Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alexandra Heimovitz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Alexandra, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.

In 2018, I started a candle business because I was tired of seeing uninspired products and smelling redundant scents in so many big box stores. My company, Lunar Light Co., is inspired by my adoration of Halloween, horror movies, music, gothic culture, and most importantly, my love for fragrance.

My fragrance journey started when I was a child and I’d get into my mother’s perfumes and mix different scents to come up with new fragrances. Around the same time, my grandmother would give me wax tarts she no longer used and I would blend them in my wax warmer. Scent has always been my favorite of the five senses and has grown into something that I associate with different occasions in my life as well as the changing seasons. For example, burning incense reminds me of my Indian grandparents’ house, cinnamon takes me back to being a child and smelling my mom’s cinnamon brooms in the fall, and any time I smell a perfume I wore in my younger years, it takes me back to those times.

As an avid candle burner, I eventually became bored repurchasing the same candles and finding similar, uninspired scents from different corporations. With scents being so strongly linked to memories, I wanted to fuse all the things I love into candles and tell stories with the scents. When I started Lunar Light Co., I made it my mission to create candles that evoke feelings and transport you. When I smell a candle that is called “Autumn Air”, I do not expect it to smell like a generic cologne; I want musky leaves, rich dirt notes, earthy spices and herbs, or maybe some pumpkin or apple. Instead, year after year, it seems that big candle brands repackage their scents under a different name with new artwork, resulting in another mass-produced, generic product.

With Lunar Light Co., not only do I strive to create unique, original, custom blended scents for each candle, but the label art is also designed by me to fully tell the story. Many times when I am developing a new product, I like to first set a scene by coming up with a name and designing the label. Then I start brainstorming ideas for potential scent blends. For example: I may think, “What would Edgar Alan Poe’s study smell like?”–then I transport myself there and I let my imagination run wild and the rest all sort of falls into place. Creativity thrills me and when you can pour your magic into your work, it becomes a beautiful thing. Instead, Corporate America likes taking uninspired short cuts.

Before making candles, the scent and design were the biggest things for me when browsing for them in stores. Eventually, I found them to be extremely underwhelming year after year as the same cookie-cutter scents were being recycled. To add to the uninspired nature of the scents, I found that many of these mass-produced candles would give me a headache while burning them which is likely due to a poorly crafted product with cheap ingredients to improve profit margins. Since starting my business, I can tell you that candle-making truly is a science. There is a lot of testing behind the scenes before a final product is fully developed. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as grabbing a wick, mixing together fragrance and wax, and pouring it into a cute jar. There are a ton of different waxes available and each one has its own fragrance load percentage and a wick it works best with. With hundreds of different wicks available on the market, it can be very overwhelming since no two wicks are the same, you need to explore questions such as: which one works for the jar? Is this wick right for this wax? Why is my flame so high or is my candle burning too hot? Why is the wick drowning?

Testing is so important to the candle-making process and it’s not just about ambiance and getting a nice calming glow, it’s a matter of safety and the pathway to a successful burning candle with a strong scent-throw. With mass-produced candles, I find that quality control is extremely lacking. I often find wicks are off-centered or I see that they burn way too hot and fast (especially those 3-wick candles found in big candle stores), and the jars quickly become a sooty mess. On the other hand, sometimes I see wicks drowning and have no scent throw. As I candle maker, I want to ensure that my customers are not only transported with the scents I produce but are satisfied with the product they purchased and can enjoy the room-filling fragrance, long burn times, and clean, healthy ingredients.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started Lunar Light Co. in 2018 after being an avid candle burner and growing tired of purchasing uninspired and low-quality products that would often give me headaches. Lunar Light Co. is committed to using quality ingredients and producing unique candles that are clean burning with strong scent throws. Unlike other candles found in big box stores, I wanted my products to be cruelty-free and vegan-friendly. And lastly, I wanted candles that created magic when lit. My desire for a quality product that was also inspired by my interests, such as horror movies, Halloween, and music, led me to create Lunar Light Co. I create candles, perfumes, and room mists while putting a lot of passion into my work as it is a direct reflection of who I am as a person and my interests. I wanted more from the candles I burned in my home; I wanted detailed labels and inspired fragrance blends. With each candle label, I take my time with elaborate designs to set the stage and tell a story along with the scent contained within. Every fragrance is custom-blended by me so you can’t find these scents anywhere else! I’m proud of where my passion has taken me and how far I’ve come in a few short years. As I continue to grow my business and vend at more events, I meet so many incredible people. Hearing compliments on my candles keeps me going and it’s truly the best feeling ever when others enjoy what I have created.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Being a creative individual, I think the best source for new customers is putting yourself out there at craft shows and various different vending events. It’s a great way to meet people and the face-to-face contact is so nice to have, especially since my business is otherwise online-only. For me, it’s a bonus because potential customers can smell the candles in person (still waiting for online scratch-and-sniff technology, haha!).

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Candle-making is very expensive and profit margins can be tight! As I mentioned earlier, there could be months of testing until you finally have a successful candle. I had a part-time job at a record store and an office job when I first started Lunar Light Co. It took lots of saving to finally start investing in adequate supplies and equipment needed to perfect my formulas. It seemed to be a never-ending, continuous process that really took a lot in the beginning stages because of the testing. When I finally had my formula finalized, I took every profit from sales and put it back into my business to help it grow by investing in more supplies and new equipment. It wasn’t easy at first but I am a creative individual and that has fueled me since the beginning and it has led me to where I am today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lunarlightco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lunarlightco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lunarlightco/

Image Credits
Personal Photo by Kristen Beck – Beck Photo Co. https://beckphotoco.com/ Product Images – Jared Heimovitz – https://www.jaredheimovitz.com/