Hello everybody! It feels so strange to be talking about the Spring update while much of the country is freezing cold, but at least we can dream of greener times!
I'm excited to share with you the first offerings of the year!
Firstly, our Spring box is live! The (Not So) Dark Ages!
As many of you know, I often take inspiration from history, and one of my favorite bits of historical ephemera are the hilarious doodles known as medieval marginalia! All through the Early Modern period, monks and other scribes doodled in the margins of their work, just like we do today. Some of the surviving doodles absolutely contradict the popular idea of the age as unrelentingly grim-- there are women gardening penises, murderous bunnies, knights fighting snails, and literal butt trumpets! So I decided we could all use a collective lift in our spirits and dedicated the Spring box to the lighter side of the so-called "Dark Age." Join us for a journey through lewd drawings and bawdy songs!
This box features marginalia notecards and pins, perfume inspired by debauched nuns, dick jokes, and barbarous bunnies!
The Secret Menu also makes its triumphant return for 2022! As some of you know, every Winter, I go through my stockpile of oils from collections past and list how many of each I can make for those who missed out or would like a second chance at a beloved scent. Some of the quantities are quite limited, so if you're looking for something in particular, don't wait!
I have also launched the Spring Candle Collection. This year's offerings:
Antique Sandalwood & Vanilla: Warm vanilla bean tempered with cozy sandalwood. Profile: Vanilla, Woods.
Ginger & Wild Peach: Juicy, ripe peaches spiced with fiery ginger root. Profile: Fruity.
Lavender Latte: A warm cup of espresso, lavender syrup, and sweet steamed milk. Profile: Herbal, Gourmand.
Lemon & Garden Herbs: Zingy lemon zest paired with the earthy, green scent of rosemary, basil, thyme, and tomato leaf. Profile: Fruity, Herbal.
Lychee, Palm Leaf, & Fig: An uplifting tropical blend of juicy lychee fruit, decadent fig, red berries, and cool palm leaf. Profile: Fruity, Gourmand.
Moon Garden & Night Air: Cool, damp evening air awash in the scent of nocturnal blooms. Profile: Floral.
Additionally, there are candy wax melt bars in three delicious gourmand flavors:
Coco Mocha: A decadent mocha swirled with coconut cream and sprinkled with ginger.
Lemon Creme Bars: Tart lemon curd paired with sweet cream and just a hint of shortbread.
Red Velvet & Vanilla Buttercream: Red velvet cake with rich vanilla buttercream, topped with curls of dark chocolate.
The final new offering is a new shade of vegan lip gloss, Temptress, designed by my good friend Rissa. It is a sumptuous flush of passionate plum red with a frisson of silver shimmer.
And a final update on tealights. As some of you know, I ran into some trouble with the tealights that were released in the Winter Advent. As discussed on our Fans Group, some customers experienced problems with the wicks coming loose from the bottoms of the cups. I did some checking, and this was common when customers used their tealights in standard tealight holders, whereas my testing was done on an open candle plate for easy visibility when testing several concurrently. I wrote to the manufacturer, who said that the cups were designed to melt when overheated rather than burn-- and that using them in tealight holders could cause that overheating (and the subsequent wick adhesion problem)! I was absolutely aghast, as there were no product warnings whatsoever.
After contacting every person who had ordered the advent and offering a refund or store credit, I began reformulating the product in earnest. I am switching to aluminum cups which cannot melt. I'm sad they are not transparent like the recyclable plastic ones I was using before, but safety first. I am also testing new wick adhesion methods, after conferring with my peers in the candlemaking community. Due to the size of tealights, many have said they prefer using a high-temperature silicone adhesive, and I'm testing that out. That's what the red is above!
I have several dozen tester tealights going out to six testers who will be aiding me in testing them in a variety of home environments to avoid any further unpleasant surprises. While I'd hoped to include tealights in the Spring collection, safety comes first, and so they will be postponed until I am completely satisfied they are ready for release. I appreciate your patience!
That's all that's fit to print! Think warm thoughts!
Warmly,
Chris