There is a story behind every creation in the Scents of Africa House; every piece of the brand fabric is a product of refined thought. ÀbélàTM may sound generic and ethnically versatile, but for the people of Western Nigerian Origin, it means “Candle”.
Founded in December 2015, ÀbélàTM by Scents of Africa® was born in the home of brand creator Deola Paul-Inyang. Inspired by exotic scents, Adeola desired to create a sensational experience that inspires creativity. Love and Happiness.
The creation of ÀbélàTM by Scents of Africa® was inspired by chance, passion and tenacity. Deola’s strong olfactory led her nose to a destination of creativity in the art of scents. In her world, scents rule. It’s simply a craft born out of pure love…the love for scents.
Deola particularly loves the ambiance of luxuriously smelling living spaces. The whiff is reminiscent of happy moments and a strong inspiration for creativity. Her pure love for scents would drive her to purchase jars of scented candles which she gladly hauled back from her trips overseas.
The thought to start producing something of pride for the Nigerian kept nudging her heart in the wake of her country’s drive to encourage subsistence industries and her desire to create a cottage business. She sought ideas for cottage business venture from every corner; her close friends and family inclusive. Like most things in life, the creation and sustenance of an idea is most rooted in innate passion, so the task was still up to her to think creatively. In her philosophy, nothing beats venturing into your most desired passion point for business.
In the true nature of ideas; which jump out in the most obscure of moments, the idea for Àbélà was created from this passion and a throwback memory of happy moments in her childhood when her grandmother would light up candles all over the house to usher in a new year. Indicative of lighting our lives for a glorious new year, her grandmother would say ” e lo tan Àbélà” – which is interpreted from the Yoruba language as “Go and light up the candles”. Though not scented, the lighting of these candles inspired happy moments.
With a strong support circle, she ventured head on into building the brand with tenacity and resilience even in a seeming time of recession and austerity which her country was going through. In her words, the strength of an idea is in the person, the strength of a person is in her support circle. The wind beneath the wings of Àbélà by Scents of Africa is the strong support she has gotten from her husband, her parents, her brother and close knit friends.
At the crux of Deola’s philosophy is the goal to empower growth and harness the power of information for creativity and new thinking in Nigeria.
Will like to contact you about learning the act of candle making and home fragrance.