Homesick Candles
Capturing a place in an everyday object
Written by Sydnie Albert, Lifestyle Editorial Assistant
Smells hold a kind of nostalgia that brings us back to times long-forgotten, or places for which we long. The place you grew up, a traditional family vacation spot, the city you study abroad, these all hold special places in your heart, a place you long to return to.
The company, Homesick makes candles that aim to recreate the smells of states, countries, cities, holidays, and special moments in life, for us to remember and not feel so… homesick. It provides people who are far from their families to be close to them again. To be able to take these places and memories with us as we move throughout our lives is a gift. It is an all-natural candle-brand that is made in the United States to make people feel more at home in new places.
When I came across this brand, I was very curious to see how they can create a candle based on a place, and if these candles smell like they claim too. I was born and raised in Wisconsin, so what better way to test this theory then to see if Wisconsin can be put into a smell.
When you first think of Wisconsin, pine trees and farms immediately come to mind. So, I originally thought that this candle would have an earthy and musk type of scent. Something that transports you to the middle of a forest, up in northern Wisconsin or maybe even a dairy farm. But that is not the case at all.
Homesick describes this candle as a cinnamon Kringle, and I couldn’t agree more with the choice of scent. Combined with butter, cream, maple, cranberry, cinnamon, and peppermint, it smells like fresh-baked treats when you open the box. It immediately transported me back to the time when my mom and I would bake German Spritz cookies together for the holidays. It is a reference to Wisconsin’s German heritage and takes us back to happy Christmas memories.
While this candle does not smell like the state itself, it instead triggers our senses by smell and transports us back to memories that we hold dear. It provides a sense of peace and familiarity that can help alleviate our homesickness and our longing to go back. But there are times in our lives that we wish wouldn’t have ended or memories we never want to forget; these candles can take us back to these memories and may even help create new memories to associate with those smells.