When Metro East native Dianna Allen moved to attend school in Chicago at 22, she began making soap and bath bombs in between work and classes. She wanted to try her hand at candle making, too, but never quite had the time. But when she returned to St. Louis at the end of 2019, she realized she could finally give the craft a try.
Now Allen, 27, operates TERRA Simply, a hand-poured candle company inspired by seasonal fragrances. Terra is Latin for “Earth,” and Allen takes steps to ensure the candle company is eco-friendly. She offers small batches of candles made with soy wax, phthalate-free essential oils, and lead-free cotton wicks.
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How did you get TERRA Simply off the ground when you came back to St. Louis? When I started, I knew that I just wanted to make candles and make a business out of it. But I didn’t have the funds to put into it. I gave myself a challenge: “Dianna, take 100 dollars and do what you can with it. Just run with it and see where $100 can take you.” I bought some supplies, tested out candle making to see if I could make some good ones. I have background experience as a graphic designer, specifically with product packaging, so I knew I wanted to put a spotlight on a beautiful candle and beautiful label. Soon enough I had pre-orders starting. Before I knew it, I had already profited that $100 dollars I had put into the business. To me, that said, “This is viable.”
What is your candlemaking process? Lately, I’ve been pouring candles every single day. On average, if I make 24 at a time. It’s roughly a 45-minute process. My studio is in my apartment, but my apartment is a converted movie theater so it has a lot of space. I have a wax warmer, which melts all of my soy wax. It keeps it a steady temperature—that way if I feel like pouring candles it’s already melted and I can scoop it over into my pouring pitcher.
What inspires your candles’ scents? I went traveling for a few years: I was in Europe, I was in Asia. There are so many differences when it comes to nature and what grows in each area. Even when it comes to home-baked goods and stuff. Sweden is known for its cinnamon buns, and Thailand is known for mango sticky rice, so I pulled inspiration from all of that. Like, how can I put this in a candle? A lot of it is mixing and matching until you get it right.
Do you have a favorite candle you’ve created? This is constantly changing because I’m always going through so many. Right now, I have one in my classic collection called Sea Salt and Orchid. It’s this tropical scent that’s muted a little bit. It’s very pleasing.
How important is sustainability to your brand? I can only do my part as a person to make things a little bit better. So if I’m going to be a business and I’m going to sell things, I just want to do my part to not sell things that are bad for the environment. If I can make things recyclable and reusable then I should do that. For the most part, it’s actually pretty easy. The only tough aspect is shipping my products: plastic is definitely the cheapest option, and it’s honestly one of the safer options because you can really safely wrap the glass with bubble wrap. I have found biodegradable packaging that works well.
What goals do you have for your brand? In the coming year, I’m going to introduce more masculine scents. I made a custom candle for someone. It was black pepper and clove. At first, I was, like, “I don’t know, that’s a weird combination to me.” It almost smelled like a cologne, but it worked as a home fragrance. So I’m trying to figure out more combinations like that to introduce.
How do you know which fragrances might work well together? It’s really a trial and error process. I really don’t know until I make it, and then I tweak it from there.
I feel like people are really leaning on candles right now as a way to make their homes feel good. For me personally, the reason why I wanted to get into candle making was because of that alone. Candles are cozy. There’s something about when you have that flickering flame in the background and a lingering scent—it’s almost therapeutic.
