How do you bottle a feeling? How do you capture the exact moment when the fog lifts over the harbor and everything is possibility? How do you hold onto a sunset after it's gone?
These are the questions I've been sitting with for three years. And I think—I hope—I've finally found an answer.
It's wax. The answer is wax. But also, it's so much more than that.
The Birth of Essence of Elsewhere
It started, as most important things do, with a loss. In 2021, I couldn't get to the island. Travel was complicated, the house was being renovated, and I found myself stuck in Brooklyn for an entire summer, feeling profoundly unmoored.
I tried everything. Sound baths. Float tanks. That place in Williamsburg where you sit in a room with a salt floor. Nothing helped. I was homesick for a place that wasn't technically my home but was, in every way that mattered, where my soul lived.
Then one evening, I lit a candle—some mass-produced thing from a store I won't name—and I thought: what if? What if the right scent could transport me? What if fragrance could be a portal?
That night, I began formulating. Three years later, Essence of Elsewhere was born.
The Collection
Each candle in the Essence of Elsewhere collection is hand-poured using 100% soy wax sourced from a woman-owned cooperative in Ohio. The vessels are made from recycled Portuguese glass. The wicks are organic cotton. The scents are... well, they're everything.
FOG MEMORY — $68
The collection's signature scent. Notes of sea salt, damp wool, distant woodsmoke, and something I can only describe as "grey." When I burn this in December, I'm immediately transported to those mornings in Sconset when you can't see three feet ahead of you and somehow that feels like freedom.
HARBOR INTENTION — $72
Inspired by early mornings at the yacht club. Notes of weathered teak, brass polish, canvas sails, and the particular quality of light that exists only between 6 and 7 AM in July. My father says it smells "like the boat after a regatta." I say it smells like legacy.
MADAKET GOLD — $68
The sunset collection. Notes of warm sand, wild rosa rugosa, fading sunlight (yes, light has a scent—fight me, Harold), and the wistfulness of summer's end. I recommend burning this during the golden hour, wherever you are. Close your eyes, and you're there.
DUNE COMMUNION — $75
My most complex creation. Notes of beach grass, salt-weathered cedar, sunscreen (the good European kind, not the American chemical stuff), and the ineffable feeling of being small against the landscape. This one took eleven months to formulate because "humble wonder" is surprisingly difficult to capture in fragrance form.
COBBLESTONE REVERIE — $68
A downtown scent. Notes of antique books, hydrangeas, old money, warm brick, and a whisper of whatever they're baking at the Juice Bar. Urban, but island urban. Historic, but alive.
OFF-SEASON SOLITUDE — $78
For the true believers. Notes of cold rain on windows, empty beaches, wool blankets, red wine by a fire, and the peace of being somewhere beautiful when no one else is there to ruin it. This is my personal favorite. I burn it in the city when I miss the quiet.
The Process
Every scent in the collection was developed on-island. I spent weeks at each location—yes, weeks—journaling about what I was experiencing, what memories arose, what colors I saw when I closed my eyes. Then I worked with a master perfumer in Grasse (the French fragrance capital; I flew there twice) to translate those notes into actual scent profiles.
It's an investment, obviously. But you can't put a price on authenticity. Well, you can—it's $68 to $78—but you understand what I mean.
How to Experience the Collection
I don't just want people to buy these candles. I want them to experience them intentionally.
Each candle comes with a "Ritual Card" explaining how to create a mindful burning practice. For example, with FOG MEMORY, I suggest lighting the candle at dusk, closing your eyes, and asking yourself: "What am I not seeing clearly in my life right now? What needs to lift?"
It's a candle, yes. But it's also a tool for self-inquiry. A $68 tool for self-inquiry that smells incredible and looks beautiful on your mantle.
Where to Purchase
Essence of Elsewhere candles are available at select island retailers and online at essenceofelsewhere.com. For the holiday season, I'm offering a "Complete Journey" gift set featuring all six scents in travel-size format ($285, a $78 savings).
I'm also doing a pop-up at the Christmas Stroll this year. Come find me. I'll be the one who looks like she's about to cry—because I always look like that when I'm deeply moved, and this island deeply moves me.
A Final Thought
Someone asked me recently if it was strange to spend three years developing scented candles. "Isn't it just... a candle?" they said.
I paused. I took a breath. I held space for their confusion.
Then I said: "Nothing is just anything. A beach is not just sand. A sunset is not just light. And a candle is not just wax. Everything is a doorway, if you're willing to walk through it."
They bought four candles. The doorway opened.
Light the flame. Find your elsewhere.
Questions About the Collection?
Interested in wholesale partnerships? Custom scent development for your event or property? Want to host a private candle ceremony? Sloane welcomes all inquiries.
Write to sloane@ackguide.com