SÒLAS Home

Today, we talked to DoDo from SÒLAS Home, makers of fine candles.

We discovered DoDo at the Daventry Spring Market and bought a beautiful candle from them.

A charismatic, vibrant couple, DoDo and Fred chatted for a while, and we quickly realised that we had independent business interests in common; the need to find great suppliers, with a creative and local flavour.

DoDo from SÒLAS Home, hails from Southam, Warwickshire, she says, 'I started making candles as a hobby in February 2020 (pre-covid). I was put on furlough in March, which gave me time to test and perfect 3 different sizes of candle'.

When asked about production, DoDo Says, 'Candle making is more of a science than a craft really. It takes lots of testing different percentages of oils with various sizes of wicks to get the candle to burn well with no tunneling (when only the centre of the wax burns) or becoming a flame thrower. Hundred of hours were spent testing each fragrance with each vessel and many wicks. I now have 15 different fragrances which I am happy with and 2 more in the pipeline'.

So, how sustainable are you as a company? 'The scented candles, wax melts and reed diffusers are made from eco friendly materials. I use coconut and rapeseed wax for the candles and wax melts, a vegan base for the diffusers all blended with high quality fragrance oils. The packaging is from sustainable sources and recyclable or compostable'.

So literally - ‘Home fragrances that won’t cost the earth’.

The last couple of years, have been difficult for most businesses, not least a small startup, 'When my husband Fred was also furloughed he spent time helping me with branding and labelling. I could not have done all this without him. My daughter Lucy also gave me lots of input especially being there to bounce ideas off.

I have since been made redundant so put most of my time into growing the business. I have thought at times ‘why am I doing this’ as there are lots of other home fragrance businesses out there but I think my brand is a bit different and I’m sticking with it'.

The admin side of the business takes a lot of effort, DoDo continues, 'It takes lots of time and determination to organise markets, admin, making, sourcing materials and keeping sane, but I love doing it, and I love when I get a great review, or someone messages me on Instagram saying how they love the candle they have bought. That’s what keeps me going and makes it all worthwhile. I’ll never compete with Jo Malone but I’m happy with building my little empire'. So what of the future DoDo? 'I started selling at a small local market in July 2020 before total lockdown and set up a website to help through Covid restrictions. I have attended many markets since April this year and my products can be found in Farmers Fayre, Stoneleigh Park, Sheaf Street Health Store, Daventry, Suzanne Evetts Florist, Southam, Warwickshire Artisans, Yew Tree Shopping Village, Wooton Wawen, Red Brick Market, Birmingham and I also on the website - www.solas-home.co.uk and I’m always looking for new stockists'.

Clearly keen to expand their sales and moving forward, SÒLAS Home, have taken the leap of faith needed to become a successful small business. Another success story here we think.