Aura Candle Bar
Southport Avenue just got a whole lot more exciting! Aura candle bar might just be the most fun date night experience in Chicago. A bunch of my gal pals and I decided to go check out Aura for my friend Dani’s birthday. The entire experience was so much fun, and I have a new appreciation and understanding for candlemaking. I absolutely loved being able to smell all of the incredible different scents they had on display. The owner and candle team were so kind and helpful throughout the entire experience. It was so tough to narrow down the three scents that I enjoyed the most. Each person gets to choose their own candle votive that suits their home and personality best. I of course went with the classic matte black votive to match my interior design aesthetic. My friends and I had such a lovely time figuring out what we want our candle scent to be. Claire and Masey went for a more spring and floral scent while Dani and I went for a more warm and fall scent. This whole experience is so hands-on and creative. I loved every second of it.
The branding all throughout this candle bar is so well done. Their logo is so crisp, chic and beautiful. The entire shop has several natural elements all throughout it like large wood decor and stone counter tops. The stools at the candle bar give the space a very modern yet homey vibe. There were air plants sprinkled all throughout the shop. One of my favorite and functional decor pieces was this vintage sink they had in the back. The team encouraged us all to go wash our hands with their homemade sugar scrubs. The eucalyptus scrub was absolutely phenomenal and I knew I had to take a jar of it home. The entire shop smells fantastic. Whoever designed this beautiful location on Southport truly knew what they were doing!
It was super cool to be able to create a candle from start to finish. Learning how to pour properly and mix the different oils/aromas together was great. I think my favorite part was running around the shop and smelling all of the amazing and not so delightful scents they had for each of us to choose. I still can’t get over the bacon scented candle… it was pretty gnarly. What’s nice is you got to fill out an entire clipboard of all of the familiar smells you love. My clipboard had scents like tobacco, sandalwood, leather, amber, bergamont, pineapple, coconut, clove, cinnamon, apples vanilla, prosecco, evergreen, cedar, pine and pistachio. One of the candle bar makers instructed us that we could only pick three scents. It was so hard to choose the base note, because that was the oil that you were going to use the most for your candle. Narrowing down the type of candle, I wanted to make was difficult but fun. The three scents that I chose for my candle were pistachio, coconut and vanilla bean. Those are three of my favorite smells and I think it would make a pretty delightful candle. In a way, I was channeling a pistachio croissant. Carbs truly taste and smell superior haha. We actually got to fill out a little sticker for the base of our candle that we got to doodle on with cute markers they provided. You can personalize your sticker however you want. After we mixed up all of our delicious scents in a candle jigger, we got to pour it into our candle. I filled my jigger all the way up to the top with as much of the pistachio oil as I could. The Italian in me just wanted more and more pistachio!
This is such a fun girls night out idea. This would be great for date night or a birthday gift too. I plan on taking my mom back for Mother’s Day because it was such a fun and unique experience! You do have to wait a week or two for your candles to properly set, but you can come pick it up after they’re ready. You get this adorable little bag with tissue from the candle shop to bring home. I absolutely love how my candle turned out. It smells exactly how I envisioned it!
