#BBKS with Mad O Candles
“I love making candles because it’s my therapeutic moment. When I’m making it - I pour it into the cup, and the whole house smells nice. That’s the part I love most about making candles. It makes me feel relaxed, like if there’s a problem, it will just go away.”
For Ahmad, a candle is much more than just a fragrant piece of decor - it is his therapeutic tool, a hobby-turned-business. From a collector of candles, Ahmad shifted his focus from collecting candles to making his own, and is now the owner of Mad O Candles, a home-based business (HBB) that was started about two years ago.
“I have a variety of candles in my collection; it’s like walking into a candle shop that has a lot of different scents. There’s candles, and now I’m making macaron melts, wax melts and I’ve just started on room spray as well.
I have scents ranging from fruity, to floral, to musky and some ‘desserts’ scents. My bestsellers are Raspberry Vanilla - which is sweet, Peppermint Crisp which is coming soon - it’s super refreshing, and some ‘dessert’ candles like Fruit Loops, Captain Crunch. Now I also have room sprays with ‘hotel scents’ and perfumes, which will be coming up soon.”
A unique and new addition to Mad O Candles products are their wax melts. Ahmad shared with us that the wax melts burn stronger than candles and have a stronger scent. It’s stress-free as you won’t have to worry about the fire and is safe to use - though you might get your hands a little dirty as you push the wax out.
Then there’s also the unique macaron melts. Don’t be fooled! It might look just like a macaron and smell divinely, but these are candles, not food.
When we asked Ahmad what his favourite scents are, this was what he had to say:
“My personal favourite in my collection is Raspberry Vanilla. It’s a top seller too. It’s refreshing and sweet and a good candle scent to help you unwind after a long day. Also, Eucalyptus Mint. It helps you to breathe easy and relax. And my new scent which is coming soon - Peppermint Crisp. It’s so refreshing, and it’s totally relaxing. I have Coconut Lemongrass which gives you the feeling of being in a spa, but on the other hand some of my customers have said that it reminds that of the dish ‘lemak cili padi’.”
“Normally when I make candles, I get my friends to test it for me. There was this incident where I burnt this new scent at work, Salted Caramel, and I left it. And then after about half an hour, my friend came to me and in a kind of angry mood, asked me to blow out my candle. I asked why and he said “it was making me hungry!”.
If you have trouble choosing the right scent for yourself or as a gift, you can try out Ahmad’s favourite scents for a start!
But if you already have a particular scent that you’re looking for, fret not! While picking a scent can be quite hard when you have not smelled the candles upfront, Ahmad shared how some customers have personally asked him what each candle smells like, such as musky, refreshing, and calming.
“If you have a certain scent that you like, like a musky scent mixed with a fruity scent, I can mix it up. But it will all be in the testing phase first - I won’t start selling it until I think it is good. I can do custom orders for weddings, for door gifts, you can just DM me @madocandles and we can discuss from there!
“You can also DM me for orders and I’ll give you the whole list of every candle scent and room spray that I have in stock - including macarons and wax melts. It’s going to be quite a long list of choices for you to choose from! If you have a scent in mind, I can shorten my list from maybe 70 to 20 scents, so you can pick your scents from there. I can also assist in explaining each individual candle and scent to you.”
So for all you candle lovers out there, or those who just want a nice change of fragrance, we recommend checking out @madocandles on IG!
At the same time, do check out Mad O Candles on our latest Barang Baik Kena Share episode here!