Once upon a wick, scented candles were more ritual than retail. Think sacred smoke in ancient temples. Funerary offerings. Mood lighting for your Roman bathhouse. But let’s fast-forward to the era that really set the stage for what we burn today: the 1980s.
The 1980s: When Candles Were Holiday Core
If you were a suburban mom in the '80s, chances are your dining room buffet had a cinnamon-apple pillar candle standing proud between a spray of plastic poinsettias and a dish of ribbon candy nobody ate. These weren’t necessarily “luxury” candles—they were seasonal. They were color-coded. They smelled like every mall in December.
Candles in this era weren’t about self-care or aesthetic. They were about decor. The idea was to create ambiance for guests, especially around the holidays. That massive three-wick monstrosity in the centerpiece? It wasn’t about scent. It was about status and seasonal coordination.
The 1990s: Refinement, Soy Wax, and Marketing Spin
Enter the '90s. Candles got sleeker. Scents got more specific. No longer just “spice,” but “cardamom clove in a cashmere sweater in Vermont.” This was also when soy wax entered the scene.
Soy wax was introduced as a “natural” alternative to paraffin—but let’s be real: that was marketing. Soy wax isn’t pulled straight from an organic farmer’s field and poured into a minimalist glass jar. It’s processed. Chemically treated. And most of the soy is genetically modified and sprayed with pesticides. But at the time, it looked better than saying “byproduct of petroleum,” and consumers were starting to demand greener, cleaner products. It stuck.
The Early 2000s: American Luxury Gets Lit
Now here’s where things get interesting—and where we start to recognize the scentscape we live in today. A few New York-based founders decided to raise the bar. They said, “Hey, what if luxury didn’t have to come from Paris?” and then backed it up with quality and aesthetic firepower.
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LAFCO launched their massive hand-poured glass vessels with clean, composed scent profiles that felt like upscale architecture in wax form.
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NEST Fragrances, founded by Laura Slatkin, proved that a well-designed candle could hold its own next to fine perfume. Their holiday scent? Icon status.
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Apotheke, Chrissy Fichtl, out of Brooklyn, brought the minimalist, modern apothecary aesthetic to the forefront—and made “made in the USA” feel like a flex, not a compromise. She started with soap and expanded into other scented products.
These brands sell worlds. Ambiance became identity. And suddenly, you weren’t just lighting a wick—you were curating a vibe. And I thank them all for paving the way.
Where We Are Now: The Niche Revolution
Fast forward again. The luxury market is saturated. Everyone's got a black-and-white label and a signature fig scent. And yet, the market is more alive than ever—because now it’s not just about “clean” or “chic.” It's about character. Subversive names. Emotional storytelling. Scent as self-expression.
That’s where brands like Whiskey & Woof come in and are able to recognize other members and brands in the community who helped pave the way for us. This is a niche brand, hand poured and blended in small batches.
We’re not selling candle-as-decoration throwbacks. We’re here for those of you who want their home to smell like a memory—raw, real, maybe a little wild. Refined, and unapologetically rich in throw. Because we’re not here to play by trends. We’re here to make scents that imprint in memory. The next generation of candle history is being written—by dogs who dig, founders who challenge, and the ones who don’t just light candles… they light up a whole damn room.
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