Why Wabi-Sabi Inspired My Collections, A Personal Story

When I started making candles, I knew I wanted to do more than just pour wax into a jar. I wanted everything to feel personal. I wanted to create something with my own hands, something I had never done before. And that excitement of trying something completely new, that is what drives me the most. Because when I reach the end and I hold the finished piece in my hands, I feel something I cannot fully describe. A quiet pride. A feeling that says I did this. I can do anything.
That is how the concrete vessels began.
I was inspired by Nordic style decorations, that clean, natural, minimal aesthetic I always loved. I started experimenting with cement molds, and I immediately fell in love with the process. At first, I wanted to color the vessels. Green, red, something decorative. But then I saw the natural color of the cement, raw, unfinished, imperfect, and something stopped me.
I fell in love with it exactly as it was.
But then the perfectionist in me took over. Every little scratch on the surface, every uneven texture, it bothered me. I kept looking for flaws instead of seeing beauty. I was so hard on myself, the way I always am. Everything had to be perfect. Everything had to be exactly right.
Until one day, something shifted.
I looked at one of my vessels, not perfect, not smooth, not flawless, and I thought this is actually beautiful. Not despite its imperfections. Because of them. Every mark told a story. Every uneven edge was proof that human hands made this. That no machine touched it. That it was real.
And then it became personal in a way I never expected.
Because I am not perfect either. I have insecurities. I have doubts. I am shy. I am hard on myself in ways that are not always kind. And that little concrete vessel taught me something I needed to hear. Your imperfection is not a flaw. It is what makes you beautiful. It is what makes you real.
That is when I discovered Wabi-Sabi.
Researching and researching, trying to understand what this feeling was, this beauty in imperfection, I found a philosophy that had a name for everything I felt. Wabi-Sabi. A Japanese concept that finds beauty in things that are simple, natural, and imperfect. Things that are raw, honest, and made with care.
Wabi means simplicity, purity, the quiet beauty of natural imperfect forms. That is my concrete vessel. Shaped by hand, finished by hand. No two exactly alike.
Sabi means the beauty that comes with time. Depth, warmth, character. That is my amber glass. Timeless, warm, classic. Like something that has always been there and always will be.
I applied this philosophy not just to my collections, but to myself. Accepting that I cannot be perfect. That I cannot please everyone. But that who I am, exactly as I am, is enough. More than enough.
Every candle I make carries a piece of that journey. And I hope when you light one, you feel exactly what I felt, that quiet, peaceful moment of finally coming home to yourself.

WelStyled Candles — Every candle has a story. Find yours.