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Our real story
We could give you the polished three-sentence version, but it would leave out most of what made this brand ours. Emilie took years of testing, plenty of wrong turns, a growing family and one slightly ridiculous experiment involving Artur’s largest coffee mug.
How this actually started
Long before Emilie was a business — before Emilia and before Zoe, our ragdoll cat — we made traditional candles at home for fun.
It taught us how much the wick matters, how much the container matters and how easily the whole thing can go wrong when either is off. Wax tunnelled down the middle while good wax sat untouched at the edges. Some fragrances smelled beautiful at first, then became too much. Flames grew taller than they should, containers became extremely hot and used jars kept piling up.
We saw the same problems in candles from much larger brands, sold as though that was simply how candles were supposed to behave. Eventually we stopped making them, but the feeling that candlelight could be done differently never really went away.
Then in 2019, Artur came across an old event video showing a loose, sand-like candle material. The product itself was basic and paraffin-based, but the idea stayed with him. That clip led to months of research, conversations with a wax manufacturer and more failed tests than we could count.
Eventually we developed a plant-based wax in a micro-pearl format, made without paraffin or soy. We tested wick after wick, colour after colour and fragrance after fragrance until it stopped feeling like a different version of a candle and started feeling like its own system.
The moments that shaped Emilie
None of these moments looked important at first. Each one changed what Emilie became.
When Zoe joined our family, we started thinking more carefully about how fragrance is used at home. That is why we created fragrance-free options for people who prefer candlelight without an added scent — whether for dinner tables, quieter spaces or simply personal preference.
The wax could be poured into many suitable containers, but not everyone had the right one at home. Sara suggested making our own. She now creates and finishes every vessel by hand, which is why small differences between pieces are part of their character.
Artur filled his largest coffee mug with pearls, let it burn and deliberately tipped it over. Watching the loose pearls move around the flame sent us back to the wick completely. That test influenced the free-standing wick, the absence of a metal tab and the way we design vessels and usage guidance today.
Emilie is still a real candle with a real flame. Always follow the safety guidance and never leave it unattended.
The name and the reason
We had been working on the product for a long time before it had a name. Years earlier, we had already agreed that if we ever had a daughter, we would call her Emilia.
When Sara became pregnant, the brand name arrived almost in the same breath: Emilie Pearled Candle.
From that point on, this stopped being only a product we believed in. It became something we were building for our daughter’s future. Even the pink that became part of the brand later found another meaning — it is Emilia’s favourite colour.
We hope Emilie will one day show her that meaningful things rarely appear fully formed. They are built through curiosity, mistakes, patience and hundreds of small decisions that gradually become something bigger.
Who does what
Sara creates and finishes the vessels, develops colour and fragrance ideas, plans seasonal sets and prepares many of the orders. Artur developed the original product system and works across testing, design, the website, content and marketing.
In reality, when orders are waiting, roles become less important and we both do whatever needs doing.
Our cotton-and-paper wicks arrive from Italy in long lengths and every one is cut by hand to the size we use. Our vessels are made and finished individually. Colours, packaging, product concepts and new moulds are all developed by us in our family-run UK studio.
We came too far to leave it unfinished
For a long time, Emilie grew around full-time work, moving home and raising a young family. There were stretches when we barely had enough time to make the product, let alone film content or run the business properly.
After one particularly quiet period, Artur walked back into the small room where we make everything and stopped for a moment. The wax, colours, fragrances, vessels, packaging, website and years of knowledge were all still there. We had built far more than either of us gave ourselves credit for.
That was enough to know we were not finished. Emilie has our full attention now.
Where we want this to go
We are not trying to build one product. We are building a refillable candle system, a growing range of handmade vessels and, over time, a wider collection of home pieces shaped around our own ideas.
Not a candle you burn once and throw away — a system, and a family business, built one decision at a time.
