Forgive us for speaking about Christmas before the kids have even gone back to school (!), but if the last 9 years of running a candle business have taught us anything - it's that you simply cannot be too prepared for Winter.
Our aim for autumn, winter and Christmas 2024 is to bring you folks more choice, value and availability than ever before. There is so much going on behind the scenes here that every time we try to succinctly explain it on Instagram, it feels like herding cats in our mind. Hence the good old-fashioned blog post, to try and bring you up to speed.
F R A G R A N C E S
We offer you folks three winter blends each year, First Light with eucalyptus & myrtle, Half Light with clementine & clove, and Last Light with cinnamon & rosemary. Blended in-house, their enduring popularity had been wonderful to see. They are possibly some of the scents we are most well known for, with many of you buying them year after year to scent your festivities.
While we stand by these classics, we are often asked if there are any new winter blends joining the range and, mysteriously, we can now say.... possibly. Amalia is working on a warming new combination, but we are only in the very early stages. When working with essential oil blends the process can often stumble, so we sadly can't promise anything at this point. We'll keep you posted!
G I F T S
More and more we see ourselves kept busy with gifting and we hope to build on our offering this season. We understand that when sending a present to somebody it needs to be beautifully presented, offer great quality and be as fuss-free a process as possible. Seasonal gift boxes always go down well, so we'll be putting together many cosy options to send to your loved ones.
The popularity of our Candle Crackers (below), had inspired us to adopt this shape for other gifts. We trialled Tealight Crackers in the shop during the summer and were overwhelmed with the reception. We've had to make a few tweaks to the packaging (and be realistic about how many of those tiny bows we can tie!), but expect to see them back from mid-October.
We are also working on a single candle cracker. Using the same charming boxes as our trios of candles, but with just one candle and a box of matches. The price should be more suited to most budgets and you'll get to pick your scent and ribbon colour combination (gah!)
T H E S H O P
As you may know, we tripled the size of our shop here in Dorset during the summer of 2023. A risky decision, given the fairly uncertain economic situation, but one which has proven to be a good call! Thanks to you lot turning up for us, we have had the busiest summer ever in the shop with our wonderful team keeping everything running smoothly, despite the pressure.
There were moments before Christmas 2023, our first with the bigger shop, where it felt like things were a little sparse. It hopefully didn't notice too much, but we have resolved to be braver and bolder this year. Making sure we have more stock than we would normally commit to, in the hopes we can offer you all as much choice as possible - even close to Christmas.
Here's a taster of what's to come...
We understand that you might not live locally to the shop so we'll be working hard to get as many of these treasures on to the website, too.
A D V E N T C A L E N D A R S
Advent Calendars have been a massive part of the last two years thanks to your feedback and support with them. We felt it was time to shake it up, so have completely changed the concept this year.
We have focused all our creative energy on bringing you one perfect box of winter goodies. You'll find 12 thoughtful gifts inside a show-stopping box (more on that soon), each individually wrapped and numbered. We've focused on a smaller number of presents in this year's calendar, meaning that every item is truly exquisite and feels like a real treat. We've worked tirelessly to find treasures which we've never stocked before, so we will be keeping them a complete secret. Previews will not be available for The Advent Box this year - you're just going to have to trust us. (We will of course be happy to cater to any allergies or dietary requirements. Just add a note to your order and we'll make sure everything will be suitable for your needs.)
Excitingly, we have another project bubbling away this autumn which is predicted to take a lot of our time and resources. As a result, we will only be offering 100 of these brand new Advent Boxes this year.
The Candle Advent Calendar was a huge hit and will be returning for another year. We are looking forward to mixing up the scents to include those which have launched this year.
Just like last year you'll be able to spread the cost of your Advent Calendar across 3 months. In mid-September we will open orders for those wishing to pay 1/3 in September, 1/3 in October and 1/3 in November.
To be the first to hear when Advent Calendar orders open, please make sure you're subscribed to our mailing list. We won't bombard you, but it's the best way to make sure you're kept in the know.