Vu Vo-Dinh, the creator behind Candle Cup, talks about his newest hobby-turn-business and how each scent tells a personal story
What inspired you to start a Candle Cup?
Growing up in the countryside in Vietnam, every household would have candles ready to burn whenever there was a power outage, which was quite often back then, so this memory made me especially interested in candles. Over the year, I started to collect scented candles, not only for lighting purposes but also to add fragrances to my living space. However, it was hard to find good quality scented candles in Vietnam that met my requirements so I decided to make my own that smell great, safe and affordable for daily use. Most commercial scented candles are toxic because they are made from paraffin wax—a petroleum based product—and cheap fragrance. Also, imported high quality scented candles are expensive for daily use for most Vietnamese people.
Another reason I was making candles was to release stress. I was giving the extra candles to family and friends on special occasions and they liked them and asked me to make more for them to buy and that was how I started my business.
How did you learn to make candles?
I have a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and nanotechnology from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Science. After graduating, I worked for an international company that provided solutions for a manufacturing company. During this time, I learned a lot about materials and the manufacturing processes when I worked on a new product or was doing quality control checks. On one of these projects helped me find the key ingredient for my candles—palm wax, an extract from palm trees. Palm trees were grown from non-GMO seeds therefore the lack of pesticide and fertilizer makes it a great choice for making non-toxic candles.
The technical requirements of candle making I learned from the National Candle Association. I did tons of experiments to find out the right ingredients and formula to make great candles that are safe, aromatic and long lasting.
You do everything yourself, from production to marketing, tell us how long does it take to make a batch from start to finish?
I make candle in batches, from 50-100 pieces for each scent. The production includes preparing wicks, attaching them into the glasses, melting the wax into bowls, mixing the fragrance with the melted wax, pouring the mixture into glasses, waiting for the wax to cool down and solidify. After that, put each into individual boxes, and then labelling. Depending on quantity, a batch can take me six to 12 hours.
For sourcing raw material, it takes me about 30-45 days to order and wait for the package to arrive at my place since most of the ingredients need to be imported from the US.
Tell us about the six different Candle Cup scents.
Most of the scents are personal to me.
The most important first scent is Citronella. It’s made from 100 percent citronella essential oil, which helps to keep mosquitos away because they’re very attracted to me during the rainy season. The citronella smell is effective as an insect repellent and as a deodorant for those who cook in small spaces, which is also me.
The Bamboo scent reminds me of my grandmother’s garden, of the happy memories when I was a kid.
I like to spend time in the lab, or cooking or making candles, and sometimes I like to merge these things together. I liked the dish ngheu hap sa (clams steams with lemongrass) and its smell and came up with the idea of incorporating its spice into my candle. The result is Gingergrass, an experimental combination of ginger and lemongrass. It smells tasty, too.
When I was a kid, sometimes I would wake up in the morning by the aroma of my mom frying green tea with jasmine flower and peppermint leaves she had just harvested. So I created Jasmint as a gift to my mother.
Teakwood is my signature smell. It’s a scent I made to express my character: Energy from bergamot, some spice from black peppers and ginger but warm and rustic from ginger and sandalwood. It smells masculine, of course.
Saigon is always hot; I really missed the winters I spent in Switzerland when it was so cold and snowy. White Birch tries to capture the feeling of a cold breeze blowing through the window and a bit of sweetness that fills the loneliness of an expat life.
Candle Cup candles start at VND120,000. For more info or to place an order, visit www.facebook.com/candlecup
