We are well-versed in scrutinising supply chain stories in the food we eat and the clothes we wear, but candlemaking is an industry which has not had to bear probing inspection. In a space that promotes mindfulness, it may be surprising to hear that until Skär Organics was founded at a kitchen table in 2019, organic candles did not exist. That is to say, those candles being marketed as ‘organic’ were not 100% organic, and did not hold a final product certification.
In 2019, husband and wife Fraser and Chloe Malyk were starting to eat more and more organic food. At Christmas time, Chloe wanted to make candles as gifts for friends and family. Fraser suggested trying to make an organic candle. After a quick confab with the Soil Association, the EU’s largest certification body, they learned that a number of companies had tried to develop an organic candle, but failed as the process was prohibitively expensive, and sourcing organic cotton wicks nigh impossible; the vast majority of candle wicks will be chemically treated with bleach, and the cotton farmed from a genetically modified source. Genetically modified sources are strictly banned within organic certification standards.
To Fraser, then a travel agent and digital marketer, this sounded like a good challenge. “I’ve had various businesses in the past, and one of the best skills I have is an inability to calculate what’s involved,” Fraser jokes. “For every project I think, how hard can it be? If I had the ability to understand how much work it would be at the start, I wouldn’t have done it.”
In facing up to Big Candle, Skär Organics have had to write the book on sustainable, organic candle making from scratch, devising the processes and formulations themselves. They partner with apiaries (collections of beehives) in Romania and Bulgaria. In Romania, their partner is a fifth generation beekeeper who retired from the military at 40. He lives a nomadic life with the bees, trekking through the Carpathian mountains, gathering the honey that’s available. At each pitch for the mobile apiary, farmers within a six km radius have formally agreed to not use pesticides or insecticides for a period of six weeks. The standards of organic certified honey beeswax dictate that the queen bees’ wings are never cut, and synthetic chemicals or foodstuffs within the hives are prohibited.
Once they had their organic supply chain buttoned up, they turned to producing a commercial offering. One of the first dragons to slay at this end was sourcing dyes. “We tried nearly 20 different ingredients, from beetroot powder to turmeric,” Fraser says. At this juncture, they were looking towards paprika as a red dye to use in their collection for TOAST. Finding that paprika is not water or oil soluble, after trial and error, their solution was to fill a certified organic cotton pillowcase, and dip it like a tea bag into the beeswax to release its pigment. “It turns this beautiful red, orangey colour.” Fraser says, with evident pride.
Candles and candle making are now inextricably intertwined with the Malyk’s family life. His children are involved in the family business as part of their homeschooling. His daughter, Celeste, designs candle holders using natural molds and colors, while his son, Gideon, experiments with unique candle scents, like a Christmas-inspired cinnamon and patchouli blend. Through bringing their family wares to craft fairs run by the childrens’ homeschooling community, the children learn hands-on skills, from making candles to understanding pricing, production costs, and the broader business process. “They're learning a craft.” Fraser says. “They have a little window to the space that we occupy. What's involved in transforming that to create the foundation, to be able to make something.”
For Fraser and Chloe, candle making should include ancient craft technique of dipping the candles by hand. “The mass produced candle would rely on machinery. And it’s quite impersonal,” Fraser notes. “There’s a reason a print is less valuable than the original work. Even if you replicated the original to perfection so that art experts couldn’t see the difference, there would still be inherent value in the original work. It’s a challenge to identify the point at which that occurs. They could be materially identical, but for the fact that the author has poured his or her sweat and blood into the process: it’s the creation and imagination that the copy lacks. In mass production you lose something.”
It’s interesting that even for Fraser, the integral worth of handmade candles stands at the edge of definition. Beyond the craftsmanship, for Fraser and Chloe candles clearly play a crucial role in the atmosphere of a home. He tells me that when friends come over for dinner, without mentioning the candles, they will describe their space as relaxed and soulful. Often, people don’t immediately locate the candle as the source of this ambience, or to give a more bold inflection, spirit. “Candles beautify the food, the conversation,” Fraser says. “And hide the blemishes in the room. We live in an ex-council house in Leeds. It’s not like we’re in a cottage in the middle of the Yorkshire dales. That’s the beauty of a good candle, you can transform that little space into a sanctuary.”
Shop Skär Organics Candles.
Fraser wears the TOAST Arlo Garment Dyed Herringbone Jacket and the Garment Dyed Cotton Pleat Trousers. Chloe wears the TOAST Organic Needlecord Wrap Dress.
Words by Lauren Sneade.
Photography by Ellie Smith.
Add a comment