Eternal Flames
For most people, lighting a scented candle is a good way to unwind, but for Xavier Tsang, founder of BeCandle, this simple act can represent so much more. Inspired by Asian tea culture, Tsang became fascinated with the concept of lighting a candle as part of a daily ritual that promotes spiritual wellbeing, and began to incorporate this philosophy into his designs. According to Tsang, “By having daily rituals, you are practicing paying attention to your emotions during every tiny action. Things are slowed down and each moment becomes important to you.”
Having studied Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Furniture Design at the Accademia Italiana D’Arte, Moda e Design in Florence, Tsang launched BeCandle in 2011, using premium vegetable-based waxes and fine fragrances to craft each product at his studio in Sai Kung. A winner of Lane Crawford’s The Next New 2016 programme, Tsang recently created an exclusive collection for Lane Crawford that, he says, “Is about breaking down a candle from an object to a medium for a spiritual experience that connects between people, space and time.”
“To me, spirituality is the experience of connection between people, space and the universe, and even the future and the past,” he says. “Objects can have the same kind of spiritual connection. Design is to give such spirit to an object that connects with people.”
Unsurprisingly, Christmas is a time replete with scent-filled memories for Tsang. “I have spent Christmas in a few different countries, and their different scents of Christmas Day are one of their most memorable characteristics,” he says. “The smell of cinnamon, bread, beer and the vintage wood of the hut in Germany, the frankincense of churches in Italy, and the tempting fragrance of ginger lily in the shopping malls of Hong Kong.”
Most of all, however, Tsang believes Christmas is a time for family, and this year will be a particularly special one for the candle-maker and his wife as they celebrate their first Christmas with their new baby. “Christmas means happiness to me,” he says.