July/August 2006
LA
RESIDENTS LOVE
a good scandal, so it’s no surprise that when Ari Solomon, 29, and his
sister Heather Brancaccio, 28, launched A Scent of Scandal, a line of
hand-poured 100-percent soy-wax candles encased in individual tins labeled
with naughty names and cleverly corresponding scandalous scents, they began
soaring off the shelves.
“My sister and
I had this crazy idea for a candle line,” says Solomon, “and instead of
letting it go in one ear and out the other, I decided to actually sit down and
teach myself how to make candles.” Soon, the initial line of “scandals”
was born. Favorites include banana-scented Eight Inches, the apple-licious
Teacher’s Pet, and the popular, brown sugar-fragranced Sugar Daddy.
A
fan of LA’s fair weather, Solomon appreciates the view from Runyon Canyon,
and loves living in the “epicenter of pop culture and the entertainment
business,” which inspired much of his line, especially the Industry Series,
featuring the bitters-scented Writer/Masochist candle, and the green-tea
scented Assistant/Virgin candle (emphasis on the “green”).
And the company just keeps getting hotter. Now a mainstay at Robertson Boulevard’s trend-haven Kitson, they were featured on On-Air with Ryan Seacrest, selected by People magazine as an official VIP gift at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, and Whole Foods Market carries them throughout California, Arizona and Nevada. To keep things fresh, seasonal candles are frequently added to the line, like candy corn-scented Turning Tricks for Halloween and cinnamon-scented Hottie for Valentine’s Day. Currently in the works is an all-natural body lotion to accompany the line, and even T-shirts. “Watch out,” says Brancaccio: “We’re going to scandalize the world.” - CORA OLSON
