When Deshawn Marie first came to Hudson County from Seattle three years ago, she wanted to become a hairdresser. But now, Marie goes through about 600 pounds of wax a week as a candle maker in Union City.
"This was just a hobby," said Marie, who first learned to make candles from a candle-making kit she bought to make Christmas gifts for her family. "Then I couldn’t stop. My friends kept asking me to make candles in different colors, different shapes and different sizes."
Today, Marie, who owns a studio and showroom in Union City, is selling her candles in 30 stores spread across nine states.
Marie’s Union City studio, located at 1616 Manhattan Ave., also has a showroom for retail sales.
Burning Butterfly
Burning Butterfly, Marie’s business’s name, made its first sale on Marie’s first visit to Hoboken. Marie, who was then cutting hair at Vidal Sassoon in New York, became interested in the candleholders she found at Art on Sixth, a retail store in Hoboken.
"I really liked the candle holders they had in the store," said Marie, who immediately asked if she could make candles for the holders in the store. "I brought the candles in and basically, they placed an order."
After her first sale, Marie quit her job at Vidal Sassoon, worked one day a week at Art on Sixth, and started her business.
Through mutual friends and a lot of street hustling, Marie eventually began selling her candles in many stores in New York and New Jersey.
"I used to sell my candles on the streets in New York and Hoboken," said Marie, who made her first couple of orders in her kitchen.
Now, Burning Butterfly candles can be found in shops in California, Texas, Montana, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Georgia, New York and New Jersey, as well as on the Internet and through catalogue sales.
In house
Burning Butterfly carries many lines of candles as well as aromatherapy and bath products. Along with the traditional Aromatherapy candles, Marie has created some original lines of her own.
Marie, who describes herself as more of an outdoors person, carries flower power and river stone candle lines.
The flower-power line uses real flowers, chamomile and chamomile oil in the candles. They come in either rose, lilac, violet or lavender. The river stone collection is lined with real river stones around the top.
"I am much more of an outdoors person," said Marie, who wanted to come up with ideas that allowed her to work with nature. "I miss that. I think working with flowers and rocks makes me feel better."
The stained glass line features pieces of glass that glow when you light the candle.
"What people don’t realize is that in order to get these candles to work, you have to come up with the right wick length and wax configuration to work with the glass," said Marie. "It takes a lot of experimenting. A lot of trial and error."
Burning Butterfly also carries a one-of-a kind or recycled wax line. These are candles made of the bits of wax left over from other candles, and therefore never come out the same way twice.
All of Burning Butterflies candles are made, packaged and labeled in the Union City studio on Manhattan Avenue.
To take a look at the Burning Butterfly candle collection, visit the showroom at 1616 Manhattan Ave. or visit the website at www.burningbutterfly.com.