We're excited to announce our next Martha Mae product collaboration, made in partnership with Edgewater Candles.
Martha's Den is a candle inspired by Martha's lifestyle in the fall and winter. She embraces all things cozy. Imagine her snuggled up in a blanket, next to a roaring fire in an Edwardian-style library. She's reading old leather bound books about high society, while taking insightful notes with her favorite #2 pencil.
We visited Mark at the Edgewater Candles storefront and workshop to make Martha's candles and learn more about their fragrance journey.
Please enjoy our interview with Mark!
Mark, what excites you most about this collaboration?
I am accustomed to designing scents that I want to smell in the world, so it’s exciting to develop a scent for someone like Jean. Someone who has a vision and aesthetic that resonates with mine. It was great fun to conjure a new scent together!
What sparked your interest in fragrance and how did you become so knowledgeable about scents and candle making?
I used to work on Michigan Ave, and would cut through Neiman Marcus to get from the bus to my office, and I never missed an opportunity to try out a new scent. It always brought me joy to check out a new scent and learn about perfumery, scent combinations, and fragrance notes. The candle making part is great because it’s a craft that I could teach myself with online resources. Trial and error, research and development, curiosity, and repetition are how I became an expert chandler.
How do you approach crafting a custom fragrance?
I’m acutely aware that approaching a new scent is not something that can be solved with a mathematical formula. A scent idea is a vibe, a feeling, and an esoteric thought that can’t be achieved by pointing at a picture, picking a paint swatch, or ordering a specific widget. It’s not a “solve for x” type situation that has a “right” or “wrong” result. It’s more about approaching the scent with an open mind, a bit of intuition, and deeply listening to what the client wants to include and wants to avoid. From there, I develop a few prototypes with the full knowledge that none of them may be the final scent. It’s about giving the client something to say ‘more of this, less of that, let’s not go in this direction’ and working collaboratively with them to achieve their scent dream.
During the scent making process for this collaboration, we went through different iterations of the scent. Will you expand upon the process of layering scents? How do scents transform once a candle is lit/burning?
I make electronic music with my partner, Stephen. When we’re making a new track, there are certain elements that I lay down first and then build upon. A great chord progression is first, then the bassline, and then I can tinker away with the drumkit, arpeggios / ostenatos, pads, etc. Designing a fragrance is sort of similar. There are main scent ideas that three prototypes might have in common that are the foundation of the scent, and then the three variations on a theme are how I tinker from there. Let’s say the idea is a spiced woody scent. If the woody base is the bassline, then tinkering with different spice notes like tonka, vanilla, clove, etc is the playing with different arpeggios, drum fills, etc. It’s a bit like a remix.
Martha’s Den smells like cozying up in an old library with a crackling fire and writing your thoughts with your favorite #2 pencil. What do you love to do during the cozy season?
Candles, coffee, blankets, sweaters, soup, cookies! We have a small tabletop indoor fireplace that we light during dinnertime that really makes everything feel cozy. I love walking to work in all kinds of weather. Getting to hear snow crunch underfoot is still novel to me. Also - making candles in the winter is the best! It’s warm, smells good, and is meditative.
We love that you value and celebrate community and creativity. Could you share more about your amazing storefront in Edgewater?
We’re really delighted that we get to be in the Historic Bryn Mawr district. There’s so much history here and we’re surrounded by historic buildings. I think the building we are in was built in 1916! It is wonderful to be nestled between a sandy beach and the El. Together with our neighboring businesses we get to be a part of the renaissance of Bryn Mawr. We’ve decorated our store with a focus on raw wood, brick, and the rhythm of our shelves. If you look closely, you’ll notice lasercut templates to keep our candles organized, routed indentations in our display shelves to keep the tester candles spaced appropriately, and other custom woodwork and lasercut bits here and there. We have quite a few scents and products and keeping them organized makes my brain feel good!
Besides purchasing our wonderful collaborative candle Martha’s Den, how else can folks interact with Edgewater Candles?
You can check out our store at 1050 W Bryn Mawr Ave (right off of the Bryn Mawr Red Line), visit edgewatercandles.com or @edgewatercandlers on Instagram. We have our 1969 VW Camper parked outside on nice days, and wave if you see us driving candles for a delivery or driving in the Chicago Pride Parade!
If you could describe Martha in three words, what would they be?
Beautiful, Curated, Intelligent
We hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look!
If you would like to get your own Martha's Den candle, you can shop here or at The Center of Order and Experimentation.