Aroma Candle Studio Heightens Senses On Main Street In Bel Air

BEL AIR, MD — There’s a new type of business on Main Street in Bel Air. It requires following your nose.

Aroma Candle Studio opened before Thanksgiving on South Main Street next to Sean Bolan’s.

Owners Wendy and Marc Mills have been married for 32 years and always wanted to start their own business but made lots of what they called “corporate moves” for his job. They lived in Iowa, Chicago and Texas, among other places, and now call Abingdon home.

While visiting family last January in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Wendy Mills said her sister wanted to go to a make-your-own-candle studio.

"I left there and said, ‘We can do this,'" Wendy Mills recalled.

An Ohio-based company called The Candle Lab helped get the Michigan store off the ground, and it also provided a template for the Bel Air shop.

"It’s not a franchise," Wendy Mills said. "We're independently owned and operated, but we’ve paid them for their secrets basically."

The Candle Lab sells wax to its partner stores and teaches them how to make candles using its proprietary blend of scents.

"We're store number 30 for them," Wendy Mills said. "Most of the stores are similar to this — they have some sort of bar, they have some sort of scent wall, [and] they all have a wax melter. You basically build your own business, but it’s a framework. It’s not a franchise, so they don't have to be identical."

Marc Mills built the candle-making bar inside the store in Bel Air, and the couple incorporated the shelving from previous tenant Julie Ellyn Designs.

After the Mills met with their advisers from The Candle Lab, the company suggested they open before the holidays.

"That was the end of September, and we didn't even have a lease," she said. The couple signed their lease Oct. 14 and had opened within five weeks.

"You can't beat Harford County for help," Wendy Mills said. The town of Bel Air, Harford County's economic development office, local banks and agents reached out to assist them.

By Small Business Saturday, Aroma Candle Studio was up and running.

The Mills encourage people to follow their nose to create their own scents. Custom blends can be used as party favors or to brand a business, the couple said.

Rows of scents beckon, with names from Leather to Wasabi.

“You smell your way down the wall,” Wendy Mills said.

Visitors are given a clipboard and can write down scents that stand out to them.

"You don’t have to think about, oh, that one’s not going to mix," Wendy Mills said. A scent consultant goes over the selections with the customer, who can create a candle or other product a few of the fragrances. Staff will pour the candle, while the creator blends the scents together.

Aroma Candle Studio sells reed diffusers, fragrance oils, wax melts, aromatic/body mists and spa salts. There are also pre-made candles and sprays that people can buy.

Aroma Candle Studio is at 18 S. Main St., Bel Air, MD 21014. Hours are 11 a.m.–7 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday; 11 a.m.–8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 1:30–5 p.m. Sunday.

All photos are by Elizabeth Janney.