Five Holiday Candle Launches From Snif, Summer Fridays and More – WWD

November 6, 2021 Mary

Summer Fridays Soft Vanilla Candle

Available for $36 at Sephora and summerfridays.com.

Parlaying community into capital is Summer Fridays’ forte, so when ideating new product categories, cofounder Marianna Hewitt said Instagram is a founder’s best friend.

“It’s the best resource to get direct answers from your customers. If they like something, if they don’t want something, they let you know, and candles were something that kept coming up,” Hewitt said.

Enter the brand’s first home fragrance, fresh on the heels of launching personal fragrance for the first time earlier this year.

“When we think of Summer Fridays, first and foremost, we are a skin care brand, but we really are a beauty brand and a lifestyle,” Hewitt said. “When we think of the Summer Fridays brand, we always think of a feeling, and that comes across in all our products — either how you feel when you apply it, how they smell, the feeling that it evokes. This scent is the perfect fall, cozy day. We wanted to give our customers something different to have in their home.”

Having given customers a new touchpoint with the brand at home, Hewitt said feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. “People are loving it, and I’m loving seeing that people can have this brand moment in their houses,” she said.

Hewitt didn’t comment on sales, although industry sources estimate the candle to reach between $1 million and $1.5 million at retail for its first year on the market.

Canopy Diffuser
Photo courtesy of Canopy

Canopy Aroma Diffuser

Available in white and green for $90 at canopy.com.

When Canopy launched last year with its hero humidifier, customers were able to make the connection between beauty and health easily, given the pandemic. Now, it’s taking aim at ancillary products.

“Originally, diffusing was a feature that we included in the humidifier because we had some inclination that people like diffusing as part of the humidification ritual,” said Justin Seidenfeld, founder of Doris Dev, Canopy’s parent company. “What we ended up learning was people really loved some of the fragrances we were introducing, so we tried really hard to lean into that.

Positioned at a lower price point than the humidifier, the diffuser comes with signature scents — developed with a plethora of consumer insights, Seidenfeld added — that can be replenished via a subscription model.

“Our humidifier is definitely our hero product since it homes in on health and beauty in a very direct way. The diffuser is more of a supporting product, but the response was overwhelmingly positive from our customer base. Now, it’s a really nice entry point,” he said.

Another key differentiator is the product’s flexibility, as consumers control how much oil they use, as well as fan speed. “We wanted to have control, and you can use the diffuser to create as pungent or strong of an aroma experience as you want,” he said.

Seidenfeld didn’t comment on sales, although industry sources think the brand hit a sales volume of $3 million at retail during its first year on the market.

Snif Candle Collection

Snif Candle Collection

Available at snif.co. Prices range from $54 to $135.

Direct-to-consumer fragrance brand Snif found success by introducing a try-before-you-buy model to a notoriously difficult category to sell online, and now it’s taking its learnings into new categories.

“Candles have always been a part of the plan, and when we look back on it, we started with fine fragrance because shopping for fragrance online is really difficult to understand. It made total sense to branch into candles because we all love candles, especially after COVID[-19],” said Phil Riportella, cofounder of Snif.

The three debut scents, called Instant Karma, Off the Grid and Birds and the Breeze, each come with eight-ounce sample sizes for consumers to try with the opportunity to return the full sizes.

“You could actually try it, burn it, light it and get the full experience before committing to buying the standard full size,” Riportella said.

For Bryan Edwards, the brand’s cofounder, the transition felt seamless after introducing fine fragrance. “Candles have always been in the roadmap for year two for us. In years three, four and five, you will see similar expansions,” he said. “We can leverage the same supply chain, a lot of the same vendors, and continue to innovate those different categories within our business model.”

Although neither commented on sales, industry sources estimate the collection double the business’ size, with the candles alone expected to reach between $3.5 million and $4 million in their first year on the market.

Nomad Noé Wild in Hollywood Candle

Available for $65 at nomanoe.com.

Nomad Noé founder Corentin Hamon relies on two main sources of inspiration: his own travels during his time working in fragrance, and various historical touchpoints.

“I’ve been in the perfume industry for the last 10, 15 years, working with brands like Givenchy and Kenzo. I was in Hong Kong, I was in London, I was in Chile. I was a global nomad,” Hamon said. “When I relocated to New York City, I felt it was the perfect time to launch a collection inspired by the extraordinary stories we’ve discovered. I didn’t want to do just another candle brand, I wanted to tell stories.”

Two years after launching Nomad Noé, Hamon looks to California for his latest launch. “Los Angeles was the first place I visited, the first time I came to the U.S., and my parents had friends working in the movie industry, which is where my interest started,” he said.

“Between 1929 and 1934, there was this period of five years that would tackle different issues such as drugs, homosexuality, it was very different from the next 30 years,” he continued. For Wild in Hollywood, the brand’s latest launch? “We wanted to tell the story of a speakeasy in Hollywood, off Sunset Boulevard. That’s the inspiration.”

Industry sources expect the scent to reach $250,000 in retail sales.

Carrières Frères Holiday Trio — Carrière Frères Holiday Trio
Photo courtesy of Carrières Frères

Carrière Frères Christmas Collection

Available for $95 at carrierefreres.com.

Carrière Frères, the sister brand of heritage home fragrance manufacturer Cire Trudon, may have an explosion of interest. With its Holiday launches, though, it’s hoping to hit repeat customers and new consumers alike.

According to Julien Pruvost, creative director across brands, the collection’s strategic goal is simple: “For those familiar with the brand, it’s an annual rendezvous to collect something unique, limited in number, only once per year,” he said. “For those who discover the brand at that time, it’s a great opportunity to dive into something specific and a bit over-the-top.”

Despite sharing a storied heritage similar to that of Trudon, Pruvost said it appeals to different demographics in different geographies.

“There is overlap, but Trudon is a bit more generalistic in the population of its customer base — we see a clear equilibrium between male and female customers and age groups,” he said. “[Carrière Frères] seems to be a bit more feminine in terms of customer base, and there is strong appetite for the brand in Asia. We know that because we sell into China and Korea.”

With that in mind, though, neither factor into Pruvost’s creative decisions. “When we develop our products, we don’t have a particular customer in mind,” he said. “We’re trying to propose a well-rounded and balanced collection.”

Pruvost didn’t comment on sales, but industry sources expect the collection to hit a sales volume of $580,000 at retail for the season.