Made in Ukraine: Dolna Sofiya Candle Collection

One of the first articles I had written for which I won an award for Editorial Excellence was titled Scents of Kyiv, a walk through my native city and a story of its scents. Returning to Ukraine, I keep cataloging aromas that I encounter during my travels–coffee and cigarettes in Lviv, poppyseed rolls and lindens in Poltava, expensive perfume and car exhaust in Kharkiv. So it was with much delight that I discovered a candle collection by Sofiya Dolna, an independent perfumer based in Ternopil, western Ukraine. Sofiya’s candle collection paints the olfactory portraits of three different Ukrainian regions–the south (Acacia Odesa), the east (Rosa Donbas), and the west (Cedr Gorgany). The scents are evocative. The presentation is gorgeous. The candles make a fantastic holiday gift. And yes, Sofiya ships her products all over the world–one of the best things about Ukraine is its amazing array of postal services.

The candle collection was developed a year ago in collaboration with two other artists, with each contributing their own interpretation of their native place.

“ACACIA ODESA tells the story of Darina, the co-founder of the collection. It captures the delicate beauty of white acacias lining the embankments of her city, evoking the fresh sea air, the scent of musk, and the distant whisper of the green steppe.” I would note that it’s the lightest scent of the collection, fresh and bright. The candle smells citrusy and crisp, even unburned.

“ROSA DONBAS shares the tale of Andrii, a perfumer, exploring the duality of roses and terrikons, hills formed near coal mines, in the land where he grew up.” This fragrance blends rose with a generous dose of amber and woods. I even tried wearing it as a solid perfume (best rubbed on fabric, like a scarf or handkerchief, if you want to try this route), and I enjoyed its warm notes.

“CEDR GORGANY conveys the essence of Sofiya, the co-founder and perfumer, reflecting the tranquility of the forest and the freedom of the mountains.” Gorgany is a mountain range in Western Ukraine in the Outer Eastern Carpathians. If you like your room to smell of a pine forest, this is the candle for you. It includes incense and moss, with a lingering woody trail. While it has brightness and freshness reminiscent of fresh cedar shavings, it reveals its resinous, dark facets as time goes by.

The candles are made of natural soy wax, featuring cotton wicks. They burn well, without soot or smoking, but be sure to trim the wick regularly and don’t burn for more than 2h at a time, a rule that applies to any natural soy wax candles. (If you allow the candle to burn longer and for the whole wax block to melt, it affects the fragrance even after the candle solidifies again.) Each candle is 170 ml and provides around 42 hours of burning time.

The candles are packaged in hand-carved oak candle holders, embellished with Ukrainian embroidery patterns. Even the paper box, red and white, embossed with the motif of a rushnyk, is too beautiful to be discarded.

The cost of the candle is 1200 UAH/$30.
The cost of a collection of three candles is 3000 UAH/$72. Sofiya ships her candles worldwide and she can be contacted via her Instagram page.