If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time you’ll have realised I have a love (bordering on an obsession!) with scented candles. I’ve always been fascinated by the way they can conjure up a certain mood, moment or place, and every season I put together a round-up of some of my favourites. One name you’ll have seen appear time and time again is Essence + Alchemy, so for the latest in my ongoing series profiling independent makers, artists and designers, I’m chatting with its founder Lesley Bramwell.
Former environmental consultant Lesley set up Essence + Alchemy in 2014, combining her scientific background with her passion for aromatherapy. She now handcrafts small-batch candles, bath salts and other treats from her garden studio in Sheffield, using only sustainable and ethically sourced materials and drawing inspiration from nature, alchemy, mythology and the elements. She’s also the author of Fragrance Your Home – a wonderful guide to enhancing your living space through natural scent, with step-by-step instructions for making your own candles, reed diffusers, room sprays and more.
Over to Lesley herself for more about the story behind Essence + Alchemy, the links between scent and wellbeing, and her own journey with aromatherapy…
Hi Lesley! Please can you start by telling us a bit about yourself?
“I grew up in Seaham – a small mining town on the northeast coast near Sunderland, where I went to school. I then studied Environmental Science at the University of Bradford. The degree was very practical, with field trips in the countryside or to factories looking at pollution control. I also did a work-placement year at a pharmaceutical company in London, where I looked after monitoring exposure to chemicals. The site was so big I used to have to cycle from building to building, otherwise it would have taken me hours! I loved it. After university I went on to work at a few environmental consultancies before setting up my own, and I did that for over a decade, building up Essence + Alchemy in my spare time in the latter years.”
Have you always been interested in scent and aromatherapy?
“Yes, always. Everything about it intrigued me – how the organic compounds in plants and their aromas can alter emotions and benefit mood, how scent can transport us to certain times and places. Growing up in Seaham, I was surrounded by the scent of sea air and smoke from coal fires, and we also lived by woodland so I was exposed to nature every day. My mother was a great influence on me, too. She grew the most amazing plants and flowers, and there were always fresh blooms in the house. The simple acts of picking petals for pressing and rubbing the leaves of herbs to release their aromas are embedded in my memories. Natural essential oils were a staple in the house, and my love of scent blending really began in my mid teens. At university I was always diffusing essential oils in my student digs, but it wasn’t until I was in my 30s that I started to experiment with candle making and home-fragrance products.”
Why do you think scent has such an impact on our mood and wellbeing?
“Smell is one of our most powerful senses and the slightest trace of a familiar scent can trigger a special memory or a moment in our life. Essential oils in particular are made up of a complex blend of volatile organic compounds, and when we breathe in their aromas the molecules are carried via our olfactory nerve tracts straight into the limbic system of our brain – the part which controls emotion and memory. This means their scent can have an immediate and very strong effect on us.”
How did Essence + Alchemy begin life?
“Where do I start? My path to Essence + Alchemy was a long one, but I’ve always enjoyed making home remedies and potions with botanicals and essential oils. We moved into and renovated a really run-down house, and in the early days it was very cold and there wasn’t much comfort. I was travelling around the country all week doing my environmental consultancy work, and then chipping plaster off the walls at the weekend! I think initially I yearned for a creative outlet – an escape from all the mess. And although the dust and dirt weren’t the best conditions for candle-making, I started experimenting. I then decided I wanted to explore it further and create products that could benefit others, and so Essence + Alchemy was born. It brings together the natural scent and energy of plants (essence) with my scientific and environmental background (alchemy).”
How would you describe your ethos and products?
“In short, working in harmony with the planet and people by using sustainably and ethically sourced natural ingredients and minimal recyclable / reusable packaging to create high-quality, luxury products.”
What inspires your scents?
“It really depends on where the scent will be used and what feeling I’d like to impart. Very often my fragrances are linked to my own experiences. With ‘Smoke’, for example, I wanted to evoke the smell of the embers of the fires in my childhood, and also that time between autumn and winter – the crisp air mixing with the warmth of the morning sun, the smoke from nearby houses. It’s a time of year that holds so much nostalgia for a lot of people.”
How do you go about creating a new scent? Is there are a particular starting point, or a process that you follow?
“It’s always a long process. I begin with the initial inspiration – is it a place, a memory or a mood that I want to capture? How do I want to feel – warm, energised, joyful? For the most part, scents usually start with a name, a seasonal link or an emotion. If it’s a place, I begin with the plants that might grow there. Visualisation plays a big part – colours, sensations, memories. I then link those ideas to essential oils and work by adding a drop of each oil onto scent paper, smelling them on their own and then with each other to see how they work together. I normally create two or three different variations, let the oils blend together for a few days, and then return to them and tweak further if required.”
Do you have any personal favourites from the scents you’ve created so far?
“They’re all favourites really – I couldn’t create a scent that I didn’t like myself. I use different scents for different times of day, different seasons, different emotions. My own experience in scent-making has developed and perhaps some of the more complex ones, such as ‘Wild Garden’, ‘Aestas’, ‘Autumna’ and ‘Mirth’, are the most appealing to me. However ‘Roses’ will always be special – garden roses are my favourite flower and I think it perfectly captures their fragrance.”
You mentioned that sustainability is central to Essence + Alchemy. Can you tell us more about the measures you take?
“I draw both my inspiration and my raw materials from nature, so it’s vital that I make considered decisions. I’m always looking at where the materials come from. Are they sustainable? Are they ethically sourced? If they don’t tick those boxes, I start again.
“It’s also important to remember that just because something is natural, that doesn’t mean it’s safe or has been safely extracted. Many essential oils are solvent-extracted using harmful chemicals like petroleum ether and hexane. I only use steam-distilled or cold-pressed oils because I know it’s a more natural and gentle method and those solvents haven’t been used in the process.
“Another important decision I made at the very beginning was to consider the lifecycle of my products, particularly what happens to the packaging and glass when the candle is used up. I wanted the glass to be reusable in many ways but also offer my customers physical candle refills which fit perfectly inside the vessels. The reuse of the glass is something I strongly encourage and I’ve been creating refills since 2017.”
What inspired you to write your book, Fragrance Your Home?
“In 2019 I was approached by Sarah Lavelle, who at the time was Publishing Director at Quadrille Publishing, and she asked if I’d be interested in writing a book on how to scent the home naturally. I’d also had the idea of a home-fragrance kit with a small selection of essential oils that could be used on their own or together to create different scent combinations for different moods, so it seemed like the perfect partnership. It was a huge opportunity to share my own experience of using scent to help wellbeing with a wider audience, and to offer practical and affordable guidance on bringing natural fragrance into the home.”
What’s next for you? Any new launches or exciting plans on the horizon?
“I’m working on a few new projects, including a candle collaboration which I can’t say too much about right now but which will be launching early next year, and another with an artist which we’re hoping to unveil later this year.”
Finally, do you have any advice for others looking to start their own ventures?
“Test out your ideas while you’re still working to make sure you have a viable business before diving right in. If it’s a product venture, keep it simple in the beginning and only launch a few products. Start with a small, cohesive collection and get that right first. But don’t be afraid to make mistakes, as often the best ideas come from those. I’m still making mistakes and learning all the time!”
Thanks Lesley!
Browse the full Essence + Alchemy collection here, and buy a copy of Lesley’s book here.
Images two and 10 courtesy of Lesley Bramwell; all other photography by Abi Dare
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