Some candles just make you want to buy them immediately even before you’ve had that first whiff. Soohyang has mastered just that with its distinctive pale pink packaging and simple black typography. Named after founder and creative director Soohyang Kim (her name literally means “excellent fragrance”), the cult favourite home fragrance brand is coveted around the world. The South Korean brand is stocked in cities like Tokyo, Hong Kong, London and New York. And if you visit Seoul, there’s no better place to shop for the brand than at its flagship location, called Villa Soohyang, located in a beautiful blue house in Sinsa-dong.
Stepping inside Villa Soohyang feels stepping into someone’s private. When you enter, a staircase takes you up to the main floor that’s filled with all things Soohyang: candles, diffusers, wax tablets, home sprays and even car vent air freshers.
Candles are Soohyang’s most popular offering, handmade in South Korea using biodegradable vegetable wax and available in 33 fragrances. There’s Everyday Feels Like Sunday, a citrusy, herbaceous blend with tomato, thyme and basil. Meanwhile, Yuki No Hana combines notes of rosewood and sandalwood, and Champagne Supernova evokes the feeling of sipping fizzy champagne. And then there’s Secret Garden named after the hit K-drama.
Two of the fragrances are named after neighbourhoods in Seoul: Itaewon 565, the brand’s signature scent, pays homage to the address of Soohyang’s very first store in Itaewon, and Gangnam 8, Villa Soohyang’s signature scent is named after the famous district.
Natural light filters through the windows as you walk from one room to another through the arched hallway. A main display of candles in one room shows off all of Soohyang’s 33 scents. In another is a multi-pink wall with hanging wax tablets.
At the check-out counter, you can get your label customized, whether it’s for yourself or someone else. While there, you might get distracted by an accessory or two like a sleek wick trimmer or a cute pin badge.
Beyond its hometown in Seoul, you can also find Soohyang at retailers like Bloomingdale’s and Fenwick GF. Even better, Soohyang’s website offers international shipping so you can discover the brand without ever leaving your home.
