Interview with London of Particle Goods
London with Particle Goods started making candles in 2017 during a creative slump. She was fascinated by scent's link to memories and emotions, so she decided to capture that by adding custom blends to soy wax. She now sells her products online and in stores. Over the next month, London will be sharing her creative energy and soy wax expertise with you! She designed several candle projects for Bramble Berry and she'll be featured in upcoming videos. London is also collaborating with our creative team to bring you even more projects in the future. Stay tuned for more!
How long have
you been making candles and how did you get started?
I started making candles in early 2017 during a particularly rough
creative slump. I decided to take a sabbatical from screen-printing and textile
design, and I could feel that a shift of some kind was on the horizon. I was using
candles in my morning meditation practice, but due to sinus issues, I was extremely
sensitive to scented products. I wanted to have control over the quality of
ingredients and the fragrance itself, so I read whatever I could find and started
experimenting on my own. I was fascinated by scent’s link to memory and
emotion, and found that I was drawn to scents that captured personal
nostalgia. All of the fragrances I create are inspired by a youth spent
exploring the wilds of Utah, Washington, and
Idaho.
When did you start selling your
candles?
I started selling candles in Dec. 2017
through one of my favorite Seattle boutiques, Velouria. Velouria had carried my
textile work for a few years. Their shop was around the corner from my old
studio, so a fast friendship formed. They offered to pilot the candle line in their
store for the holidays before I had really formed a brand identity, and this was an
excellent way to test the market and get good feedback. After about 6 months, it was
obvious the demand was there, and I began selling at small shows and expanding the
line. I spent the next several months working on building a business plan, and in
Aug. 2018, Particle became my full-time job.
What’s your favorite type
of candle to make?
I’m very inspired by
minimalist design and often think about the utility of a piece as well as the
aesthetics. Our core line of candles feature simple, undyed soy wax in clear jars,
but our travel tins are a little more playful. I hand draw each pattern on paper
first with Japanese sumi ink and then digitize and arrange it. Each pattern helps
elevate the inspiration behind the scent. Mesa,
for example, was a scent created to capture my earliest memories of the red rock
desert in southern Utah, and the pattern was inspired by markings on pottery and
clay artifacts recovered from that area. Some of the patterns are also a crossover
from my previous textile design work.
Why
do you prefer soy wax?
When I started Particle, I was
still working my part-time gig at Theo Chocolate, and through my years there I
gained a lot of insight on sustainable sourcing. Knowing where ingredients come from
and how they impact social and environmental climates is very important to me. I was
drawn to soy wax because it’s a renewable source, unlike paraffin, and
didn’t seem as fraught with environmental issues as palm wax. I wanted
something that wouldn’t be irritating to breathe, as I had experienced
chronic sinusitis for years and was still recovering. Soy wax is readily available,
easy to work with, and natural.
What fragrance
blend are you loving right now?
It’s hard
to choose just one! I’m currently in love with Dark Crystal and
Birchwood Oud.
What inspires you to
create?
My creativity is driven by a deep desire for
connection. To nature and landscape, and to my community. This past fall, I worked
on compiling a cookbook that included my own recipes and some favorites from friends
as a Christmas gift for our loved ones. My goal is to make and use meaningful
objects that enhance every day life. I think candles are the perfect combination of
functional, meaningful, and
beautiful.
What advice would you
give to makers who want to sell candles?
Be patient,
and test, test, test! Candle making on a large scale requires consistency, so you
need to invest the time to figure out your perfect materials and procedures. Keep a
log of your recipes, temperatures, and any environmental factors so you can narrow
in on what works best for you and develop a
process.
What is your
favorite Bramble Berry product and why?
I use
fragrance oils the most, so those are my favorite! But I also love BB’s
mango butter and
beeswax
pastilles, which my husband uses to make his own beard
balm.
Tell us something unusual or unique
about yourself!
My work experience is a pretty unique
path. I’ve worked in loss prevention detaining shoplifters and conducting
audits, managed a Waldenbooks and a Paper Source, worked as an inventory specialist
and a tour guide at a chocolate factory, and ran a successful textile brand for
several years before ending up here. This past year, I completed my base
certifications to be a victim advocate and I plan to work with survivors of domestic
violence. I am perpetually interested in learning new skills, and each job has
helped me create a well-rounded business that feels aligned with my skills and
values.
What are some of your
other hobbies and interests?
Cooking, home decor, all
things plants!
Have you ever
experienced a candle fail? How did you work through it, and what did you
learn?
There have been many fails, from issues with
frosting and wet spots to wicking issues and more than few bad scent mixes. I think
I’ve encountered them all! For aesthetic issues like frosting and wet
spots, I experimented with temperature and reached out to the manufacturer. Because
my glass containers are screen-printed, the wax manufacturer recommended that I run
them through the dishwasher to remove any grease or residue leftover from the
printer. Doing that greatly improved the glass
adhesion.
What do you love most about
creating candles?
Candles have this beautiful sense
of intention and connection. We use candles as part of our daily rituals, our forms
of worship, to mark moments of celebration and memorial, and to uplift our moods and
spaces. They represent unity and abundance, and provide an opportunity for
connective experiences. I’m really interested in the way scent can root us
deeply to a sense of time and place. When someone picks up a candle and
there’s an immediate and visceral look of recognition on their face,
that’s my favorite moment. Sharing our scent stories can be powerful and
emotional, and I think it draws us out of ourselves.
All photos courtesy of Particle Goods.
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