I Love candles, and love to burn one pretty much every night to relax after a busy days work. I sell a wonderful selection of candles on my shop but thought that this year I would like to create some of my own scents to sell. So I decided to book a candle making class at the Bonds Hackney, with the Earl of East London candle company. I did already jump to gun already by purchasing some wax and various essential oils to play about with before my lesson but is was great to see first hand how the professionals do it!
We arrived early to have a snoop around Bonds of Hackney, a Lifestyle Space and coffee shop showcasing independent brands & local talent. It is also the home of Earl of East London. There were plenty of delightful home accessories and ceramics by Kana. They were even selling the Stay Sixty flasks which I had only just purchased the day before as part of my using less plastic resolution! I am now torn though as I'm thinking maybe I prefer the Grey instead of Pink....both look super stylish though! We also treated ourselves to some delicious Turmeric Lattes and Banana cake.
Stay Sixty flasks, I have the Pink one!
I think the Wildflower was my favourite scent!
Lovely comforting Turmeric lattes.
The yummiest selection of locally baked cakes and cookies.
The lesson started off with an introduction to the company, which is run by two lovely gentlemen who actually run it as their side job in evenings and weekends! We then did a few smell tests to see what different smells mean to different people, as the Earl of East London Ethos is all about re-creating memories through scent. As it was a beginners class we didn't go too deeply into mixing our own scents as supposedly they could potentially end up quite horrible. So to avoid that we had the choice between two of their own well tried and tested ones, I chose the woody Smoke + Musk to make.
Prepping the candles
Our lab for the morning!
Neatly stored candles ready to be sent out.
At Earl of East London they have teamed up with an Artisan chocolatier to create chocolate flavoured with some of the same scents used in the candles. We tried their Strand Hot chocolate and it was very good.
Some Prosecco to help concentration!
Tools of the trade
Before positioning the wicks in the centre a straw had to be popped over the string and a bit of glue put on the base to hold them in place. The straw was then used to push the wick firmly in place.
After the wick was firmly in place we then whisked in our blend of oils in the melted wax until all was well blended. The mixture is then poured into the jar and a peg used to hold the wick upright. Now all I have to do is wait for it to set and receive it shortly in the post! I can't wait to try out the fruits of my labour...