FRAGRANCE CHART TOPPERS

Known locally as the ‘Smelliest Shop in Town’, gift and home fragrance store Buy the Light in Bury St Edmunds stocks over 200 different fragranced products including a vast selection of Yankee Candle, Woodwick and Village Candles, A Cheerful Giver Candle Company, St Eval Candles from Cornwall, Classic Candle based in Woodbridge, Sassy Shop Wax melts from Bristol and Emily Victoria Candles based in Cheshire. The shop also stocks a wide range of Maison Berger products including fragrance lamps and perfumes and a range of electronic diffusers from madebyzen.

“Our best selling candle brand is the Classic Candle Company,” confirms Buy the Light’s owner Lesley Bancroft, “with products including candles, melts and reed diffusers made in Suffolk. Colourful, a fruity floral, is the best selling candle. We stock it in jars and MiniLights, which are like large tea lights. All come in white wax to suit all decors. The company’s diffuser refills are also a great seller, with London and Colourful the most popular. They’re relatively inexpensive, smell great and last for months. As for wax melts, Emily Victoria Candles melts are extremely good value at £1.99 and last for 18-24 hours, with Belle our best seller. Another top selling melt is Down by the Creek.

Continues Lesley: “Natural wax tea lights and tin candles from the St Eval Candle Company also continue to ring up sales. They’re made from a natural wax with Bay & Rosemary our top selling fragrance. “We also stock madebyzen’s electronic mist diffusers, with Thalia our top selling design and Black the top selling oil.”

Buy The Light also offers Lampe Berger from Maison Berger, the original perfume lamps brand dating back to 1898, with Zest of Verbena and Wilderness Buy the Light’s best selling fragrances. “We have many repeat sales as it works so well,” confirms Lesley.

Another gift retailer selling a big selection of home fragrancing products is Jo Williams, owner of Joco in Nuneaton. “We sell a large range including candles, reed diffusers, incense, essential oils and fragrance lamps,” confirms Jo. “Our biggest seller, and by far the one that draws customers back in time and time again, are the fragrance oil lamps from Ashleigh & Burwood. Once the lamp has been purchased, either for the customer themselves, or as a gift for others, the recipient comes back to us for the oils. There are a vast range of fragrances to choose from, with the customer often purchasing an additional lamp for another room in their home,” reports Jo.

Samantha Gibbs, owner of three Nest gift stores in Stoneygate, Broughton Astley and Thurlaston Garden Centre, highlights that Nest’s steady seller for the last 20 years has been Pintail Candles. “With a burn time of 40 hours and their coordinates simple styling, they are an obvious choice,” confirms Samantha. “Meanwhile, our newest range, Eau Lovely from Enesco, has been a huge seller and caught me by surprise as the price point is higher than we would usually take on. They have stones, such as green adventurine and rose quartz, set into them to offer a really interesting USP. All our candles are usually gift purchases rather than self purchase.”

On the reed diffuser front, Samantha highlights that they are increasingly popular with Nest customers. “Pintail Candles has a matching range which sit very well together and also includes replacement oils. Additionally, the Meg Hawkins range from Widdop & Co come in beautifully illustrated packaging and always make a really successful gift. As for scented sachets our ‘go to’ has always been Heart of The Country's Bridgewater sachets. We honestly love them and they sell so well. They are a great postable little something as a gift, but the real gains come from repeat self purchases.”

Meanwhile, wax melts have become Nest’s newest growth home fragrance category. “We use a micro maker called Fig Tree Home Fragrance that is based locally in Leicestershire and frankly, we sometimes struggle to keep up with demand.

“Alongside Fig Tree, we will be placing an order with Ashleigh & Burwood for our Christmas wax melt fragrances as I’m very impressed with their seasonal ranges. In fact, out of all our home fragrance ranges, wax melts are the most significant self purchase category.”

At Keepsakes, which has six gift stores in Scotland, co-owner Scott Nicol says that one of its best selling fragrance ranges is from Essence of Harris. “The brand is inspired by the elements of the beautiful island with its rich natural heritage. All the products are developed and hand poured in its factory on the Isle of Harris itself – which is a great selling point in our stores. Our best selling fragrance from them is Seilebost – Black Pomegranate. Customers love the smell and we have a lot of repeat sales. In particular, the wax melts have been selling really well, not just from Essence of Harris but across the board.”

