Our Scents

Fragrance profile
A simple, comforting combination of honey and clean vanilla.

The Story Behind the Fragrance
When the dairy farmer sold the farm and moved into a new house, he kept his beehives and stored his apiary equipment in the garage. His wife was a skillful baker, and the kitchen was often filled with the fragrance of baked goods. When visitors came, they never entered through the front door. Instead, the smells of honey and vanilla would blend into a sweet welcome as they walked through the honey-scented garage and into the warmth of the kitchen.

Fragrance Profile
A classic high tea experience with notes of bergamot, lemon, violet leaf, black tea, rose hips, sheer jasmine, white musk.

The Story Behind the Fragrance
Water begins to bubble as the fragrant leaves are carefully dispensed into their metal baskets. As the water is poured over the leaves they release their delicate flavors. A kinship is being formed within the cups and without. The flavors of the tea itself are enhanced by the stories shared and the connections formed over the course of a quiet afternoon.

Fragrance Profile
A warm, sweet blend of cinnamon, clove, ginger, and peppercorn.

The Story Behind the Fragrance
The journey of motherhood is like a labyrinth. It takes nine months to reach the center of the labyrinth. It takes much longer for the new mother to find her way back out of the labyrinth and into an understanding of her new identity. Every mother’s path out of the labyrinth is different, and it is easy for her to lose herself along the way. For one young mother, the journey back to an understanding of herself has come through returning to an old love - creating food to share with her loved ones. She began working her way through a cookbook that had been sitting dusty on her shelf. The first recipe, an old colonial gingerbread cake, feels representative of her journey. The birth of a new nation. The birth of a new baby. The birth of a new mother.

Fragrance Profile 

The Story Behind the Fragrance
There is something reverential about walking the same forest path that camp-goers have been walking for more than a century. This short walk through the woods to the campfire clearing at the end of each day is a favorite of campers and staff alike. Clusters of friends huddle together around flashlights, whispering stories as night air cools their sun-kissed cheeks. Here life-long friendships have been formed, foundations of faith have been built, and countless lives have been touched. This is a sacred place.

Fragrance Profile
A cozy medley of freshly roasted coffee beans, cardamom, and tobacco leaves.

The Story Behind the Fragrance
Every Wednesday, just as the sun begins to peek up above the horizon a group of women gather. With coffee cups in hand, they share their lives. When one has joyous news, they celebrate. In times of hardship and loss, they mourn together and shoulder one another's burdens. The trust built among them provides a rare sense of safety; each woman is valued, treasured, and wanted. Together their souls find rest, leading to freedom, joy, growth, laughter, and healing.

Fragrance profile Delicate notes of freesia, sambac jasmine, Grasse rose and tuberose: an abundance of blossoms exuding a sheer aroma. This fragrance is like walking through an actual flower market. It is fresh and floral. 

The Story Behind the Fragrance
Frida Kahlo is considered one of Mexico’s greatest artists. She is known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by nature and Mexican culture. Frida Kahlo survived through childhood illness, abuse, and serious injury all before reaching adulthood. It was the injury that really got her into painting.

On the way home from school, Kahlo was involved in a near fatal bus accident. Kahlo suffered multiple fractures throughout her body, including a crushed pelvis, and a metal rod impaled her womb. She spent one month in the hospital immobile, and bound in a plaster corset, and following this period, many more months bedridden at home. During her long recovery she began to experiment in small-scale autobiographical portraiture, henceforth abandoning her medical pursuits due to practical circumstances and turning her focus to art. During the months of convalescence at home Kahlo's parents made her a special easel, gave her a set of paints, and placed a mirror above her head so that she could see her own reflection and make self-portraits. She would continue to create autobiographical self-portraits throughout the rest of her life.

The legacy of Kahlo cannot be underestimated or exaggerated. Not only is it likely that every female artist making art since the 1950s will quote her as an influence, but it is not only artists and those who are interested in art that she inspires. Her art also supports people who suffer as result of accident, as result of miscarriage, and as result of failed marriage. Through imagery, Kahlo articulated experiences so complex, making them more manageable and giving viewers hope that they can endure, recover, and start again.

If you are a fan of Maison Margiela’s “Flower Market”, you’ll love our Frida Kahlo candle

Biography Source

 Fragrance profile

The fiery fragrance of embers - black pepper, elemi, ginger and incense- is tempered by the smooth warmth of amber, tonka bean, smoked papyrus and cedar. Notes of raspberry and rose add brightness to this otherwise smoky, glowing scent. 

