Scents And Sensibility

It’s been a while since we last caught up. Tell us more about what you’ve been up to lately!
So many things leh! But the most exciting one would be that my husband Andrew and I will soon be launching Flicker & Flame, a candle brand that we created from scratch. They’re small-batch, hand-poured candles and the scents are all developed by us.

We basically do it on our own lah, you know? So that’s the most exciting thing going on for me right now, even though it’s a bit shag juggling events, content creation, and everything else.

Why candles?
I love candles! So it’s really a passion project for me.

We’re planning on creating scents about everything under the sun—based on the seasons and in different collections, like how clothes drop each season. I don’t know if we’ll create a staple scent for our brand or anything, but we’ll maybe do limited edition drops.

How do you find time for yourself amidst your busy schedule?
Just little pockets here and there, even if it’s just sitting down for two to there minutes without my phone, or playing with my dog, Nala. I also try and read two sentences of a book a day at least. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but it makes reading a lot more doable in my head, and then I always end up reading a whole chapter anyway.

I’m a manifesting generator, so I’m currently reading three different books at the same time. One is Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting through the Storm by Thich Nhat Hanh, the other is Do It Scared: Finding the Courage to Face Your Fears, Overcome Adversity, and Create a Life You Love by Ruth Soukup, and the last one is part of a series that I just started on, The Angel Trials by Michelle Madow—it’s about fairies and all that kind of stuff.

Tell us a bit more about Nala!
Nala is a golden retriever that just turned four in December, and Andrew is the love of her life—yeah, really! He’s her favourite person. She loves to swim. She hated it initially, but now she’s a water baby and we take her to Canine Wellness to swim every week to help with her hips and stuff. She’s also the princess of the house, a spoilt brat that loves toys—they’re her number one weakness.

She has this particular frog toy that we always get for her, which she never fails to destroy within 20 minutes. But, we bought her a different frog toy when we went to London two years ago, and surprisingly, she hasn’t destroyed it yet! I don’t know why it’s so special to her, but it’s damn raggedy and gross (laughs).

What has being a dog mom taught you?
I think it’s taught me to really be in the moment. Sometimes, after I’ve had a shitty day, she comes up to me with her derpy face, and she’s just like “hehehehehe”, and it just reminds me not to take life so seriously, to be in the moment, and to really enjoy the little things like smelling the grass.

Is there anything you’re looking to get better at this year?
I think living in balance better, and pushing my yoga practice a bit more.

Elvina was previously seen here, here, and here.