At garden centre Garsons in Esher, department manager of gifts, Emma Gomes, reports a positive rise in home fragrancing sales with a relatively new brand in the home fragrance market, Henry & Co. “We stock quite a large range of theirs across candles, diffusers and wax melts, and their simple but effective brown kraft packaging is a draw. The company offers different blended fragrances which appeal to many, such as dark honey & tonka, which is a proven favourite with our customers as it smells divine!”

Adds Emma: “Henry & Co’s wax melts have also been extremely popular with our customers, as the fragrances are very unique compared with other brands.”

1: INCENSE RENAISSANCE

Heaven Scent started its business selling incense back in 1993. "We sold incense to shops that were slightly different to the usual ethnic smells that were around and popular at the time; we sold fragrances like Melon and Strawberry or Vanilla, something no one was doing so our incense became very popular,” commented Daniel Pettitt, md of Heaven Scent. The company still sells incense – which is made in Wiltshire - with popular fragrances including Black Pomegranate and Lime Basil and Mandarin. It also sells a full essential oils range. Daniel continued: “There is a renaissance of incense at the moment. Since lockdown, people have sort other ways to fragrance their homes other than candles; incense seems to bring with it a sense of ritual and calm which seems to appeal to people."

Heaven Scent

E: contact@heavenscent.co.uk

W: www.heavenscent.co.uk

2: NEW FRAGRANCE LAUNCHES FOR MANOR HOUSE

2022 proved to be the best year to date for Manor House – Spring Fair was one of its best trade shows yet and it continued to welcome on board new stockists. The company has launched Antibes & Portofino to its extensive offering and, having created much more indepth fragrances for the collections, the feedback has proven to be very positive. Also new is a collection of Soy Wax Candles in Tins (silver tins for year round and gold for Christmas), available in all 30 of its fragrance collections. The new 2023 collection encompasses 30 fragrances to choose from, which is Manor House’s largest offering to date, while it is continuing to create new fragrances for later this year. Private Label Home Fragrance is increasing dramatically, with the company able to offer bespoke and unique one off collections. In addition, it also now offers a standard selection of on the shelf gift boxes in various colourways to suit the slightly smaller retailers.

Manor House Home Fragrance

T: 01359 250720

W: www.manorhousehomefragrance.co.uk

3: LUXURY BUNNY TAIL

REED DIFFUSER

Luxury fragrance with an ethical heart, CAHM's range of luxury bunny tail reed diffusers are highly sought after. Complemented by a range of candles, aromatherapy roll-ons and bath salts, CAHM seeks to spread a positive mental health message through beautiful design-led gift. Premium Quality. Vegan friendly. Cruelty free. Plastic-free packaging. Handmade in Yorkshire. Super stylish.

CAHM

T: +44 7487 264762

E: amy@thecahmcollective.com

W: www.thecahmcollective.com

4: BEAUTIFUL CAST FRAGRANCE DIFFUSERS

Inspired by Mother Nature, The Foxglove Tree’s Botanical Cast Fragrance Diffusers are a new and sustainable way to add fragrance to your home. Each handmade design is created from a casting taken from real plants and flowers, capturing all the intricate detail of each petal and leaf. Every cast is infused with gorgeous fragrance and comes with a 3ml top up bottle of oil to keep your diffuser smelling fabulous.

The Foxglove Tree

T: 07766 748588

E: thefoxglovetreegifts@gmail.com

W: www.thefoxglovetree.co.uk

5: THE SCENT OF SUMMER

Lily-Flame is getting set for the summer months with its new candle called Ibiza - providing a reminder of holidays past or a taste of what’s to come. Wrapped in a sunkissed orange label with a super-matt, soft touch, it is complemented with an Aqua Neon Blue hotfoil print. Perfect to get customers in the mood for the summer sunshine.

Lily-Flame

T: 01963 240 463

E: info@lily-flame.co.uk

W: www.lily-flame.co.uk