By Guest Blogger on June 1, 2009

The Heart of Scandal

It all started four years ago. I was home for the holidays with my husband. We decided to go to the mall with my sister to pick up some last minute gifts, when we ended up in a candle store. Now, I’m from a loud family in New Jersey where literally everything is discussed and a sick sense of humor prevails. My sister came across a candle called “Juicy Cherry” and nearly fainted. “Ugh, that’s nasty… imagine if the scent was juicy cherry but the candle was called something like “My Freshman Year.” We all laughed but then a light bulb went off in my head. “Heather… I think you’re onto something.” We went to lunch and during the meal we brainstormed and cracked up thinking of other scandalous name/scent associations.

When I got back to Los Angeles, instead of letting this idea go in one ear and out the other, I decided to go for it. How difficult could it be to make a candle? I also knew I wanted to put a product out there that was environmentally conscious, so I decided on 100% soy wax for the candle base. After some experimentation, I made my first candle. My husband, who is sort of a wiz with graphic design, came up with our packaging. We then decided on a name for the line, A Scent of Scandal. We were off!

Now, I knew zilch about starting a business, but I believed in what I was selling. So I packed up my samples and took to the streets. After a couple weeks of pounding pavement, I got a few boutiques to take on the line. Then the big break came when Kitson, the uber-fabulous LA store, decided to carry us. Before long, we had a celebrity clientele and were being covered in national magazines from Entertainment Weekly to People. A snowball-effect started, and then the mother lode — Whole Foods placed their first order: 1,000 candles for Valentine’s Day. The only problem was, I was still doing everything out of our house. Soon, literally every surface was covered with drying candles! Things came to a head when my husband, a former coffee addict, tried to make a pot and I denied him because the kitchen counters were off limits. Needless to say, Scandal had its own studio space by the end of the week.

We continued to rack up accounts and things were looking good for the Scandal makers. But then in the spring of 2007, a truly life-changing moment occurred. I was watching The View when Alicia Silverstone came on as a guest. She said she was a vegan. How nice for her, I thought. Then came a moment that brought everything to a halt. Rosie asked Alicia why… why was she vegan? “Well,” Alicia began, “I love my dogs. And one day I was with my dogs and thought: if I’m going to eat animals, why don’t I just eat them?” Say what, Alicia?? I love my cats and the thought of eating them — are you kidding me girl? But then again, what really is the difference between a cat and a dog from a cow or a pig or a chicken? Why is it OK to love and cherish one species and slaughter another?

After the show, I went to my computer and Googled Alicia Silverstone and animals. I was lead to a host of information detailing the horrors of factory farms (I had heard the term but had no idea what it really meant) and where exactly our meat, dairy, and eggs come from. How could I have been ignorant all this time to the suffering involved and the hideous environmental impact of animal agriculture? For two hours I poured over the videos, undercover investigations, etc. My husband finally came to find me and asked what was going on. I looked up and simply said, “I’m done.” No more animal foods for this gay man! After watching a PETA video, my hubby was on team vegan too.

A couple months went by and we were happily living our lives as new veganistas. I had even donated all my leather, wool, and down to Out Of The Closet. But now my thoughts turned to my business… was A Scent of Scandal vegan?

You may wonder: what makes a candle vegan? It’s not like they kill animals for candle wax or aromatherapy concoctions, right? Actually, they do. Beeswax is a common ingredient and additive in candle wax, and beehives – along with their inhabitants – are often burned once productivity declines. Additionally, many companies test chemical fragrances on animals, and many perfumes contain dissolved animal fats. The problem is, that’s not exactly advertised, so the only way to be sure is to call the manufacturers directly.

So I did. Thankfully, to my relief, I learned that all the materials I was using were already cruelty-free. Having partnered with green fragrance makers, I found that concern for the environment often goes hand in hand with concern for the animals. None of my suppliers used animal ingredients or tested their products on animals. We proudly began labeling and marketing A Scent of Scandal as vegan and cruelty-free.

I also felt compelled to kick things up a notch and give back to the organizations that helped me on my journey to living this new joyful lifestyle and also helped the animals. So, I began to use my business to support amazing organizations such as PETA, Farm Sanctuary and Sea Shepherd. These days, we have a special line of candles called Candles For A Cause, which directly benefit these incredible groups by donating a percentage of our sales.

Owning a business and being your own boss is pretty damn fantastic, but it means so much more when there is something bigger than you driving the engine. I’m ecstatic that people enjoy our product, but what’s even more rewarding is that our candles are helping to raise consciousness and in their own way, make the world just a little bit kinder.

Ari Solomon is the President and co-creator of the celebrated vegan candle line A Scent of Scandal®. After graduating from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Ari first worked as an actor in New York and Los Angeles, and later hosted the wildly popular ARI’S HOLLYWOOD UPDATE on Miami’s Y-100FM. Now a prolific activist and writer for animal and human rights, Ari’s letters have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Miami Herald, and The Advocate.

Get 15% off while shopping at A Scent of Scandal with the promo code “crazysexy”! Thanks Ari!

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