Welcome to Deathshead Candle Co. ~ Where every scent tells a story
My name is Kat Carbonaro, and I’m the founder and creator of Deathshead Candle Co. This venture is a labor of love born from my lifelong fascination with candles — and fire, for that matter. There’s something incredibly comforting about a flickering flame. It’s hypnotic, almost as though it has the power to transport you to another time and place. Candles have long been a cornerstone of rituals and traditions across cultures, symbolizing light, transformation, and intention. Personally, I’ve used candle magic in my own practices, finding that the ceremony of lighting a candle creates a space for deeper focus and intention.
But not all candles are created equal. I discovered this the hard way when I realized that certain synthetic fragrances gave me headaches. This revelation led me down a path of researching natural fragrances and essential oils. Through trial and error, I found that only natural ingredients allowed me to fully enjoy candles without discomfort. What I uncovered about the therapeutic benefits of essential oils was transformative: scent can profoundly impact our physical well-being and emotions. It can relieve stress, evoke happiness, and even transport us to cherished memories.
Consider meditation practices that invite you to visualize a serene forest or a tranquil beach. With your mind’s eye, you can hear the wind in the trees, feel the waves on the shore, and even smell the moss or salt in the air. If your imagination can envoke a scent from a memory, surely a scent can envoke a memory. This power of scent to awaken memory and emotion became the foundation of Deathshead Candle Co.
Deathshead Candle Co. is an amalgamation of these ideas — a Frankenstein’s Monster, if you will. As I worked to create a natural collection of candles for my personal practices and meditations, my mind wandered to the idea of scent memory. Specific scents have the power to unlock moments and places long tucked away in the corners of our minds. Some of our favorite memories aren’t even entirely our own; they come from the stories we’ve lived and those we’ve borrowed. For me, many of these memories are rooted in the movies I grew up with: the scary ones we watched at sleepovers through the cracks between our fingers while huddled in our sleeping bags; and the horror films shared with first loves, where fear mingled with the thrill of young romance- our hearts racing from hormones and the horrors on screen.
At Deathshead Candle Co., I’ve captured these moments in scent. Each candle is inspired by the films that shaped our imaginations and kindled our love for all things spooky. Picture a Halloween night, cloaked in the aroma of pumpkin spice, fallen leaves, and the faint wisp of smoke from a fire lit in desperation to stop evil in its tracks. These candles are more than fragrances — they’re portals to the moments when you first fell in love with your favorite horror films.
I invite you to experience the scent magic of Deathshead Candle Co. Let these candles transport you back to the stories, emotions, and memories that defined your love for the eerie and the extraordinary. Welcome the flickering flames of nostalgia, where every scent tells a story.
~🖤~
[Photography Credit: Christopher Carbonaro]