Behind the Scents:
2020 Spring and Summer Fragrances
Go behind the scents and get an insider look at our eight new fragrances for the spring and summer season.
Each offers their own unique experience, they’re just waiting for the final element that takes them from fragrance to something so much more: you! So gather some inspiration from the trends we’ve identified and a few branding ideas we’ve collected and put those creative muscles to work. Ready?
TRENDSPOTTING
Sea Minerals is the definitive luxury scent of this collection. Initially, we briefed this fragrance as a “before the rain” concept, hoping to capture that particular scent of summer air just before the sky opens and drenches the earth with rain. While that concept didn’t quite pan out, we discovered something equally as special in Sea Minerals. The fresh, ozonic notes will be familiar, while the mineral aromas elevate this fragrance into something unique and distinctly high end.
BRANDING INSPIRATION
For this design, we imagined Sea Minerals as the signature scent of an upscale day spa. The clean, ozonic nature of Sea Minerals plays beautifully with a minimalist approach to container choices and labeling. We chose to add a touch of color with our Seafoam Dye Block—the way the pastel shade plays against the deeper blue-green on the label feels appropriate for this oceanic scent.
Alternative scent name ideas: Petrichor, Before the Storm, Yukon Waters
TRENDSPOTTING
Coconut milk is a trendy ingredient in food, beverage, and beauty and carries a wholesome, natural connotation that is quite appealing. We have several great coconut fragrances already, like Bamboo and Coconut and Coconut Lime Verbena, but nothing with the creamy luxuriousness of coconut milk. We’ve also had our eye on adding a sweet, juicy, tropical mango scent without the artificiality many mango fragrances tend to have. When we tested what eventually became Mango and Coconut Milk, we knew we had something special.
This fragrance has a lot of possibilities and will appeal to a variety of different markets. It has plenty of the sweet tropicality that’s so desirable to the general public (especially in the summer!), while it’s authenticity will appeal to those who prefer more “natural” scents.
BRANDING INSPIRATION
For our Mango and Coconut Milk candle, we wanted to play up the fun, summery vibe of the scent without getting too fussy. Our Straight Sided Tumbler is the perfect choice, and shows off the spot-on mango color we achieved with our Orange Dye Block. No dye is also very appropriate for this scent, especially if you want to focus on the coconut milk element of this fragrance. A label should always add to your candle, and never distract from the features you want to highlight. We love the way this watercolor template design from Avery WePrint looks both modern and effortless, and how the pop of pink, peach, and yellow plays against the orange of the wax.
Alternative scent name ideas: Mango Lassi, Island Escape, Beach Bum
HIGHLIGHTS
Candle Safe: Yes
Soap Safe: Yes
Lotion Safe: Yes
Diffuser Base Compatible: Yes
Soy Performance:
Note Profile:
Top: Pineapple, Orange
Middle: Mango, Peach
Base: Coconut milk, Sugar
TRENDSPOTTING
You might remember our discontinued Lavender Cucumber Sage fragrance. Lavender Cucumber Sage was one of our last remaining scents with phthalates—and you may have heard a thing or two about our work to remove all phthalates from our fragrance line. Lavender Tea and Tonic, while not an exact dupe, is our replacement for Lavender Cucumber Sage. It retains that fresh, botanical aroma but adds a burst of modernity thanks to the bubbly tonic note. If you need another reason to try this scent, it’s a better thrower than its predecessor, going from a 2 to a 3 on our soy wax scale.
BRANDING INSPIRATION
This fragrance would be perfectly at home in lines with an apothecarial aesthetic, or for anyone trying to capture the vibe of a hip, downtown craft cocktail bar. Relaxing spa scent? Absolutely. A collection of tea-focused fragrances? Oh yes. With so many possibilities for Lavender Tea and Tonic, we kept our label design simple with a minimalist template from Avery. For color, we chose our Lilac Dye Block rather than the perhaps more apt Lavender Dye Block for a brighter pastel purple shade. We completed the design by pouring our Lavender Tea and Tonic candle into our Threaded Straight Sided Jar and topped it off with a Black Metal Threaded Lid. Simple, beautiful, and classic.
Alternative scent name ideas: Lavender Cucumber, Lavender Matcha, Lavender Green Tea, Lavender Earl Grey, Herbal Tonic
HIGHLIGHTS
Candle Safe: Yes
Soap Safe: Yes
Lotion Safe: Yes
Diffuser Base Compatible: Yes
Soy Performance:
Note Profile:
Top: Cucumber, Honeydew, Ozone
Middle: Lavender, Camphor
Base: Chamomile, Light musk, White tea
TRENDSPOTTING
This launch includes two oceanic fragrances, Sea Minerals and High Tide. High Tide distinguishes itself by being heavier on the salt and ozone notes—in fact, it just might be one of the saltiest scents in our line. For all you cold process soapers out there, this fragrance performed beautifully in our recipe and would be excellent for trying out some intricate swirl techniques. High Tide is also a super strong thrower in candles and melts, making it a great multipurpose scent. We added High Tide to our “masculine” fragrance category because it has a quality reminiscent of a high end men’s body wash, without that intense cologne vibe. But really, this scent will find fans in almost any demographic thanks to its fresh, airy feel.
BRANDING INSPIRATION
Because High Tide has such a strong throw, we wanted to capitalize on that by pouring it into our 3-Wick Tumbler and topped it off with a Black Metal Flat Lid. Paired with our Caribbean Blue Dye Block for color, this candle transports us to seashore. We kept our label simple and sparse as to not distract from the rich color and let the fragrance itself shine. If you’re thinking about other color palettes, Navy and Mint is a trendy combination that would be a perfect complement to High Tide.
