Business Spotlight: Sincerely Sarah Jane Candles
Sarah
SincerelySarahJane
Congratulations to Sarah for the winning entry in our labels-in-use photo contest! Her etsy shop, SincerelySarahJane, is a gallery of beautifully-presented product photos and we love her classic label design. But reading her engaging candle scent descriptions is what really drew us in. They all sound so inviting and bring to mind favorite places and happy experiences. Sarah’s candles are hand poured using 100% soy wax, high quality fragrances and essential oils. Free of chemicals and additives, they are clean-burning so you can enjoy the wonderful scents knowing they’re healthy to breathe.
What drew you to candle-making and what do you enjoy most about it?
I started making candles around the time my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. It was two-fold; I needed a creative outlet to get me through my mom’s diagnosis and my mom wanted to candles to relax after treatments but normal candles were giving her headaches. After some research, I knew I wanted to create natural additive-free soy candles and that was the start of it. I love mixing scents and creating each one of my candles. It is really therapeutic for me and I could spend hours in my candle studio coming up with new things.
In your etsy bio, you mention that some of your scents are inspired by childhood memories. Smells do trigger strong memories! Now we’re curious: Can you tell us the story behind one of your favorite scents?
I grew up in the countryside and spent a lot of time outdoors as a child. We would always go on hikes and spend time fishing as a family. Woodland is a candle of mine that brings me back to being a kid. I have a specific memory of going on a hike with my dad and he brought a book for us to read at the top, and the smell of the trees and the woods was the inspiration behind this scent.
How do you decide which new scents to introduce and what is your process for getting them just right?
Working with new scents is a process and it takes so much testing. I typically test each scent combination in a small container to make sure I like how it smells when its burning and then make several of my 8oz candles and melts with it. It takes many iterations to get the fragrance oil percentages correct, but its a labor of love. I typically release a handful of scents each season and start planning and testing 2-3 months in advance.
Your product designs and website images are beautiful. Do you create the label designs and do your own photography?
Thank you! My best friend and I are a great team when it comes to this. I would say that I have a lot of vision, and she brings it to life in the form of labels and photos. Its a super iterative process. I do take a lot of my own photos and do all of the product shots. I’ve learned so much throughout this process with lighting, props, and label design and will always be a student of the business. There is always so much to learn!
Why did you choose Evermine to print your labels and what do you like most about them?
I chose Evermine because of the small business and local nature of it. I am in Seattle and I really care about supporting small and local especially during a pandemic. I also love the labels that you provide. It was really hard to find the exact label that I wanted to use anywhere else that was the same quality and no matter what I found elsewhere, Evermine always beat the competition in quality. I also think the customer service here is amazing and would 100% choose to spend money with a company that truly cares about my business than a huge company that outsources customer service.
What would you like people to know about your business?
I make 100% natural soy wax candles with no additives or dyes. It’s really important to me that my candles are of a quality that I would feel comfortable letting my mom breathe in given her diagnosis. Therefore I use high quality fragrance oils that don’t contain any phthalates and are blended with essential oils. I also made a decision early on to use containers and packaging that is eco-friendly and recyclable to try and reduce my footprint. All in all, I love making candles and it brings me so much joy to be able to share my passion with others!
Bobbi works as a designer and blog contributor at Evermine Labels. When she’s not working on new designs or styling customer orders Bobbi enjoys hiking, yoga, making pizza and all kinds of crafty things.