Behind a Candle: Serendipity Candle by Barbara Ghiselli
Behind a Candle: Serendipity Candle by Barbara Ghiselli
From a need to fill a sense of incompleteness to an artisanal enterprise built on love, passion, and sheer willpower. This is how Barbara and her Candle Bars began, where wedding guests can watch their wedding favors come to life and blossom live, in a display of artisanal mastery.
· How did your love for candles begin? (What made you say, "I'll try making them too"?)
Hello everyone, my name is Barbara, I'm the creator of Serendipity Candle, and I've been making candles and home fragrances for about three years.
My story began with an unbridled passion for anything that could perfume my home, something that would allow me to always find myself. So, after years of passionately buying candles, I said to myself, "Why don't I try making one?"
I stumbled upon a tutorial explaining how to make handmade candles, by chance, by accident (I was looking for something else), but as you know, serendipity is unpredictable. From that day on, I never stopped studying, researching, experimenting, and unleashing my imagination and creativity.
My first three candles were cute, but nothing special, yet I was truly proud of them.
I gave two of them to friends and kept one for myself. I still remember the disappointment when they went out shortly after lighting them! So I studied, studied, and studied some more, and through all that studying, I began to learn the secrets to making a perfect candle: wicks, diameter, waxes, containers, and fragrances became my daily bread. The science behind all this is anything but obvious.
By the way, I didn't tell you that I'm not a young girl and that my entrepreneurial choice was driven by a feeling of incompleteness that had dwelt in my heart for too many years. I found the courage to leave a secure job and turn a passion into a life project.
· Was there a moment when you thought about giving up? If so, what kept you going?
I never thought about giving up; in fact, the more I experimented, the more popular my candles became.
Also because, as an animal rights activist, I always selected vegan materials, free from any kind of animal cruelty. So people chose what I created for this reason too: because I embraced their ideals.
I opted for organic vegetable waxes and cotton or wooden wicks. The containers were made exclusively of glass, wood, or metal—in short, all plastic-free.
THE TURNING POINT
“The world of events and weddings has always fascinated me, so I approached it slowly, first on tiptoe, then with more confidence, until it gradually became an important part of my production.”
· Was there a moment when you realized it could become something serious? (a sale, a compliment, an event, a special order...)
As the months passed, my creations became increasingly sought after as gifts by those who wanted to feel at home thanks to the scent they could smell, especially during the Christmas season.
The world of events and weddings has always fascinated me, so I approached it slowly, first slowly, then with more confidence, until it gradually became an important part of my production.
All this was also thanks to the Candle Bar, an event within the event where guests saw the creation of the gift they would receive... oh my, how excited I was at my first Candle Bar!
I also love giving new life to objects, and some of my creations are born from recovered gin bottles and hand-transformed into elegant containers.
I often made mistakes where nothing could be salvaged, but among so many mistakes, one was lucky (trying to mix some fragrances) and gave birth to one of my most popular candles: the Nutella-scented candle!
· If you had to describe one of your candles as if it were a person or a story, which one would you choose and why? Why did you choose the “Pear” fragrance as the product that best represents you?
After two years as a hobbyist, on February 4th, Serendipity Candle by Barbara Ghiselli was born, my small artisan business that captures my heart and soul. If I ever had to represent my entire journey in a candle, it would be a beautiful rose gold glass jar with a pear candle inside. This is because, despite the elegant and refined casing (and I love elegance and refinement), inside lies a simple, fresh, and sweet soul, like the scent of a ripe pear, exactly like my essence.
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