By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

It is a Sunday morning, and as you arrive in the kitchen of your home, the intoxicating scent of freshly brewed coffee, made by someone else in your family, is enfolding the room in the way a blanket serves as a canopy of warmth and protection.

It is an Autumn afternoon, and you trudge through an apple orchard plucking fruit off of trees, and there is a familiarity in the October air – with its bittersweet pungency - that reminds you that this is a season of quiet surrender to the winter ahead.

You gracefully hug the shoreline like a dancer on a stage as the waves voraciously crash against the rocks, and you inhale the sea salt brine that seems to have a language of its own that melts you within the tenderness of the moment.

You want to flip the catalog open. You want to turn the pages, see the photographs, close off all potential interference and become intoxicated by every moment’s fragrance.

For the last five years, through her online company Editorial Candle Co., Alyssa Andress has been bottling those aromas of your life in the form of candles that for hundreds of her customers have become quiet embers of memory and rejuvenation.

“I have always been a storyteller of some sort,” Andress said from her home near Greenville, where in addition to her work with Editorial Candle Co., she is a fiction writer. “Storytelling is where my heart lives.”

‘Edge of Seventeen’

COVID-19 was wrong for more reasons that can possibly be counted, yet within that nearly two-year fog of isolation, it spawned millions of side hustles and part-time occupations and reintroduced new passions that had been for too long relegated to inapproachable daydreams. Andress and her husband were living in Media, Pa. in March of 2020, here she soon began a job at Philadelphia Style magazine. Two weeks later – after the world shut down on March 13 - the publication’s staff were asked to work from home. Two weeks later, the entire department was furloughed. 

“I was looking for an outlet that would allow me to be creative,” Andress said. “I was buying a lot of candles but didn’t have any income, so I thought about perhaps buying some wax and making candles on my own. From the start, I knew that I wanted to create an editorial aspect.”

During that incubation period, two definitive scents emerged. 

“I knew that I wanted to name one candle “Edge of Seventeen,’” said Andress, who grew up in Berwick, Pa. “I was in this era of my life when I listened a lot to Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac and wanted to capture that essence. I also wanted to capture the scene of my Nanna’s house. The fragrances of her home at Christmas time were very specific, filled with chestnuts and pinecones. I called the candle “One Eleven Center Street,” which was her home’s address.”  

Andress began to source fragrances, oils and other materials from candle resource companies, and took the next four months to experiment. Eventually, the two candles that first emerged were joined with other names that included “Montauk & Monterey,” a seascape scent that combines citrus with cedar, violet, jasmine and sea salt; “Nights on Vinyl,” that conjures up the feeling of relaxing on a leather couch, infusing cedarwood, leather and sandalwood; and “A Bushel & A Peck,” reminiscent of apple gathering in the Autumn and made of fresh greens and juice.

The company’s inventory has now grown to include “Breakfast for Dinner,” “Dancing in the Kitchen,” “Auroras & Sad Prose,” “Sweet Nothings,” “Mulled Nostalgia,” “Sailor’s Delight,” “Biker Jacket,” “Afternoon Delight,” “On the Clothesline,” “Kuh-Laire,” “Grand Carousel,” “Curiouser & Curiouser,” “By Any Other Name,” “Tomato/Tomato,” “Dark & Stormy,” “Summer Lovin’” “Ghost Stories,” “Lavender Haze” and “Solar Flare.”

“Often, I start with the story, and I write out the description of the candle first and tie the scent of the candles I choose into the name,” Andress said. “I often pull from literature and pop culture. For instance, I named “Curiouser & Curiouser” after the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. “Wednesday in a Café” is a lyric from a Taylor Swift song and so many are pulled from my life; “Dancing in the Kitchen” and “Breakfast for Dinner” come from the experiences that we all have.” 

Lowercase.

In between her work with an agency to promote the work of companies and organizations to boost the economy of Philadelphia, Andress fills her weeknights and weekends with developing new candle scents, pouring candles, filling online and made-to-order requests and showcasing her work at artisan markets in Delaware and nearby Chester County. Editorial Candle products can also be found in shops near Pittsburgh and Berwick, and Andress said that she is prioritizing showcasing her products at shops in northern Delaware. 

Editorial Candle Co. also offers lowercase., a quarterly subscription box that pairs stories with scents to transform one’s reading experience. Each box features a newly released book, an exclusive candle, a bookmark, and a customized playlist of songs selected by Andress, all designed to transport the reader beyond the pages and into the heart of the story.

“The idea for lowercase came from my love of reading,” Andress said, who pointed to a shelf full of books that takes up an entire wall of her home. “It was natural for me to do a book-candle-music combination. So far, I have offered literary fiction, literary fiction with a touch of romance, and a package that has a touch of magical realism to it.”

If there is a happy problem in Andress’s life, it is coordinating the balancing effect of managing the growth of a successful business with the obligations of a full-time job. The sales of Editorial Candle Co. have reached more than 20 states, developed an online presence, achieved product placement with online influencers, boosted by appearances at locations like the Kennett Creamery and the Brandywine Park Farmers Market and a powerful word-of-mouth network of friends and customers. While Andress said that she would welcome the opportunity to expand her company in the future, she said that it is crucial that it always remain beholden to its original mission. 

“The goal of Editorial Candle Co. has always been to connect everyone to places and moments that are special to them, because everyone has a story to tell and the story I am telling with these candles is something that everyone can relate to,” she said. “Whether it is the aroma of a grandmother’s house or smelling coffee on a Sunday morning, there is a place – and a candle - for everyone here.”

To learn more about Editorial Candle Co., visit www.editorialcandle.com or email [email protected].

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].