It’s no secret that I go nuts for candles. Can’t get enough of them. I discovered Ambrosia Candles sometime last year and have spent many hours trawling the site for myself and for my clients. I always like to know the story behind websites I recommend to clients so I thought I’d ask Rachel a few questions about her lovely website and as a special treat Rachel is offering you guys a special treat – 10% off all candles. Enter the coupon code NEST during the checkout process. Valid until March 31st, 2012.
Ambrosia was launched in July 2011 after years of planning by Rachel and her husband Adam. Rachel has a background in online marketing and Adam a background in building and designing websites (perfect combo).
Why did you start Ambrosia Candles?
I have been obsessed with candles for many years and after countless weekends of dragging Adam all around Sydney from candle shop, to homeware store, to perfumery on the hunt for unique scented candles, we realised that candles certainly fulfilled our criteria of a product that we were passionate about.
We researched the idea further and found a gap in the online space for a candle store specialising in many of the high end, quality candles that we found in boutiques and upmarket homewares stores around Sydney.
Describe a typical day at Ambrosia Candles.
Our morning begins with all hands on stuff – gift wrapping and packing orders, followed by a delivery run to the post office. Our afternoon (and late into the evening) usually consists of responding to email enquiries, maintaining our online content, sourcing marketing opportunities, and spending way too much time chatting on Facebook and Twitter, all while trialling a gorgeous candle or two for our product reviews.
If you had to pick one, what would be your favourite candle?
For each brand we stock, we select one fragrance to feature as ‘Our Fave’ scent from the range. I struggle to pick just one favourite within a single range, let alone single out just one candle from our whole collection! But if I *really* had to choose, it would have to either between Golden Amber by Aquiesse or Red Currant by Votivo.
What are some good tips for candle lovers to get the best out of their candle?
I’m a fanatic about burning candles the ‘right’ way, and to help our customers get the most out of their candles, we’ve dedicated a whole section of our website to candle burning tips.
Our top candle burning tips are:
– Store your candles in a cool dry place. Heat will cause a candle to sweat and can affect the fragrance
– Always trim the wick to about 5mm every time you burn your candle
– The first time you burn your new candle, ensure you burn it long enough so the wax melts right out to the edges – usually about 3-4 hours. Candles will ‘tunnel’ and burn unevenly through the centre of the wax if you don’t burn it long enough straight up.
– Always remember that there is a naked flame involved, so safety precautions should be taken
Where do you source your candles?
In selecting the candles that we carry, we aim to represent candle makers from countries known for producing quality fragranced products. At the moment, we stock candles that are sourced from the US, Italy, France and the UK. We are also passionate about supporting local boutique brands like L’ASCARI, Gascoigne & King and Floriosa – we’re always on the look out for luxurious local Aussie labels to add to our collection.
Now hop over to Ambrosia Candles and use that 10% discount asap!
(Enter the coupon code NEST during the checkout process. Valid until March 31st, 2012.)
