Have you ever walked down the streets of Asheville on a crisp fall day, wishing you could capture that essence in a bottle? A local company is working on doing just that, in candle form. I met with Frank of Asheville Candle, to experience these wonderful scents for myself and chat with him about this new local startup. Asheville Candles mission is to restore the art of candle making by using only farmers soy and a fine grade of perfume oils, creating scents that name specific local and streets of Asheville.
Blending rich full scents such as leather, teakwood, sandalwood, amber and musk, black tea and black pepper, one whiff of these beautiful candles can transport you anywhere to Asheville – such as Lexington Street. The current line includes Craggy Gardens, Wall Street, Biltmore Avenue, and Lexington Street. If you live outside of Asheville in Black Mountain, get ready to go out and purchase the specialized Black Mountain scent that Asheville Candle has created exclusively for the town.
What sets Asheville Candle apart from the rest, outside of the uniquely blended scents?
- Each candle uses 12-15 percent of perfume oils and U.S soy oil with a natural cotton wick
- First in the industry, a composed fragrance candle that has a top, middle, and base note
- Each candle is handmade and hand poured to insure a perfect candle that will light for hours
- First candles to name and pay a tribute to the streets of Asheville
- The lid of each candle has a wax seal that sits on top of a natural wood lid hand crafted by local wood maker Chester A. Spier.
- New launch every season of street names to provide customers with their favorite memory lanes in candle form
- Every bit of the candle is USA made, right down to the glass container
- Once your candle has burned through, bring it back to be re-cycled and re-used, and earn a credit towards your next purchase
A bit about the candlemaker
Frank came to visit the area 5 years ago and fell in love with Asheville, the people, the mountains, the color, the air – everything. With a background in the fragrance industry, he noticed the different scents and aromas that capture the very essence and spirit of the city. This is evident in his description for the Wall Street Candle – “There is no greed here and stress is unaccounted. Asheville’s Wall Street transports you to 1888 with its scent of Fresh Cedar Wood and a hit of Rich Leather pervading from the horse drawn buggies strolling down this pedestrian friendly street. Earthy tones like Sandalwood and Patchouli permeates with a Bohemian feel, from its craft stores to the cobblestone streets. The wrought iron benches and lamps give way to a welcoming appeal of warm and sweetened Exotic Amber that seem to transform the air from its brasseries’ to boutiques and shops. And what would be more unraveling than to walk down the street after hours and allowing the Soft Mosses, probably it’s the moist Gingko Trees that surrounds and entraps the nights hair, holds you hostage, just like decades long gone.”
Frank says it took him two years to move to Asheville, but now that he is here he longs to capture the scents and transform them into a memory. With extreme care, extensive research and intuition, he has successfully done just that. I love the scent of the Craggy Garden candle I was given to sample, and one whiff of the Biltmore Avenue Candle is enough to make you long for pastries and coffee at one of the many bakeries on the street.
Support a local business and please check out Asheville Candle. You can purchase their candles online, or at Mountain Lights.
Find Asheville Candle online at http://asheville-candle.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/asheville.candle.7
loved your saga and caring and sharing and learning words. I feel I will be moved to “joyous tears” when in the midst of many of the candles in my home.so, congrats to you the intuitive maker of the Asheville Candles