Alternative scent name ideas: Coastal Cliffs, Aquamarine, Waterfall Mist, Blue Lagoon, Siren Song
TRENDSPOTTING
So...what is watermint? To be honest, we initially weren’t sure, either. Watermint is a variety of tropical mint native to parts of Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia. It’s often used in herbal teas and to produce bergamot oil, a common ingredient in perfumery.
Watermint and Clementine is a replacement for Cool Citrus Basil, which contained “Prop 65-like” ingredients that we no longer allow in our fragrance line. We think even the most ardent fans of Cool Citrus Basil will prefer Watermint and Clementine. The fragrance retains the original concept of a juicy citrus and herb scent, but with a more modern twist. Ultra fresh and ideal for summer lines, it’s a mellower citrus fragrance than Grapefruit and Mint.
BRANDING INSPIRATION
Watermint and Clementine plays well with a variety of brand styles and aesthetics. We chose to go in the direction of clean, fresh, and natural for our design. We left the soy wax undyed and poured it into our White Straight Sided Tumbler and topped it off with our Bronze Metal Flat Lid. The label template from Avery felt like an obvious choice with its simple but beautiful artwork, and we incorporated a pop of mint to add a bit of color and draw in the eye. If the minimal, mostly white design isn’t really your preference, you can easily move in the opposite direction for this scent. Think a bold, trendy color palette like burnt orange and teal or any of the colors in our Watermint and Clementine mood board as a starting point.
Alternative scent name ideas: Citrus Basil, Orange Grove, Sunshine and Citrus
HIGHLIGHTS
Candle Safe: Yes
Soap Safe: Yes
Lotion Safe: Yes
Diffuser Base Compatible: Yes
Soy Performance:
Note Profile:
Top: Citrus, Basil
Middle: Orange peel, Mint, Chamomile
Base: Agave, Tomato leaf
TRENDSPOTTING
Rose petal desserts and cocktails are everywhere these days. Rose is a classic scent with countless variations, but lately we’ve seen an influx in requests for modern twists on this traditional fragrance. When we first tested what would become Rose Petal Gelato, we were impressed by how well the floral notes balanced with the sweet, creamy dessert notes. Rose fragrances can be polarizing, and we had more than a few disagreements about what to name this scent. Is it a jam or a gelato? Is it a floral or a dessert? Rose petals or rose buds? In the end, we felt that the Rose Petal Gelato moniker captured both the aroma and the aesthetic of the fragrance.
BRANDING INSPIRATION
Rose Petal Gelato has a sweet, cheeky vibe that we knew we had to play with for our design. Of course it had to be pink, so a tiny sliver of our Pale Pink Dye Block provided the perfect pastel shade. And just look at how charming it looks poured into the Mini Tumbler, the cutest member of our tumbler line. Speaking of cute and charming, don’t miss our tutorial for creating your own Ice Cream Candles featuring Rose Petal Gelato as the fragrance. These would be great novelty candles for local ice cream or dessert shops!
Alternative scent name ideas: Rose Petal Jam, Sugared Rose Petals, Frosé
HIGHLIGHTS
Candle Safe: Yes
Soap Safe: Yes
Lotion Safe: Yes
Diffuser Base Compatible: Yes
Soy Performance:
Note Profile:
Top: Champagne
Middle: Rose, Jasmine
Base: Cream, Benzoin, Sugar, Light musk
TRENDSPOTTING
Depending on your lifestyle and—ahem—recreational activities of choice, it may or may not come as a surprise that a cannabis fragrance has been one of our most highly requested scents through the years. With the ever-increasing popularity of CBD oil in all kinds of home and beauty products, we felt the time was now. Hemp is the most realistic cannabis scent we’ve tried—and we’ve tried plenty.
BRANDING INSPIRATION
Do as you will, but we couldn’t resist using this spot-on Avery template for the label. With our Forest Green Dye Block for that deep green color and Label Ready Mason Jar as the container, this candle feels almost too spot on. Almost.
Alternative scent name ideas: Mary Jane, Reefer Madness, Devil’s Lettuce, Herbal Essence
HIGHLIGHTS
Candle Safe: Yes
Soap Safe: Yes
Lotion Safe: Yes
Diffuser Base Compatible: Yes
Soy Performance:
Note Profile:
Top: Lemon, Lime
Middle: Green leaves, Hemp
Base: Vetiver, Patchouli
TRENDSPOTTING
Sweet Orange and Sriracha is a replacement for Orange and Chili Pepper, an older fragrance in our line that contained those pesky Prop 65-like ingredients we now exclude. It’s a bit of a niche scent but fans love the sweet and spicy flair. Sweet Orange and Sriracha retains that concept, but the orange notes are sweeter, fresher, and more pronounced while the sriracha chili notes add a subtle punch. Bonus for the soapers and other bath and body makers: this new version is soap safe, too!
BRANDING INSPIRATION
If you’ve seen any of our previous Behind the Scents articles, you probably noticed we’re fans of a black-on-black design. Well, here we go again for Sweet Orange and Sriracha—only this time, we went with a larger label size in a bold, look-at-me red. That red is carried over into our color choice, thanks to our ultra-concentrated Red Dye Block. You could snag some inspiration here for your own colorblocked designs, but could easily go in another direction entirely. Think bright splashes of different hues of orange, yellow, vermillion, and even shades of coral.
Alternative scent name ideas: Citrus and Chili, Rooster Sauce, Sweet and Spicy
