behind the scenes: creating our spring scent collection
the spring collection (golden blossom, velvet kiss and calm opulence) is now part of the blissli range. here's the honest story of how it got there.
where it started
i knew from fairly early on that i wanted a spring collection. not because spring candles are a commercial necessity (though they help) but because the permanent collection leans warm. cosy glow, soft haze, sweet treat: these are brilliant scents and they're very much autumnal and wintery in register.
spring needed something different. lighter, fresher, with a bit of optimism to it. a collection that made sense when the evenings started getting longer.
what i didn't know was how long it would take to find the right three.
the ones that didn't make it
creating a collection involves testing a lot of options that don't work out. i won't list every wrong turn (we'd be here for a while) but a few worth mentioning.
i tried a sweet orange-forward scent that was lovely but ended up being too similar to uplifting citrus in the permanent range. there's no point duplicating yourself.
there was a tuberose and musk blend that was genuinely beautiful but too polarising in testing. some people loved it immediately. others put it down fast. a scent that splits people that sharply is hard to build a collection around.
and there was a light green tea option that felt right conceptually and slightly flat in practice. close but not quite.
how the final three came together
golden blossom was the easiest decision. pear, rose and bergamot. the moment i smelled it i thought: yes, this is exactly what spring should smell like. bright and floral without being overwhelming, with just enough warmth underneath to stop it feeling thin. if spring had a signature scent, it would smell exactly like this.
calm opulence took longer. lavender and rose felt obvious for a spring collection. obvious can be good when the execution is right. the addition of patchouli is what made the difference. it gives it depth and grounds it so it doesn't feel like a spa product. the result is something genuinely indulgent rather than just pleasant. a spring scent for people who prefer their fragrances to have some weight to them.
velvet kiss was the one i was least sure about at first. raspberry, cedarwood and amber: bold, warm, sensual. not obviously "spring." but i kept coming back to it because it offered something the other two didn't: personality. a collection of three safe florals is fine but it's not very interesting. velvet kiss gives the collection an edge.
what i learned from building it
a collection needs contrast. three scents that all do the same thing at a slightly different frequency aren't a collection, they're variations on a theme. golden blossom and calm opulence needed velvet kiss to balance them out.
i also learned that "spring" is a feeling more than a fragrance family. fresh and floral is one interpretation. grounding and indulgent is another. velvet kiss is warm enough to feel like late spring. calm opulence is lavender-forward in a way that reads as self-care rather than garden. golden blossom is the one that smells most like the season itself.
all three work differently. that's the point.
they're available now
golden blossom, velvet kiss and calm opulence are available as candles and wax melts at blissli.co.uk.
love, amy.