Scented candles are soothing. They’re relaxing. They’re nature at it best.
Except, even “natural” candles don’t always pass the smell test. They can have a petroleum base, or contain other environmentally sketchy components.
Federal Trade Commission regulations are loose. Candlemakers don’t have to disclose their processes or products.
Who knew?
Cubie Vinson did.
She, her husband and young son moved to Westport at the beginning of COVID. She worked for a realty trust firm in Manhattan, but was diagnosed with an illness (not the coronavirus) that caused neuropathy-like symptoms all over her body.
“That’s the last time I stepped foot into corporate America,” Cubie says.
She does not miss it at all. “People kill themselves with the commute, the daily bustle. They’re beaten down, physically and emotionally.”
Cubie also suffered “mom guilt.” She wanted a career, and also to be a good mother. Yet sometimes she did not see her son before bedtime.
Frustrated, sitting in her new Westport home, she searched for a way to relax.
She thought of aromatherapy. But because she was sensitive to the scents in candle stores, she was hesitant.
She was also wary of greenwashing — products advertised as more environmentally friendly than they really are.
Wax that comes from genetically modified soy beans, treated with pesticides; synthetic beeswax — if Cubie was going to use aromatherapy, she wanted nothing to do with them.
So she decided to make her own.
Cubie researched how to mix coconut wax with beeswax. She sourced true organic products, and learned how to craft candles herself.
Working at home, she built her business. Candle Caboodle — made with lavender, jasmine, coffee infusion and more — is now sold online, and at 3 spots: Rebel & Rose tattoo studio in Westport, Yoga for Everybody in Fairfield, and Stamford’s Lash Brow Room.
Cubie also opens pop-up shops around Fairfield County.
Cubie Vinson, surrounded by her candles.
She takes her sustainability mission seriously. Many candles come in vessels that can be repurposed, like coconut shells, and margarita glasses.
Cubie’s glass will have a second life.
Cubie uses all-natural dyes, including indigo powder, cochineal and spirulina powder. The yellow is beeswax.
Some of her candles are so attractive, people don’t want to burn them. So they sit for a while, doubling as décor.
Candles have become Cubie’s passion. A basic design takes 20 to 40 minutes to pour the wax, decorate the surface and cure. One with more details can take an hour.
Look closely. You’ll see 2 candle wicks.
Making candles brings Cubie joy — and her customers too.
For a Breast Cancer Awareness event last October at Rebel & Rose, she made candles with a pink ribbon.
The first customer was a friend of a woman who’d seen it on Instagram, and wanted one.
Cubie was thrilled that — both literally and figuratively — her candle would brighten someone’s day.
(Click here for the Candle Caboodle website. Click here for Cubie’s Instagram.)
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