Maison Monravel Debuts With Scented Candles Targeting Wellness

Maison Monravel’s Citrus Maxima candle fragrance is designed to energise and clear the mind

Maison Monravel

New French fragrance house Maison Monravel has debuted with a collection of scented candles based around the healing power of plants and designed as a conduit for wellness.

The independent family company founded by business and life partners Constance and Marguerite de Montravel draws inspiration from Constance’s ancestor Louis de Montravel, a 19th century botanist and pharmacist who devoted his life to the study of rare and medicinal plants.

Olfactory remedies for wellness

Maison Monravel’s six olfactory remedies include Citrus Maxima with its top notes of mandora, orange blossom, neroli and blood orange to energise and clear the mind; Jardin d’Embruns, a regenerative blend of algae, peppermint, sage and lavender inspired by Brittany’s Emerald Coast where Marguerite grew up and Sancta Myrrha based around myrrh, frankincense and cypress to relax the nervous system and facilitate introspection.

They are available online at maisonmonravel.com and exclusively in store during a four month pop-up at Paris’ Le Bon Marché department store.

Poured in France’s Grasse region, the candles’ paraffin free wax is created from rapeseed flowers and their refillable blue black glass vessels are crafted by artisans in Tuscany.

The offering is completed by organic scent diffusers in Lutetian limestone from La Roche-Guyon which lies in the Paris Basin. The founders describe how its natural porosity means it conserves odour “like a sponge.” The stone fragments come in a set with a liquid vial with which to recharge them.

Having selected ingredients for their virtues the duo worked with perfumer and aromacologist Katell Plisson to create the olfactive universe beyond.

The science of wellness

“All the other senses pass by the thalamus which sorts them and decides if they are interesting or not but when it comes to sense of smell, all the molecules that we breathe go directly to the lambic system,” explains Marguerite. The lambic system being the region of the brain associated with memory and emotion.

“That’s why odour can totally change out interior state,” adds Constance. “It’s this aspect that we wanted to put to use in the service of wellbeing with Maison Monravel.”

Yasmin Sewell’s Vyrao debuted skin perfumes targeting the emotions in 2021 and last year Charlotte Tilbury launched a line of six fragrances designed to engender emotions from energy to joy. However, while Vyrao has since built out its offering adding some candles into the mix, the perfumes remain its core business.

While perfume is also on the cards for the future at Maison Monravel, its founders elected to launch via interiors fragrances says Constance because candles are already so closely linked to the ritual of wellbeing.

“It’s the ceremonial aspect. We light them for ourselves but also for others to create a cocoon that accompanies us throughout the day. Skin perfume is more personal.”

The global wellness industry

Marketing the candles as a conduit for wellness is a smart move.

While The Business Research Company predicts that the home fragrance market will be worth $12.96 Billion by 2029, according to the Global Wellness Institute, the global wellness industry is set to hit $9 Trillion by 2028. Even the more conservative estimate of $2 Trillion cited by McKinsey analysts is not to be sniffed at.