Floral isn’t a big hit with men (unless it’s gardenia or jasmine — I think it’s a mum’s garden thing). Earthy and fresh scents are the most popular, like Lime & Sandalwood or Fig and Cranberry.
There’s a constant pull between what scent people identify with the most versus what they want to burn in their home, so it’s quite difficult to find trends. I think there are a lot of go-to scents people are comfortable committing to for an entire 80-hour candle — coconut or vanilla, for example. But once people go outside their comfort zone, it all changes.
Before I started making my own candles, I was in a monogamous relationship with vanilla candles. But once I had the freedom to make anything I wanted, and I didn’t have the pressure of choosing “the right one,” I discovered I really enjoy citrus. That said, it depends on my mood or the room.
If I were to make a candle for the White House and the President, it would have to include an earthy base of musk and mahogany to keep the scent grounded and strong, a dash of whisky, and a subtle top note of sweet rose — America’s national flower — as an ode to the First Ladies of the White House.
I’d want to travel the world and make bespoke candles for people. Get to know them, learn who they are, what they like, what their dreams are — and then create the perfect, unique fragrance for them to burn in their home.
Scent is such a personal and powerful medium. One smell can take you back to your childhood, your wedding, or your first love. Imagine having a fragrance with all those memories layered into one — unique to your story.
