Perth-based Flower Box bringing the gift of scent to homes across the world
Published by The West Australian - Friday 17th April 2020
Written by Jessie Stoelwinder
Photography by Simon Santi
This article is not written or owned by Flower Box Home Fragrance.
Scent has the power to convey myriad memories and emotions.
Simply by breathing in a fragrance, we can be transported to a faraway place or relive some of our happiest moments.
And, according to the duo behind Perth’s leading home fragrance brand, we need to harness the gifts of smell now more than ever.
Robin Van Der Wielen and her stepson, Johnny, have spent the past three years developing Flower Box, a boutique family-owned business that crafts candles and diffusers.
With so many people confined to their homes during the COVID-19 crisis, they say beautiful-smelling products can help us feel more uplifted, grounded and calm while hunkering down.
“Smell is the sense that is linked closest to memory, so a fragrance can really bring fond memories into your home,” Johnny says.
“I think particularly at a time like this, creating new memories is a great thing.”
Robin adds: “You light a candle and you feel calm because you have that sense of ambience and a lovely fragrance going through your home. It can be cleansing, like with our fresh lemongrass fragrance, or warming, like with our more wintry scents.”
Robin first envisioned the brand while living in London for eight years, which she used as a base to travel around Europe.
She noticed all the homes smelt divine and made it her mission to develop scents of European quality that were made by hand in Australia.
Johnny came on board and they took turns to study their craft in Grasse, France, the epicentre of the perfumery world.
“To do it properly, we knew we needed to learn our trade, so Johnny went to the south of France to train one-on-one with one of the best candle makers in the world,” Robin says.
“I knew we wouldn’t just make a candle in the kitchen and expect it to be world class. Then I went to the Grasse Institute of Perfumery to learn about fragrances. Together, we have different skill sets we can bring to the business.”
It was a process of trial and error to develop their most popular products, with the pair realising it was not just about scents they liked but ones that had broader appeal.
“Quite often, fragrances we love, the general public don’t love, so we have to do market research around what people would buy,” Robin says.
“When we started out, we learnt that lesson. Now, we look at different avenues to find out what people would like to buy, but we try to have a good variety and mix it up with each season.”
Included in the range is pink flowers, which combines notes of pink jasmine, cyclamen, gardenia, fir needles and pink grapefruit, and aqua, which layers ocean spray, palm leaves, ripe melons, wild hibiscus and musk. But Flower Box’s strength doesn’t just lie with its perfume.
“I think people want to come into their home and feel that it’s a beautiful space to be in,” Robin says. “One of our points of difference is that our products look as good as they smell. We have created something beautiful for your interior because a lot of diffusers can be a bit ugly. We also have a 1kg stainless-steel candle and it looks so gorgeous when it’s burning.”
Another major drawcard of the brand is its WA origins, with Johnny noticing that customers prefer to purchase Australian-made products.
“The fact that everything is made locally in Perth, we have been blown way with the support we have received,” he says.
While the Van Der Wielens have their sights set on international expansion — Flower Box is already popular in the US, UK and Cyprus — they are determined not to sacrifice their products’ quality in the process. “We love that they are all hand made and we want to keep that,” Johnny says.
In time for Mother’s Day on May 10, Flower Box has released two limited-edition scents in both diffuser and candle form: French rose and white roses and oud wood.
Fragrance notes from the Flower Box range
Blood plum & leather
Seeking something rich and opulent? This blend combines raw leather, blood plum, oak moss, pine needles, rosewood, vetiver, vanilla and raspberry for a scent that is rich and warm. It is ideal as we head into the colder months, and is both unexpected and complex.
Cucumber and wild basil
Fresh and zesty, this will appeal to anyone wanting to reinvigorate their home space. Cucumber, wild basil, melon, grapefruit and coriander give a mouthwatering, herbaceous allure. If you are working from home and are seeking an uplift, this combination fits the bill.
Peach and magnolia
Fruits and flowers find harmonious balance in a fragrance reminiscent of all there is to love about spring. Breathe in the aromas of juicy peach, magnolia, patchouli, bergamot and peppermint sprigs and be simultaneously calmed and uplifted.
This blog post has not been written by flowerboxhomefragrance. The purpose of this blog is merely to share the text written by Jessie Stoelwinder at The West Australian. Photography credit to Simon Santi. The "Perth-based Flower Box bringing the gift of scent to homes across the world" article is not owned by Flower Box Home Fragrance.
To view the original article published Friday 17th April 2020 12:24pm