A history: The Mood Collection

March 20th will mark a huge celebration for Standard Wax! We'll soon usher a completely new line of candles into the world: The Mood Collection. This is our first ever expansion of our candle collection, and it brings me so much joy to share them with you today.
standard wax candles mood collection
 
This collection was born in a sort of unorthodox way. It sort of stemmed from a few frustrations with our current products, and me trying desperately to make something that would allow me to sleep at night. I’m excited to share the last year with you, because its important to make it clear that everything isn’t always happiness and rainbows. Things can be really hard. But, when a new product like this one is the result of putting my head down, ignoring what other people are doing, and making something I’m passionate about, it feels like all of the bumps along the way were worth it.
standard wax mood collection candles
 
2017 was a really hard year for Standard Wax. A lot of not-so-happy things happened.
 
We had our first instances of copy cats. Since we’ve always designed and custom manufactured our vessels, the fear of someone else coming out with a candle in the same vessel as us hadn’t really been a reality. Until people starting taking our designs and having them manufactured for themselves. That one hurt. The thing that made us so special for the previous 5 years was no longer special. It made me think a lot about why I make what I do, and what makes it special to people.
 
Speaking of custom manufacturing, if you’ve never gone that route and are thinking about it, prepare for a wild ride. We placed an order in early July that should have gotten to us by the end of September. Its now March 1, and we STILL do not have the entire order in. It has aged me 30 years in the past six months, I swear. If you run a seasonal business, like candles, stick with me for a second. Imagine you didn’t have any vessels to make your candles in during the busiest time of the year. Imagine that 70% of your income for the year happens in the fourth quarter, but this year you made half of what you normally do. You’d age 30 years too!
standard wax candles mood collection
 
I’ve always envied candle companies that throw their candles into a glass jar they can buy online, slap a label on it and call it a day. I don’t think less of these products by any means. I love them and even have them in my own home. I know that the science of making candles can be endlessly frustrating and these companies go through all of the same struggles I have. What they don’t go through is the nightmare of working with ceramic (hello, holes in the glaze that cause oil leaks, imperfect pieces, tons of breakage) and stacked on top of that, the nightmares of sourcing custom pieces. I always thought our custom designed vessels were what set us apart, and that designing something in a glass that was readily available online would be degrading to the brand.
 
But one cold day in Newport, Kentucky (my husband was there for work) I was sitting in bed because it was way too chilly to leave the house. It was just after the holidays and I was honestly pretty depressed about the entire situation. I wished there was something I could do that didn’t require so much pain.

And the Mood Collection was born!
 
I sourced existing jars. I worked with our graphic designers to create the perfect label (and they really brought my vision to life quite effortlessly). I developed new scents that could make you feel things; ones that could change your mood using the science of fragrance and aromatherapy. It all came together so effortlessly, and it just felt right.
standard wax candles mood collection
 
I never second-guessed myself for using a “generic” jar. Over the past several years, literally hundreds of new candle companies have sprouted up. They were all using the SAME EXACT JARS. What I learned was that most candles are made with the exact same ingredients. Its all about the science behind blending them together that makes any candle better than another. And in the same vein, it’s the branding and story behind a candle that makes it special, not the jar itself.
 
Thanks for tuning in to another Samantha Rant! Catch ya’ll next time.
 
Sam
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