The Story Behind the Fragrance
Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans," was born in 1412, in Domremy, France. The daughter of poor tenant farmers Jacques d’ Arc and his wife, Isabelle, also known as Romée, Joan learned piety and domestic skills from her mother. Never venturing far from home, Joan took care of the animals and became quite skilled as a seamstress.

At age 12, Joan of Arc began to have mystical visions encouraging her to lead a pious life. Over time, they became more vivid, with the presence of St. Michael and St. Catherine designating her as the savior of France and encouraging her to seek an audience with Charles—who had assumed the title Dauphin (heir to the throne)—and ask his permission to expel the English and install him as the rightful king.

At age 18 Joan of Arc led the French army to victory over the English at Orléans.

On May 29, 1431, the tribunal announced Joan of Arc was guilty of heresy. On the morning of May 30, she was taken to the marketplace in Rouen and burned at the stake, before an estimated crowd of 10,000 people. She was 19 years old. Her ashes were gathered and scattered in the Seine. After Joan's death, the Hundred Years’ War continued for another 22 years. King Charles VII ultimately retained his crown, and he ordered an investigation that in 1456 declared Joan of Arc to be officially innocent of all charges and designated a martyr. She was canonized as a saint on May 16, 1920, and is the patron saint of France.

“Joan of Arc is like a shooting star across the landscape of French and English history, amid the stories of the Church’s saints and into our consciousness. Women identify with her; men admire her courage. She challenges us in fundamental ways. Despite the fact that more than 500 years have passed since she lived, her issues of mysticism, calling, identity, trust and betrayal, conflict and focus are our issues still.” Joan of Arc: God’s Warrior by Barbara Beckwith

If you’re a fan of Boy Smells “Slow Burn”, you’ll love our Joan of Arc candle

Biography Source

Fragrance profile

Madagascar and Tahitian vanilla blend in a delicate tulle of orange flower, rose and magnolia petals with a subtle touch of bitter cocoa.

The Story Behind the Fragrance

Being handpicked to be one of three black students to integrate West Virginia’s graduate schools is something that many people would consider one of their life’s most notable moments, but it’s just one of several breakthroughs that have marked Katherine Johnson’s long and remarkable life.

When Katherine was 34, she heard that NACA (later called NASA) was hiring African American women to solve math problems. These workers were called “computers.” Katherine applied for one of the jobs, but the jobs were already taken. Still, she did not give up. She applied again the next year, and this time NACA hired her. She worked with a large group of women who were all computers like she was. But Katherine was different from the other human computers. She asked a lot of questions. She wanted to learn more about her work and about NASA. So she started going to meetings. Before Katherine, only men attended these meetings. She learned so much that she left her job as a computer. She became a team member who worked on different space projects for NASA.

For Johnson, calculating space flight came down to the basics of geometry. She calculated the path for Alan Shepard's 1961 journey to space, the first in American history, and finalized the calculations for John Glenn’s successful orbit in 1962. While the work of electronic computers took on increased importance at NASA, Johnson remained highly valuable for her unwavering accuracy. She performed calculations for the historic 1969 Apollo 11 trip to the moon, and the following year, when Apollo 13 experienced a malfunction in space, her contributions to contingency procedures helped ensure its safe return. Johnson continued to serve as a key asset for NASA, helping to develop its Space Shuttle program and Earth Resources Satellite, until her retirement in 1986.

If you’re a fan of Louis Vuitton’s “Contre Moi”, you’ll love our Katherine Johnson candle

Biography Source

Fragrance profile

A fragrance that captures the experience of a day at the beach, with sun-kissed skin and warm sand. Heliotrope, bergamot, coconut milk, musk, pink pepper and ylang-ylang combine to create a fresh, beachy scent. One whiff will transport you to the beach. 

The Story Behind the Fragrance

Lili’uokalani was Hawaii's first queen and final sovereign ruler before the islands were annexed by the United States in 1898. Lili’uokalani was educated at the missionary-run Royal School, where she learned to speak fluent English and received some musical training. She would retain her interest in music and poetry, producing more than 160 songs over the course of her life, including the beloved "Aloha 'Oe." In 1874, Lili’uokalani’s older brother, David Kalakaua, was named king.

