Today is a big day! We're launching production of our 04 candle. After months of development and discussion, it finally came to life in Cugand—a small town not far from Clisson, a good hour's drive from Nantes. After leaving Paris early in the morning, the team arrived in this beautiful village, full of pretty houses overlooked by the Notre-Dame church. We're taking the time to explore; it's too beautiful to miss! After a quick lunch surrounded by nature, overlooking a river, Gwenaëlle and I head out to see how our candles are made.
When you arrive at the Bougie La Française workshops, put aside the glam and it's time to gear up with shoes and protective clothing. Wow. Impressive! Aluminum tanks, kilometers of pipes transporting the wax blends to each station. Each wick is waxed and cut according to the size of the container. There are forty different wicks, and their use depends on the fragrance, the type of wax... it's quite an art!
There are about ten workstations where busy hands are working on different products. It was impossible to miss ours; our candles smelled like smoked black tea, mugwort, and birch. We can assure you, it's intense! A captivating and hypnotic atmosphere hovers around us—this is where the magic happens. We were completely captivated by the rhythm of Françoise and Alexandra's hands. The first step is to glue the wick to the bottom of the glass so that it remains still while the wax is poured. The glue dries very quickly. Then, make way for the wax! The hot liquid wax is mixed with the fragrance and then poured into each glass. The wax cools in the open air for about fifteen minutes after a circuit. Stéphanie readjusts the wicks, which tend to shift slightly as they cool.
Now for the second layer of wax: when the wax cools, it falls off - so to have a nice smooth candle, we need an extra centimeter of wax.
Once the candle is ready, Alexandra sticks the label on the front of the glass, exactly 2.5 cm from the edge! Then, the box is assembled by hand and the candles are stored inside. Voila, they are ready! They head directly to Chartres where they are stored in our warehouse (a few hours from Paris) and finally they arrive at your home!
Oh yeah, we almost forgot! Before each production, a tester is made and burned to check that everything is in order. This ensures that there are no problems with the combustion, the fragrance comes out well, the wick doesn't turn to charcoal... a very meticulous quality control process to ensure that your candles will be perfect!
We almost lost half of our team – they all wanted to move to Clisson!
