Pumarosa Candles is not just a candle shop. Founded by Venezuelan-born Vanessa and located in Pacific Place in downtown Seattle, it is a space built around memory, community, and the belief that scent is one of the most powerful ways to connect us to the people and places we love.
Can you tell us a little about the inspiration behind the name Pumarosa?
The Pumarosa is a tree you can find in tropical areas. I was born in Venezuela and I had the beautiful opportunity to grow up in a huge colonial Spanish house with a courtyard in the center. In that courtyard, my family had two huge Pumarosa trees.
Under those trees, I treasure the most beautiful memories from my childhood. Those trees were my everything. Every day after school, it was the place where my mom and I played, where I studied, where I did many plays and games. They also gave me my very first job, because I was in charge of collecting the dry leaves. I also used to make my own perfumes and shampoos from the flowers.
The name comes from those beautiful memories, but also from what those trees meant. My parents used to share the fruit the tree provides every year with our neighbors, our families, friends of friends, even people we didn’t know. That was just a symbol of abundance, of sharing, of giving. That is what is behind Pumarosa.
What do you offer at Pumarosa?
At Pumarosa we specialize in making candles that are non-toxic. They are free of paraffin, with no emulsifiers, phthalates, or additives. We offer candles that are handmade with natural soy wax, and we love working with woodwicks, the ones that create that tiny crackling sound. We offer candles in different sizes and presentations, and we also do candle making experiences.
What are your top sellers?
Our top three sellers are palo santo, sage, and cashmere. Our palo santo is infused with sandalwood and saffron, and our sage is very special and popular because it contains chamomile and white tea.
Our Pure Vanilla Candle also has a very special story behind it. We recreate the vanilla ice cream we used to eat when we were kids back home. It is a way to honor the ice cream people who walked for many, many hours to bring ice cream to small villages.
Can you tell us about your journey to opening a brick and mortar?
Everything started almost eight years ago at home. I was looking for a way to do something with my hands, to rebuild myself as a woman, as an immigrant. My candles started in our living room apartment, shared with my friends as a symbol of saying, thank you, I am here with you.
It was not intended to be a business at first, just candles to use at home and share with others. But then someone asked, how can I buy one of your candles? And we started thinking, maybe this could potentially be a business.
We moved from our living room to a little production studio in Fremont. There we had the opportunity to start crafting candles, designing labels, and really considering that this would be a business. After that, we moved to a bigger studio in Ballard, where we started getting wholesale orders and did our very first candle making experience. Now we are located in Pacific Place, level one, in downtown Seattle.
What makes Pumarosa special?
At Pumarosa we do not only sell candles. We invite people to create new memories around the light and the scent of a candle. Everything is inspired by my memories, but Pumarosa is also an invitation to be present, to start creating new memories. Scents are usually one of the best memory keepers.
When people spend money in small businesses like Pumarosa, they are not only purchasing a product. They have the opportunity to know a story. When someone comes to our shop, they have the chance to meet the owners or the people behind the brand. That makes the process very special and unique.
We use top ingredients to craft our products, but the most important ingredient is the love. The love we put into everything we do, in every candle, in our experiences, and more.
Can you tell us about your candle making experiences?
We offer two different services. One is a very immersive experience that lasts 90 minutes. During those 90 minutes, you have the opportunity to learn about candle culture, the story behind our brand, and we walk you through the candle making process so you can customize the scent for your candle. It also includes a very special moment where you can relax, sit back, and enjoy a beautiful meditation.
The other is a quicker option that lasts between 15 to 20 minutes, where you can craft your own reed diffuser. It is a really nice idea if you are looking for a gift to yourself or someone else. You get to blend two or three different scents, and what makes it even more special is that you can personalize it, write a message, and create a name to seal your creation.
We also travel anywhere in Seattle and surrounding areas for candle making experiences.
We heard you also help couples design a signature scent for their wedding?
Yes! We help couples who are getting married to design a scent that tells their love story, one they can gift to their guests on the day of their wedding.
Couples usually gift something to their guests that day, and we decided to help them craft a scent that is theirs. Maybe they met over chocolate, or there is something from the very beginning of their story that we can recreate. We try to bring that to life with beautiful scents and design something that will be part of them and their families forever.
Tell us about the space itself.
Here at Pumarosa, everything happens under the shade of a Pumarosa tree. We designed and envisioned this space as a place where people can gather. We not only offer candle making experiences here, but also have space where artists can come and share their art. We have been together with beautiful musicians, singers, poets, and more. It is a very nice way to connect.
The logo is inspired by the Pumarosa tree as well. It is the flower before it blooms. The idea is that every time you remove the lid of one of our candles, the Pumarosa blooms.
And on the wall, this is part of the heart of Pumarosa. This is my mom in the 90s eating a Pumarosa fruit from the tree. This is me with one of my cousins having a tea party under the shade of the tree. Everything here goes back to that place.
Are there any other small businesses you’d like to shout out?
So many!
- Proto 101
- RMC Floral Shop
- Greenhouse Nail Spa
- Enchanted Teas
- Mercer Head Spa
- Seattle Santa
- Arosa Café on Madison
- Aya Pilates
- Cesar Caro Salon
- Tiffany’s Cookies
- Transcend
If you could go back and show your younger self this shop, what would you feel?
More than I envisioned. More than I imagined. Having this beautiful space is incredibly special.
