Still Burning: One Year of The Wick List
When I launched The Wick List a year ago, I thought I was creating a monthly candle subscription. Looking back, I realize I was building another way to share the discoveries I couldn’t stop thinking about.
Every month begins with one fragrance I’ve spent time living with before deciding it deserves a place in your home. Wick List members receive that candle, along with the story that brought it there: the place, person, memory or discovery that made me want to share it with you.
If you’ve visited one of our shops, you know that the story behind an object is often as important to me as the object itself. Little cards tucked beside things share where they came from, who made them, or what first drew me to them. More often than not, we end up telling the rest in person.
Over the past year, a candle has taken us to an old farmhouse outside Round Top, where time seemed to slow. To a tucked-away London townhouse where a roaring fire and endless cups of tea introduced me to a fragrance I couldn’t forget. And sometimes, the story has come straight through our own front door, in the form of the people behind the fragrance themselves.
As The Wick List turns one, I’m revisiting a few stories that have stayed with me long after their flames went out. I hope you enjoy returning to these moments with me—and getting a little glimpse of where The Wick List has taken us so far.
An unexpected London trip led to a private visit inside Beata Heuman’s townhouse, where a roaring fire, endless tea and one unforgettable fragrance awaited us after a sleepless overnight flight.
MARCH 2026 | Beata Heuman x VERDEN
Bergamot · Warm Woods · Citrus
Sometimes the best trips are the ones you never plan. Earlier this year, a casual mention of a work meeting turned into an unexpected London getaway with a few girlfriends. We spent three days eating, shopping and laughing beneath wintry gray skies.
A highlight was a private tour of interior designer Beata Heuman’s showroom, housed in an 1820s home that once served as a country retreat and later a gentleman’s club. Straight off our red-eye, we were greeted by a roaring fire, a pot of tea (and biscuits, of course), and rooms layered with thoughtful, collected details at every turn. The house felt intimate and alive, considered yet never precious.
Equally memorable was the subtle scent that filled the space: Beata’s collaboration with natural fragrance specialist VERDEN, an apothecary line that’s quickly become a favorite at CB. A slow-burning candle, it radiates warmth through bright citrus and bergamot, softened by woodland notes that feel at once restrained and sun-warmed.
THE FARM THAT CHANGED TIME
Long before Round Top became home to our second shop, there was Fragilee, an old farmhouse where evenings lingered on the porch, late-night dance parties were a given and time seemed to slow.
APRIL 2026 | Wilkin & May Laurel
Floral · Petrichor · Oakmoss
There’s a stretch of road I know well: the country drive to Round Top, where my second store sits. Long before that, the same highway led me to Fragilee, an 1860s farmhouse owned by dear friends who had purchased it from horticulturist and author Dr. William Welch. He planted the property with deliberate care—wildflowers, fruit trees, antique roses—ensuring something was always in bloom.
Time moved differently there. Days unfolded slowly. Evenings passed watching the sun sink from the porch; nights stretched into dance parties around the fireplace. No television or distractions, just the rhythm of the land and the people in it.
This candle captures that sense of place. Bright gardenia and juniper mingle with herbal notes of sage and rosewater, while the grounding pull of fresh soil and petrichor lies beneath. Tucked inside is a wick snuffer inspired by 19th-century tweezers—two little legs, stockings and all, ready to kick up their heels at spring’s arrival.
CLOSER TO HOME
When a father-and-son fragrance house walked through our doors, it led to a conversation about craft, patience and the discovery of something remarkable being made right here in Houston.
AUGUST 2026 | Atelier Candela Geranium Chamomile
Botanical · Clove Leaf · Amber
One of the greatest joys of owning a shop is the people it brings through the door. Most collections arrive with little more than samples and catalogs, leaving me to discover their stories from afar. Every so often, though, I have the privilege of meeting the people behind the work, and those conversations deepen my appreciation for what they’ve created. In turn, I get to share that with you.
That happened this summer when father-and-son duo Bernhard and Sven Winkler came into our Houston shop to introduce me to Atelier Candela.
Rarer still is the opportunity to meet a master perfumer. As we talked, Bernhard shared how he patiently refines an idea, sometimes over years, until a scent captures exactly what he hopes to evoke. It was a glimpse into a process we so rarely get to see—the time, restraint and thought behind something that can seem as simple as lighting a candle.
Perhaps what delighted me most was discovering that Atelier Candela is based right here in Houston. In a world where so many luxury fragrance houses are found halfway across the globe, it felt especially meaningful to find this level of craftsmanship being created so close to home—and to support another local business.
And then there are the stories waiting to be told.
As I plan this fall’s collection, I’m finding myself looking in both directions: toward the new things I can’t wait to bring through our doors, and back at things I’ve known before with a different eye (and nose). Old favorites are feeling new again, and things I once passed over are suddenly catching my attention. A good reminder that discovery isn’t always about finding something new.
That feels especially fitting as The Wick List begins its second year.
September starts with one of those rediscoveries: a fragrance house returning to CB after many years away, and a candle that somehow struck me differently this time around. From there, who knows. That’s part of the fun.
One year in, there are still so many places I want The Wick List to take us. I hope you’ll come along.