What inspired you to create Layla Loves?
I have always loved candles and wax melts; I love that they create a cozy, homely atmosphere and that you can tailor the fragrance to suit your mood. Pillar candles have always been my favourite, but I always struggled to find ones that had a strong scent throw, long burn time, and were more of a muted colour to blend in with other decor rather than bright and loud. Because of this I started dabbling in making my own pillar candles and fell in love with it, and it escalated from there!
What type of products do you create and where is best to find them?
I create soy wax pillar candles and melts; some of our pillar candle range are perfect for burning, but we also make and sell a selection of decorative candles. Our decorative candles can of course be lit, but we do state that they are best for ornamental purposes as due to the irregular shape of the design the burn time is quite short in comparison to our other candles. As they say, they are too pretty to burn! Our products can be found on our website, as well as on Beautifully Handmade, Etsy, and TikTok Shop.
What is your favourite thing about using Soy Wax?
I love soy wax, and even from the start when I was just making candles for myself, I was adamant about using soy wax. I love that its non-toxic, and gives a natural, cleaner burn! I also love the appearance of soy wax; paraffin has always looked a bit like plastic to me!
If you had to pick one top fragrance oil what would it be and why?
Ooohhhh its too hard to pick just one! I’d pick Blue Cypress & Amber, because it reminds me of the Radox Muscle Soak bubble bath and that’s my favourite! I also love Bergamot & Wild Poppy, it’s the perfect floral! Fresh and sweet, but not too sickly.
How do you package your products?
Our aim is to be as eco-friendly and sustainable as we possibly can be, in order to do our bit for the environment. All of our products are wrapped in glassine paper, and we use eco-friendly packing peanuts that are compostable or can be dissolved in water. We use tissue paper in all of our recyclable cardboard boxes, with paper tape to seal.
Can you share your top tip for making a pillar candle?
if you are using an acrylic mould, make sure you plug the wick hole before you pour; I know it sounds so silly and obvious but I didn’t, and the entire contents leaked out onto my worktop! I would also say that wick placement is essential when making pillar candles especially ones with unique shapes; make sure you experiment with placement because the slightest adjustment can make a huge difference to how fast the candle burns and how much it leaks!
What is your favourite Cosy Owl product and why?
My favourite product would probably be the raw wicks, because they can be cut to whatever size you need which is perfect for creating all the different shaped candles that I do, and also means far less wastage as I am only using what I need.
What’s in store for Layla Loves in the future?
I absolutely love making candles and I didn’t imagine I would achieve as much as I have in my first year of business, so I didn’t have a plan in place as such. I’m excited to be in a position now where I can plan for next year, and there will definitely be a few new candle shapes released (so far, I have 8 in the testing stage), as well as a couple of new colour/scent combinations. I would also love to explore other items in relation to home decor towards the end of next year too!
We would love to hear more about your candle, soap, cosmetic, wax melt or diffuser journey and the inspiration behind your products! Want to feature in our up-coming creator blogs?
Tag us in your photos on Instagram or Facebook, with the hash tags #cosyowlfeature #cosyowlsupplies and we will contact a wonderful creator once a month to be featured.