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PROGRESSIVE HOME FRAGRANCING
In Profile: FYG
Memories Are Made Of This Tapping into the current wellnesss/feelgood trend that’s taking the home fragrancing sector by storm, Find Your Glow (pronounced ‘fig’), founded by Demi Pendakis in 2020 at the start of the pandemic, is among the newest home fragrancing kids on the block. PG&H asked Demi where his inspiration comes from and what gives the company its USP in a crowded marketplace. Having grown up strongly influenced by his
essential oils and blends. “Many of the high end
father’s successful fashion business, it was a
home fragrancing brands that people aspire to
natural progression for FYG’s founder, Demi
are often out of reach pricewise, so my objective
Pendakis, to forge his own successful career in
was to create a brand that hit the same stride,
the fashion and design industry.
but that was realistically affordable,” he highlights.
But when Covid hit in early 2020, Demi was among those who succumbed to the virus in February, before anyone was really aware of how serious it was. “Like so many others, I was extremely unwell, completely losing my sense of taste and smell, fortunately eventually regaining it when my wife offered me a bowl of figs,” he explains. “That moment transported back to my grandma’s house in Greece, and to her fig orchards. Having become disillusioned with the fashion industry, I thought, if a smell can have such a positive effect on me, maybe there’s a way I can create a fragrancing business where I can recreate feelgood memories for other people.” The seed of an idea for Find Your Glow (FYG) was planted, growing during the long months of lockdowns, with Demi working on the idea of creating a mid-market home fragrancing brand that would be based on memories, as well as wellbeing, spanning candles, reed diffusers and
Ringing The Seasonal Changes A fresh, exciting development for FYG is Seasons, a brand new candle duo launched at Spring Fair earlier this year, that change fragrances as they burn. Explains Demi: “There are two three wick candles, each weighing a kilo, that burn for 120 hours – 60 hours per season. One candle reflects the fragrances of Spring/Summer, the other the fragrances of Autumn/Winter. Plus, each comes with a sustainable seeded dust card that can be planted in the garden to grow beautiful meadow flowers. Looking ahead, I’m also hoping to bring out seeded card boxes for our reed diffusers and for our candle and gift boxes too,” he adds. “Seasons was a year in the making and from a creative perspective, this range totally reflects me and what I’m all about.”
ABOVE: Demi Pendakis, founder of FYG.
However, in creating FYG, Demi didn’t want to create “just another fragranced product” but an immersive experience. “What started as a desire to re-capture my love of family holidays spent in Greece as a child subsequently developed into a project encapsulating a range of significant, beautiful experiences from the past.” Five months later, Demi was ready to launch FYG’s debut, flagship collection, aptly named Memories, which has a gold inlay inside each candle container to create an ambient golden glow, along with a card explaining something about the fragrance. “This collection is distinctly evocative, with the power to stimulate, calm, restore, excite and invigorate the senses,” explains Demi. “It really says who I am – romantic and nostalgic - and I’m inviting people to find the stories that speak to them.” Drawing on his own personal memories, there’s Grandma’s Garden, Amalfi, SW19 – a reference to the Wimbledon tennis tournament - Strawberries and Champagne, Cedar and Jasmine, Caribbean Waters and much else besides. “Every candle or reed Far left: Evocative Caribbean Waters from The Memories collection. Left: Three of the candles in the Back To Basics range.
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