As part of my goals for the year, I wanted to try a new activity every month. For the first month, I chose to visit Aura Candle Bar along the Southport Corridor. They recently opened in August. Since I love candles, it made the perfect girls night out for my mom and I. Before you plan your visit, you need to make an appointment on their website. It was really easy to do and doesn’t require a deposit.
When we first walked in, I was blown away by the clean look. It was warm and friendly. Along one side are all of the single-scent candles and the bar for your scent development is along the other. It was so easy to forget the lovely rain and snow combination that was going on outside. You get your seat along the bar and one of the scent consultants explains the process. It is a very interactive and fun process that is unique to you. After you get your instruction, you receive your clipboard and you are off!
Step 1: Pick Your Favorite Scents
This is not an easy task as there are over 100 premium fragrance oils for you to choose from. It was hard for me to narrow down my favorites. I may or may not have overfilled my clipboard with scents I enjoyed. You can smell as many as you would like. There is a great variety of scents for you to choose from that anyone could find a scent they love. I leaned towards floral and fresh scents.
Step 2: Pick Your Vessel
They offer a variety of different candle holders at different sizes. I gravitated towards the white and gold, white and frosted glass. They were so chic! Every candle has a cotton paper wick. It is just one of the many aspects towards their cleaner candles. They also offer non-candle options including wax melts, aromatic sprays, and reed diffusers. Which ever option you choose, that will determine the price.
Step 3: Create Your Custom Fragrance
That’s when the fun really begins. You work with your own scent consultant to identify your favorite scent and then build your fragrance around it. I was asked questions along the way such as “fruity or floral?” and “do you like fresh scents?” to navigate the build. I smelled numerous combinations of scents. The consultant is an active part of this process and makes it so easy to do! I ended with 3 scents and my mom had 2 scents.
After you pick your scents, you begin to build your final fragrance combination. You start by putting a few drops of your scent oils into the jigger, stir it up, smelling and adjusting until you reach the top. When that is complete, you pour the oils into the hot soy wax. You need to mix it well. There isn’t such a thing as over mixing, but if you do under mix all the scent will live at the bottom of your candle.
Let It Cool & Explore Southport Corridor
Now that whole process of creating your custom fragrance takes about 30 minutes. You can pick up your candle after it cools which is about another 90 mins. Another great part of their location is the proximity to Southport Corridor. You can grab something to eat or explore the numerous shops. That hour and a half will fly by! We did our experience at night so I was able to pick up ours at a later date.
I was lucky enough to make 2 candles. For the first, I decided to call my fragrance Hawaiian Shower. It contained awapuhi, champagne and cucumber. It was fresh and floral all at the same time. As I burn my candle at home, it takes me to one of my favorite vacation spots as a child, Hilton Head Island. It’s amazing how a scent can bring back such cherished memories. My second I called April Showers (maybe you sense the shower theme!). It contained rain, rose petals, and sea foam. I love the rain and this just reminds me of spring. It was a one of a kind experience and not sure I do candles any differently moving forward!
I cannot recommend Aura enough. If you are looking for more Chicago content, you can check out more Chicago posts here!
Xoxo
Janelle
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