Feeling scent-imental?

Incredibly, the pair have succeeded in establishing themselves as the owners of the North’s first and only fragrance house. Having developed the business from Wendy’s kitchen table, they still create each and every one of their fragrances themselves – despite the fact that they’re now churning out thousands of eau de parfums, candles, wax melts, diffusers and bath bombs every month to satisfy the ever-growing demand for their popular products. And hot on the heels of their recent Home Fragrance Retailer of the Year award win, there looks to be no signs of slowing down just yet.

We caught up with Wendy to find out what NorthburN is all about, how fragrances can conjure feelings, how difficult it was to develop a successful business whilst undergoing cancer treatment, and why we should all be burning candles in the garden… (carefully, obvs).

Tell us about your creative process.

Every fragrance starts with a feeling. We want to conjure memories with our products.

We created fragrance we’ve just launched – Sicilian Bergamot – during the first lockdown, when we had that mini-heatwave. We’d taken our fragrance library home and were sitting in the conservatory, playing around with scents to try and create some escapism. We wanted something really fresh, as though we were just about to go out for drinks with the girls in the afternoon! So it’s always been about recreating those feelings and memories through our fragrances – and never more so than when we couldn’t actually experience them.

How did you first get into the world of fragrances?

I had a beauty business, but it got to the point where I was working from about 9am to 9pm, because I was so busy. I had to operate a closed book because I didn’t have the capacity to take on new clients. So I started thinking: ok, how am I going to grow the business? And the answer was through products. I thought candles would be a good place to start because they looked easy to make… it took me about two years to figure out how to make a really good candle!

I launched NorthburN in November 2013 with five blends. I was expecting to sell the odd one to my beauty clients, but it really took off! Then Laura wanted to join the business so, by the beginning of 2014, I was in the treatment room and she was developing NorthburN further.

You’re a mother and daughter team – what’s it like working within the family?

We have so much fun! We’ve always had a really good relationship. Don’t get me wrong, every now and then there’s a heightened word exchanged! But we have such a laugh, and we both have the same vision for NorthburN, so it’s great.

You’d imagine that it could sometimes be quite difficult to agree on fragrances because, obviously, there’s an age difference! But surprisingly, nine times out of 10, we both agree on the final fragrance. Laura’s favourite might not necessarily be the same as mine, but we couldn’t have something in our collection if one of us really doesn’t ‘get it’, because our collections are very personal to us.

What’s NorthburN passionate about, as a brand?

That we’re inclusive. Our thinking is that you don’t have to be rich to smell amazing or have a home that smells amazing. We’re also passionate about giving each and every one of our customers the NorthburN experience, regardless of how much they buy. So whether you come in and spend £300, or buy one packet of wax melts, we want you to leave the shop feeling a million dollars – that we’ve taken the time to speak with you, get an idea of exactly what fragrance you want and the reason you want it, and let you go away knowing how best to use your product, feeling happy and confident.

Everyone deserves that little bit of luxury. And everything’s better in life if it smells amazing!

A lot of us are focusing on making our outdoor spaces fabulous at the moment. Can you use NorthuburN’s fragrances outside, too?

Definitely! I’ve always burned a candle outside when we’ve been eating or having drinks in the garden. What I didn’t realise was that nobody else did! The assumption is that the fragrance is just going to disappear and get lost in the air, but you’d be amazed. If you think about a fragrance inside your home, it’s competing with lots of other scents. Take it outside and you’ve got a clear background note, so you can smell more of its layers. Certain fragrances smell insane when you’re sitting outside – Green Orange & Thyme is one of them. That’s another citric fragrance, but it’s also quite woody and masculine as there’s cardamom and black pepper in there.

When you go out and about in the North East, where are you most likely to go?

My favourite restaurant is Peace & Loaf. I love cooking and, without blowing my own trumpet, I’m quite a good cook, so when I go out to a restaurant I like to be served food I know I wouldn’t have a clue how to make myself!

Kith & Kin is amazing too, they put combinations together that you wouldn’t think of in a million years. And their vegan offerings are off the scale. Whitley Bait do the best tuna sarnies you can get! And another of my favourite places is Fenwick’s Food Hall – sitting in Fuego, having a look at Saltwater Fish Company… I could go in first thing and come out at night, I love it!