As a kid, I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. It always teetered from singer (I am tone deaf!) to a hair stylist to a chef to a historian to an artist to a chemist... a fun fact about me is that when I was in 8th grade, I KNEW I wanted to be a chef. I loved cooking so much ( I still do) and looking through old family recipes and cookbooks. I was so certain of this that I was accepted into a vocational high school where I would specialize in the culinary arts. My nerves got the best of me and I ultimately went to my district's high school with my sisters and my friends instead. I always wondered what my life would be like if I wasn't scared to go to a new school... but I certainly wouldn't be here making candles!
I was an average student in high school but I did have an an affinity to the arts, be it the marching arts or crafting or painting, and history. I didn't think a 4-year university was for me so I was planning on a 2-year associates program in either art or history. It wasn't until my senior year of high school where I took an online class during study hall where I had the choice between dozens of classes. For S&Gs, I took meteorology. Lo and behold, 8 weeks into the class I started applying for meteorology programs.
When I was a senior in college and about to wrap up my undergraduate program, I suddenly remembered my older sister asking me and my twin, "did you know the sun makes the wind blow?" I was GOBSMACKED I tell you because that question always intrigued me. Then I realized as a kid, I would ALWAYS pull up a chair by a window and watch the storms roll in. and THEN I REALIZED.... holy cow my 1st grade teacher gave me a book called Wild Weather because I would always talk about the weather! Being a meteorologist was in me this whole time and it took me graduating from a meteorology program to realize this. I still have that book by the way... I was always fascinated by the pages on tornadoes!
Graduate school wasn't exactly kind to me. I excelled as an undergraduate and many expected the best out of me in a PhD program. The expectations other had of me while in graduate school only worsened my depression and my performance in school slipped dramatically. I was deeply unhappy and burnt out. When I was in undergrad, I thought I'd work towards my master's degree and work as a forecaster with the National Weather Service. In graduate school, I kept lying to myself that I really was meant to be an atmospheric chemist. It killed a lot of the love I once had for air quality, NASA, and the field itself. Now, over one year out of graduate school and into a new field (aviation meteorology), my love and appreciation is coming back in a whole new way.
In 2021, I curated this collection as a way to merge the candle world into the wild world of weather, to educate the public about meteorology, and to show my love for the field. As I've mentioned in the past, I started making candles as a way to express myself through the arts and express my creativity. This collection bridges everything I love about the arts and crafts and my expertise. As I started developing a new appreciation for meteorology as an early career professional, I wanted to bring more to the table and refine the Atmospheric Conditions Collection.
Four new scents, Lenticularis, Forecaster's Delight, Sea Fog, and Petrichor, are the four scents to round out and complete the collection.
Sea Fog: weather impacts us all around the world and there is always a type of weather that brings a sense of peace to someone. For me and many I know, fog is that type of weather. Foggy beaches for me is the most aesthetically pleasing jackpot. This fragrance emulates a peaceful feeling with notes like sea salt, eucalyptus, sage, teakwood, grass, and driftwood.
Petrichor: this is an almost universally known scent that people associate with rain during the spring and summer. It is an enigma to me how I could create a collection geared towards weather and not include it in its first iteration! This fragrance is probably going to be polarizing with its danky, muddy, garden feel. It has notes of green florals, ozone, rain, earth, moss, and eucalyptus.
Lenticularis: an uncommon (or maybe out-of-this-world) phenomenon, lenticular clouds appear like contact lenses or like stationary UFOs just positioned downwind of mountain or hills. Did you know that when these clouds appear, UFO sightings rise significantly? I wanted this one to feel like a misty, cold, afternoon hike, give that these clouds appear more in the winter. This candle has notes of apple peel, leather, dark musk, cypress, and cedar.
And finally... Forecaster's Delight: I feel the most proud of this one given how far I have personally come from that little girl reading that book of wild weather and my low points as a graduate student. This one is also dedicated to those amazing forecasters at the National Weather Service working to develop forecasts, work with the general public, emergency responders, and tv stations. The NWS way of life is "protect life and property." This celebratory fragrance has warm, cozy notes of vanilla, caramel, tobacco, brandy, honey, and oak barrels.
Shop the Atmospheric Conditions Collection here.
I hope you enjoy the expanded collection,
Lindsey