We caught up with the brilliant and insightful KIARA BRATCHER a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi KIARA, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Golden Halo Scents was born from the profound impact of my grandmother’s passing on 6/13/23, serving as a tribute to her. Her unexpected passing landed me in an extremely dark place. Once my brother told me that she was gone, I dropped everything and bolted for a very busy street in front of the hospital. My cousin seen me and he stopped me. I wanted to end everything. Not thinking about my husband, my four beautiful children and at the time a breastfeeding baby. I did not want to be loved, touched, talked to…I did not want to be here without my grandmother. I am her eldest grandchild, so for 39 years of my life she was my best friend.
A month after her passing my aunt called me stating how proud Mama was of my entrepreneurial journey with my other business and how Mama wouldn’t want me to be in this bad, dark, terrifying place. She told me that I needed to get up out of it. I took her words to heart and decided right then that I was going to do just that. My grandmother’s and I thing were candles, I use to bring her all the scents that I can find. I wanted to strat a business honoring her at all cost. I wanted this business to be faith based, elegant, beautiful, luxurious and heartfelt like she was. I sat down pen and paper asking God to please help me get through this. God please help me, I don’t want to be in this place anymore. I felt at that moment God put a fire in me that I’ve never felt. I put together a business plan, colors, theme, logo, my very famous squeezable massaging candles and etc. I wanted the world to understand that there is a reason for every aspect of my business. For example the hexagon, it has 6 sides . The 6 sides reminds us of God’s Character, Kingdom, Forgiveness, Provision, Guidance, and Protection all of which I wanted over my business. God always has my back, let me tell you. I was able to launch my business four months after my grandmother passed and on her birthday, 10/22/2023. Golden Halo Scents is a heartfelt scents company dedicated to infusing spaces with calming, inspiring, and uplifting aromas. Our unique touch lies in pairing these scents with little gold trinkets adorned with cheerful quotes or encouraging words, aiming to bring smiles and warmth to people’s hearts. These golden keepsakes bear words that resonate with the comfort and wisdom she shared during cherished moments.
At Golden Halo Scents, we provide more than just luxury scented products. Our services extend to fostering meaningful connections and enhancing well-being in the community by:

– **Providing a welcoming ambiance**: Our products, from squeezable candles to diffusers and room sprays, uplift homes and workspaces, creating calming and inspiring environments.

– **Engaging with the community**: We offer personalized home visits to set up our products, explain their benefits, and provide hands-on experiences with custom candle-making.

– **Spreading positivity**: Each product includes golden keepsakes with cheerful quotes or encouraging words, designed to uplift spirits and spread joy.

– **Supporting local causes**: We are committed to giving back to our community by supporting local charities and events that focus on well-being and emotional support.

This combination of high-quality products and meaningful services reflects our dedication to both our customers and the community.

We are also creating a grief journal that would be launched soon. It is meant to help you keep track of your activities of daily life, give you prompts to journal and think about the good times that you once had with your loved ones.

KIARA, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Kiara Bratcher—a Nurse, U.S. Air Force Veteran, wife, mother of four, and the heart behind Golden Halo Scents. My journey into the world of fragrance and self-care began from a place of deep emotion and purpose. After the loss of my beloved grandmother on June 13, 2023, I wanted to honor her memory in a meaningful way. She brought light, comfort, and wisdom into every room she entered. Golden Halo Scents was created to do the same—offering healing, joy, and peace through scent.

At Golden Halo Scents, we offer a wide range of handcrafted aromatic and body care products—everything from our best-selling squeezable massage candles, wax melts, reed diffusers, room sprays, shimmer body oils, beard balms, and car fresheners, to our luxurious whipped body creams and perfume oils. What truly sets us apart is our signature touch: golden trinkets with uplifting messages included in each product—a tribute to the love and encouragement my grandmother shared so freely.

We don’t just sell fragrance; we create an experience. Our products are designed to bring comfort to your space, confidence to your presence, and calm to your spirit. Whether you’re trying to create a cozy home, elevate your self-care routine, or find the perfect gift, we help you do it beautifully and intentionally.

I’m most proud of the emotional connection our brand creates. Customers often tell me our scents make them feel hugged, remembered, or re-energized. That impact means everything.

To my future customers and supporters: Golden Halo Scents is more than a brand—it’s a heartfelt movement. I invite you to not just shop with us, but to feel with us, heal with us, and grow with us.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

One of the most defining moments of my journey happened just days after the passing of my grandmother—the very woman who inspired Golden Halo Scents. I was overwhelmed with grief, navigating my emotions, and still trying to show up for my family, my responsibilities, and my dreams. It would’ve been easy to pause everything. But instead, I turned my pain into purpose.

In the quiet of those long nights, I began crafting my first batch of massage candles by hand and ultimately failed but I kept at it because I knew I wanted to build something beautiful in her honor. I didn’t have all the tools or resources. But I had passion, a strong “why,” and a determination to turn my healing into something that could help others.

There were plenty of obstacles—financial setbacks, learning curves, moments of doubt—but I kept going. I created during grief, sold products with limited resources, and showed up to events where no one knew my name—until they did.

Now, Golden Halo Scents is not only growing but changing lives. Every golden trinket in our products is a small reminder that light can come from even the darkest places. That’s the resilience I want to pass on—with every scent, every product, and every story shared through this brand.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

Yes—I proudly manufacture every single product by hand.

When I started Golden Halo Scents, I didn’t have a factory, a vendor, or a team—I had a kitchen, a heart full of purpose, and a deep desire to create something meaningful. Every candle, cream, oil, and melt you see in my collection was born through trial, error, prayer, and persistence.

No, I didn’t know how to manufacture products in the beginning. I learned everything from scratch. I studied ingredients, tested different wax blends, researched skin-safe oils, adjusted measurements, and reworked formulas over and over until they felt right. My goal wasn’t just to make something that smelled good—but something that felt luxurious, performed beautifully, and offered emotional comfort.

I hand-measure every batch—whether it’s a whipped body cream, massage candle, or room spray—down to the gram. I chose my own bases carefully, prioritizing skin-safe, clean-burning ingredients. For example, my body creams had to be non-greasy but deeply moisturizing. Ive actually been making this product for 7, 8, 9 years now with my previous business but I have finally perfected the formula that we all have grown to love. And when it came to my fan-favorite squeezable massaging candles, I spent months adjusting the oil-to-wax ratio so they’d melt perfectly into a soothing massage experience.

The only products I outsource is the base for our body sprays and whipped body wash. But even then, I don’t leave the creativity to someone else—I created my own custom scent formulas, tested dilution levels, and carefully selected alcohol-free, long-lasting options to pair with our fragrance oils.

Lessons I’ve learned along the way about manufacturing:

Start small, but start intentionally. Don’t wait to be perfect—just commit to learning.

Trust your nose and your gut. Your intuition in product development is part of your brand’s magic.

Documentation is key. Every formula, measurement, and adjustment needs to be written down. What works once should be repeatable.

Stay patient with the process. You’ll get it wrong many times before you get it right—and when you do, you’ll be proud it’s yours.

Quality > quantity. I don’t mass-produce. I handcraft—with love, care, and meaning in every item.

Today, I can proudly say I know my products from the inside out—because I built them with my own two hands. That kind of connection can’t be outsourced, and I believe that’s part of what makes Golden Halo Scents so special.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Golden-halo-scents.square.site
• Instagram: Goldenhalo_kiarascustom
• Facebook: Kiara.bratcher
• Other: Instagram:goldenhaloscents
  Facebook:goldenhaloscents
  Tiktok:goldenhalo_kiarascustom