Burnaby’s Eunoia Naturale Brings Filipino-Inspired Candles and Scents to Metrotown

 Candles have been used for more than 5,000 years. Its function has changed from guiding your way in the nighttime, lighting your living space, and creating heat. Now, you can find it in every home, an excellent way to set the tone and scent of relaxation. Eunoia Naturale is a Burnaby based business. They specialize in handmade decorative candles, wax melts and wax tablets using all natural soy wax. Their unique candles and car diffusers celebrating Filipino culture is what drew Burnaby Daily in. We interviewed Christia Espinosa, one of the founders of Eunoia Naturale to learn more about this local business.

Eunoia Naturale was created by Elenita Espinosa, her daughter Christia, and family friend Dianne Mendoza. They started this company in 2022 as an outlet for creativity and artistry. The name comes from the Greek word Eunoia, translating to a well-mind and beautiful thinking. They chose this name because they want their products to reflect this feeling and concept whenever used. They value their items to be as beautiful as they are functional.

Their first products were for relaxation and they still carry these now, for example the tranquil river or morning dew candle. After joining a Filipino market, they brought in scents inspired by Filipino culture. The famous Filipino bread Pandesal, or Ube paste can now be experienced through a candle. They also have car diffusers in the Sampaguita flower scent. Christia brought some products for us to try, such as the Strawberry Cheesecake and Halo-Halo candle. It is simply so well made, that I almost wanted to eat the candle after smelling it. Their Calamansi spray was actually brought in by a customer suggestion because of how good their calamansi candle was. It is beautiful to see them share Filipino culture and celebrate it through their art.

All of their business decisions are made collaboratively and only passed if all three women agree. Additionally, they all create the candles and products. All of them are handmade and go through lots of research and quality checks before being passed onto sales. For candles specifically, the wax is melted, then the fragrance oil is added, and then the decoration toppings. Their toppings are what makes their candles unique. The candle is formed similar to when baking the real counterpart. They pipe it to mimic whipped cream or actually scoop the ice cream. The most inspiring process that Eunoia goes through is collaborating with other local businesses for material to create these products. It is nice to see that by supporting this business, we are also supporting several other local businesses and artisans in Burnaby.

We asked Christia if she could go back to the start of the company, if she would change anything. Christia said: “I wouldn’t change a thing because we learned from those challenges, for example, how to choose the right markets and talk to customers. There is nothing I would change because we learned from those experiences.” Their goal is for their business to grow online and be able to hold more workshops. You can find their products at the Dream Collective at Robson or Metrotown locations. For more information, check their website at https://eunoianaturaleca.square.site/ and instagram @eunoianaturaleca