Cynthia Steers has lived in the area for 26 years and always made candles as a hobby for her family and friends. However, about a year ago she decided to turn her love of candle making into a business of her own called Simply Cynthia. She continues to grow her selection of scents while she develops new customers and educates the public by offering candles that do not just smell good but also do not contain certain harmful chemicals.
What led you to the creation of Simply Cynthia?
What led me to do this is that a lot of people don’t realize that a lot of candles you buy from the store have all sorts of chemicals and bad things for you in them. It’s something that the average shopper just does not realize.
I wanted to help educate people and offer up a healthy alternative with nothing that can disrupt your endocrine system. My scents are very pure, and I use natural soy in my candles.
I turned it into a actual business about a year ago after making candles for a long time for friends and family, and have been selling at the Palm Valley Market since September.
One of my sons actually came up with the design of my logo while he was in college.
How long does it take typically to make a candle?
All of my candles are blends, which makes me unique because you won’t be able to get this exact blend anywhere else.
Once I get an idea for a blend, I start with blotter strips, which are cardboard or poster board strips, and then take the fragrance oils and put them on the strips and in a baggie for 24 hours.
I’ll come back and see how the smell is and if I like the mix then I’ll pour a candle with that mix.
A soy wax candle takes 10 to 14 days to fully cure after you’ve poured it.
You can burn them before that, but to get the wax and the fragrance oil fully blended makes a difference, so I would definitely recommend waiting it out.
Are you always trying to think of new scents to add?
I am always thinking of new ones and new names.
Some of the names are based on Bible verses, such as “With God, all things are possible,” and it also has a Bible verse on the side of it.
I have a lot of scents that are pretty seasonal, as I have a lot of citrus and florals right now for the summer.
To my surprise, pine is a scent that sells well all year long, so that’s a popular one. I discovered that after putting it away in January and then people were still asking for it.
Even with that, every week is different when it comes to what scents people will like that week.
I can’t just say that one is my No. 1 seller because every week is truly different. You just never know which direction people’s noses will take them.
What are some of your more interesting scents?
Vanilla and tobacco is one that is very interesting but one that people like the smell of.
A friend of mine actually mentioned one day that she had once bought a vanilla and tobacco candle and asked if I thought I could do something like that, and I wanted to give it a try.
You’d be surprised which combinations work well together to make an amazing scent.
Not just developing scents, but actually building upon them and making them better is what it’s all about.
I also have wax molds for people that are looking for that.
What has the feedback been like since starting Simply Cynthia?
I’ve started to develop many regular customers, which is always such a great feeling.
I enjoy the feedback because people will ask me what my favorite is and it’s so hard to choose, because they are all my babies and it’s impossible to choose just one.
I think people want to support local and small businesses and the Palm Valley Market is the perfect place to make sure you find that.
I would really like to give a shout out to Lisa Struble and Dr. Leslie Taylor for encouraging me to be part of the Palm Valley Market. It really helped to jump start my business.