When her younger brother, William Pitt Leleiohoku, died three years later, Lili’uokalani was announced as Kalakaua’s heir apparent. In the years that followed, Lili’uokalani did much to lay the foundations for her future on the throne, devoting her efforts to establishing schools for Hawaiian children and serving as regent during the king’s 1881 tour of the world. It was in this capacity that she demonstrated what would be her lifelong devotion to the Hawaiian people and first made enemies on the islands: When a smallpox epidemic on Oahu led her to close its ports, she was hailed by many locals but also drew the ire of wealthy sugar cane growers.

In January 1891, King Kalakaua died and Lili’uokalani became the first woman to take the throne. She would also be the kingdom’s last ruler. After she attempted to establish a new constitution that would restore power to the monarchy and the Hawaiian people, a group known as the "Committee of Safety" staged a coup with the support of U.S. Minister John Stevens. Wishing to spare her people a bloody conflict, Lili’uokalani stepped down but appealed to President Grover Cleveland to restore her to power. Despite his sympathy to her plight, the president’s efforts ultimately proved ineffective, and in 1894 annexationists established the Republic of Hawaii, with Sanford Dole named its first president.

The following January, Lili’uokalani and a group of her supporters were arrested by the new government and charged with treason for their implication in an attempted insurrection. After serving several months of house arrest, on January 24, 1895, she signed a document formally abdicating her throne in exchange for the release and pardon of her compatriots.

If you’re a fan of Maison Margiela's “Beach Walk”, you’ll love our Lili’uokalani scent.

Biography Source

Fragrance profile

Crisp Prosecco notes, layered with apricot, passion fruit, black currant, top notes of citrus layered with muguet.

The Story Behind the Fragrance

Born into a wealthy, political family on December 13, 1818, Mary Todd Lincoln was sophisticated, educated, and versed in politics. On the surface, her success in the White House seemed assured. Yet, few women in American history have endured as much tragedy and controversy.

Mary was the daughter of a prominent Lexington native Robert Smith Todd and his first wife Eliza Parker, who died when Mary was six years old. Mary was the fourth of the eventual sixteen children born in her father’s two marriages. A businessman and politician, Robert provided his children with social standing, education, and material advantages that Mary's future husband, Abraham Lincoln, lacked in his own youth.

A mutual interest in politics was one of the things that drew Mary to attorney Abraham Lincoln, whom she met while visiting an older sister in Springfield, Illinois. Mary exchanged her life of relative ease and privilege for that of a middle-class wife when she married Lincoln in 1842. She actively supported Abraham Lincoln’s political career, offering advice and hosting events. When Lincoln learned that he had won the presidential election of 1860, he reportedly ran home yelling "Mary, Mary, we are elected."

She took on the role of first lady-from hosting balls to visiting troops - with enthusiasm. The White House years were difficult for Mary Lincoln. The pressures and anxieties of the Civil War were unrelenting. Mary watched her husband age under the strain. In early 1862, when their eleven-year-old son Willie died from typhoid fever, Mary was grief-stricken. He was the second of three Lincoln children who would die before adulthood. The heaviest blow fell on April 14, 1865, with Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

Mary survived her husband by seventeen years. During these years, she traveled internationally, fought for a widow’s pension, explored the practice of spiritualism, and continued to raise her youngest son Tad. Sadly, Tad died shortly after his eighteenth birthday in 1871. Four years later, at the instigation of her only surviving child Robert, Mary was confined against her will for several months at an asylum in Batavia, Illinois. Mary Lincoln’s mental health continues to be debated by historians and is frequently the subject of pop culture references to the former first lady.

Mary Lincoln lived independently in Europe for several years following her controversial institutionalization. Illness forced her to return to the United States, where she died July 1882 in the home of her sister Elizabeth, in which she married Lincoln almost forty years before.

If you’re a fan of Antica Farmastica’s “Prosecco”, you’ll love our Mary Todd Lincoln scent.

Biography Source

Fragrance profile

Evoke the feeling of visiting an old library - old paper, antique woodwork, vanilla perfume, cedar desks

The Story Behind the Fragrance
Ada Lovelace is considered the first computer programmer. Even though she wrote about a computer, the Analytical Engine, that was never built, she realized that the computer could follow a series of simple instructions, a program, to perform a complex calculation. Her work was completed at a time where it was a challenge for women in many scientific fields. The early programming language Ada was named for her, and the second Tuesday in October has become Ada Lovelace Day, on which the contributions of women to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are honored.

If you’re a fan of Maison Margiella's “Whispers in the Library”, you’ll love our Ada Lovelace scent