About

About Kate, creator of Marak candles:

I grew up in Dallas and moved to New York after attending the University of Texas at Austin. I've worked in fashion and lifestyle for over 12 years, specializing in celebrity relations and digital strategy for brands such as Calvin Klein, Coach and Michael Kors. I started to make candles in my kitchen as an idea for an elevated but homemade and personal gift. From there, I went to fragrance school in Grasse to study natural fragrances. And now, I work with the same manufacturer who has produced candles for Calvin Klein as well as the fragrance consultant behind their renowned fragrances.

 

About Marak:

The original inspiration for Marak candles came out of an assignment while I was at the Grasse Institute of Perfumery studying natural fragrances to compose five of our own original scents. Feeling like so many starting points for fragrances had already been done, I drew inspiration from my love of gifting and celebrating others.

The middle of five, I approached the project as if I was making a candle to give to each of my siblings, plus one for me. Upon returning from Grasse, I worked with the best of the best in New York City - Ann Gottlieb, my mentor in fragrance - to compose the scents. We have worked on these scents for over five years, and the candles that came to life through the process were so beautifully modern; unique in fragrance; and different from others out there that they grew into this line.

They are perfume-grade fragrances that smell wonderful in cold throw and burn beautifully in hot throw. They fully fill the room but aren’t heavy. And they are thoughtfully priced so that they can be burned everyday.

Marak is an acronym for the five siblings of my family: Molly, Andrew, Ryan, Annie, and me, Kate. The beetle represents renewal and regeneration. I love the idea of fragrance bringing something new to our customers’ homes, since scent is so often associated with nostalgia and the past. I hope you enjoy the experience of these candles as much as we have enjoyed the process of making them.