Mel is the owner and head perfumer behind The Remontant, a fragrance house located in downtown Kirkland, Washington. The name says it all: “Remontant” means a flower that blooms more than once in a single season. Mel built her brand from bed while navigating a chronic illness diagnosis, turning candle making into a full sensorial journey that now includes a brick-and-mortar shop, custom scent classes, and a product line made with some of the cleanest ingredients in the industry. We sat down with Mel to hear her story and find out what makes The Remontant so special.
Where are you located?
We are located in downtown Kirkland right by the Marina Bay Park. If you know where Moss Bay is, we’re downstairs from Moss Bay on the parking lot side where you can see the water between Earthlight Rock and Pop Culture Champagne.
Could you elaborate on where the inspiration for The Remontant came from? Is this something you had a background in? How did you start?
So I actually have a really sad story behind my brand. I have a medical condition called dysautonomia. So essentially, my nervous system is out of whack with my body. Everything your body tells you to do without you thinking, mine doesn’t really do it like that. And this was when I was first diagnosed and I actually ended up being bed bound for two years.
So I built The Remontant while I was bed bound. I custom made all the scents. And this was a crazy time in the world. In general, the pandemic had a lot of new hobbies blooming, and on YouTube, one of the really big ones was candle making. So I started making candles because it’s something I could do from my bed. And then I was like, I want my own scents. And I went on the journey of becoming a perfumer and learning cosmetic chemistry. And then once I was able to walk again, two years later, I launched The Remontant and it kind of blew up.
How long has the brick and mortar been open?
We are only nine months old. We’re like a baby!
What has the reception from the community been like?
It’s been really fun. Since we do candle making classes, a lot of people are very excited because they want to make those memories with their friends and family and they want something personalized to their taste and fragrance. In the commercial world, fragrances, you get what you get. There is no speciality to it. But when you can come in and make your own fragrance, it’s truly yours. You get to have a form of self-care and self-expression all in one.
We had a really good reception for it. Plus, since we were online for a few years, everyone was like, it’s about time you got a store.
What are some of the products people can find when they pop in?
Well naturally we do have the candles and the body mists but we also have soaps, incense, and very very soon body oil and true perfumery. So we are a fragrance house, so as long as it can be scented we can make it. It just takes time to do logistics and production, so that’s why we don’t have the whole array of products right now, plus we’ve been working on opening the store. And very soon, fingers crossed, we’ll have perfume classes as well.
Intentionalist’s motto is “Spend like it matters.” Can you talk a bit about why this is important to you?
I believe in small business deeply. One, I’m a small business. Two, I support other small businesses by carrying them in my store. But there is an originality to it all. There’s a heart to it. There’s a differentiation in representation to it. Like, I have American Indian products. I have Black people products. I have Hispanic products. And they all have their own twist. Even if it’s in the same category, like candles — saturated market. Soap — highly saturated market. But everyone puts their own spin on things so that there is representation. There are nuances. There are joys. There are specialties that other big corporation companies don’t think about because they’re not with us. They don’t know our hearts, our wants, our joys on the human level to the spectrum of beings. So that’s why small business is very important to me.
What are your favorite scents, and what should a first-time customer try?
Dark Academia, our number one bestseller across the board. Think sweet cardamom tea in an ancient library filled with leather-bound books and cedarwood bookshelves. That’s the inspo behind this scent and it truly is that scent. Wholesale, bridal, retail, and online — people just love it that much. It’s also one of my personal favorites because it’s one of the scents I made from the depths of my journey. It was my escapism scent. I’m like, I might be bed bound and stuck here, but at least I can go into my fairytale land and light this candle.
Number two, I’d have to say is Black Rose. She is our spa spectacular — black tea, red rose, and cool musk. She has this almost, not coziness, but tranquility that you can put your feet up, do a bubble bath. It’s not offensive to anybody because it’s so encompassing of a spa ritual day that it doesn’t put anyone off. It’s also my husband’s favorite. I was very surprised when I made this scent because he would lean towards our more masculine scents every time. This scent is a true floral and it is actually one of his favorites.
What else do you want people to know about the shop?
We are phthalate, paraben-free, acute toxin-free, mutagen-free, carcinogen-free. I run the cleanest fragrance that I can find. I source everything myself and it goes through rigorous testing because I have a chronic illness. I do not want to be working with ingredients that are going to hurt me or my tiny little animal or other human beings. And I think it’s important to know what ingredients are in your self-care and in your personal rituals because you’re going to be exposed to them on a daily basis.
Are there any other small businesses you’d like to shout out?
I love Lizzie and Kate. They are also down here in downtown Kirkland but they’re on the Main Strip. They do amazing teas and they have a beautiful section of chocolates — and these chocolates are so exotic and different. I’m talking like a rose lychee dark chocolate bar and it is divine. I’m a big chocolate girl so the fact that they have such an array, oh, it feeds my soul every time.
And then I’d have to say Estee Framing on the corner — also woman-owned. All these are woman-owned and they’re also here in downtown Kirkland and they are just so welcoming. It’s always hard being the new person on the block, but you fall into these joyful relationships so that you get to know people and you feel welcomed.
What advice do you have for a small business owner contemplating making the leap into a physical space?
I have a three-pointer. First, know that you are never going to be there full time. It is unrealistic for you to run your online and your wholesale and be the representing face of your brand and be in the store full time. Just completely impossible, unless you split yourself in half.
Next, how are you going to diversify your income for your location? Have more than one stream of revenue if you’re going to have a physical space that is dependent completely on the physical space and is not dependent on online or wholesale at all. That way, each revenue stream supports itself.
