In January I took a much-needed trip to Miami to clear my mind, body and spirit following the Hunger Games known as retail Quarter 4. I treated myself to a hotel I couldn't afford, using AMEX points and allowed myself to relax.
While I was there, though, I started thinking forward to May 2023 - when my small business would turn 10-years-old! I needed to create a special item to commemorate the occasion and I realized that creating a special candle would be a logical road to take. I was already in complete love with my hotel's scent. I did research on what the Ritz-Carlton Bal Harbour uses to pump through their lobby. My concept would be to create something that was fresh, like a hotel scent.
With all of my monthly candles, we work to create them based on season. And my Life of Riley collection is based on the actual cities/towns after which they are named. The goal with this candle was to be a welcoming scent any time of year - something timeless.
While I was there, I went to my friend's condo for dinner and he had this huge concrete Le Labo candle in the middle of his coffee table. At which point, the idea evolved into making a scaled-down version of their $500 candle.
I think we did well. For this scent, we combined Australian sandalwood with saffron, cardamom, smoke, cedar, violet, citrus, amber, leather and palo santo.
We made a short run of only 48 units.