I Put It All “On My Heart”
There’s something special about creating something with your own hands and realizing somewhere along the way that the experience became about more than what you were making. I recently spent an afternoon in Inglewood at Fragrance of Elegance, a Black-owned, family-owned fragrance studio, after Tangie and Brian invited me in to experience one of their candle-making classes.
I thought I was going to make something that smelled good. Instead, I ended up putting a little more of myself into that candle than I expected.
More Than Making a Candle
Fragrance of Elegance sits right in the heart of Inglewood on Crenshaw Boulevard. Tangie is Chicago-born, Compton-raised, and Inglewood-grown, and during our time together she shared more about her journey with fragrance and the years she’s spent creating and mixing oils.
You can feel that experience when you’re there. There are scents everywhere, candles and oils throughout the space, and so many different directions you can take once you start creating.
And if you know me, you already know what happened next.
My creative juices started bubbling.
Putting an Intention Into It
Before I started mixing fragrances and figuring out what my candle would become, Tangie had me do something I wasn’t expecting.
She asked me to set an intention with the wax.
The idea was to take whatever negative energy I had been carrying, put it into the wax, and allow the process of creating the candle to become a moment of release.
That shifted the entire experience for me.
It wasn’t just about making something cute anymore. There was suddenly meaning attached to what I was creating, and I think that’s what I appreciated most about the experience.
Creating “On My Heart”
Once it was time to start creating, honey, I was in my element.
I started blending fragrances, including lavender, black rose, and nag champa, until I landed on something that smelled like me. And naturally, the candle had to be pink.
The funny part was that while I was making it, people started walking into the store asking what smelled so good.
That’s when I knew.
TLW APPROVED.
By the time I finished, I knew exactly what I wanted to call it: On My Heart. 🫀
A candle created from what I was feeling, what I wanted to release, and something beautiful I could actually take home with me.
An Experience You Can Make Your Own
What I also loved about Fragrance of Elegance is that you don’t need a special occasion to experience it.
This could easily be a date, a day with your friends, something to do with your mom, a birthday experience, or simply an afternoon by yourself. Their studio offers different candle-making and self-care experiences, and you can also stop in and shop their pre-made candles, fragrance oils, and other products.
And as somebody who has learned not to wait around for everybody else’s schedule to line up before doing something I want to do, I love an experience that works just as well solo.
Although I already know how I’m coming back.
On a date.
Something I Didn’t Know I Needed
I went into Fragrance of Elegance expecting a fun afternoon making a candle, but I left appreciating how intentional the entire experience felt.
There was something about slowing down, smelling different fragrances, creating something completely from scratch, and putting an intention behind it that made the afternoon feel different.
And being able to experience that while supporting a Black-owned family business right in Inglewood made it even more special.
Sometimes self-care doesn’t have to be complicated.
Sometimes you just need to make something, release something, and leave smelling damn good while you do it.
Until Next Time
I came to make a candle.
I left with something that was quite literally On My Heart; real bad.
And I think I’ll keep this one around for a while.
Until next time.
🫀
Fragrance of Elegance 📍 Location
10925 S Crenshaw Blvd, Suite 106
Inglewood, CA 90303
