Voyage et Cie is the ultimate luxury blend of travel, design, and scents. Each original fragrance is created by Melanie Apple Fields, handmade, 100% natural vegetable blend, and will transport you on a journey.
We asked Melanie about her story behind the label, her creative process, and how she names each candle.
Ryland: What is the story behind the label? And the naming of each candle?
Melanie: Originally, I am from Montreal, moved to Los Angeles, spent most of my summers in the South of France, and spent almost nine years studying and living in Paris. My parents loved traveling and we traveled a lot, Hawaii, Mexico, everywhere. As far back as I can remember I always loved fragrance. Los Angeles has to be one of the most fragrant cities in the world. The smell of orange blossom every spring, night-blooming jasmine, and gardenias around our swimming pool brings back the most incredible memories of my childhood. The South of France with its similar climate to Southern California also influenced me considerably. I have spent most of my life studying the art of perfume-making and still do. I can’t get enough of it, and now I have been studying formulating my new face and body care line with organic essential oils. I was a fashion designer for many years and traveled all over the US and Europe for trade and fabric shows, and it was then that I realized my passion for fragrance was yet another business I had to create. Every city in the world has its own particular scent, whether it is a plant, flower, church, or building. Paris is extraordinary for fragrance and it caters to every bit of my olfactory sense creating feelings of love, euphoria, and passion. This is what drove me to create my line, Voyage et Cie. Every city I have been to has its own scent, Pikaki the flower of Hawaii, and you can smell it everywhere! Malibu 77’ with its notes of coconut, and tropical flowers are the scent of summers at the beach, and 77’ and 1977 is the year I fell in love, at the beach. Memories so strong that here are a few that influence my olfactory senses: Firewood (feu de Bois) winters in Montreal and smell of basements during the winter, Jasmine has strong memories of Provence, the faint smell of honeysuckle in the air of Positano, the lavender fields of Luberon, and the scent I most fell in love with and have worn all my life, tuberose. Fig is a popular scent everywhere in Paris, and I have three different fig fragrances in my line, fig & Cassis, Figuier, and Boudoir my Paris scent.
Ryland: What makes your candles unique from other candles?
Melanie: When I first started making candles, there was not a lot of information available. Wax was either paraffin or soy. I chose soy wax and could not get a good throw. In order to have a good throw, the wax needs an oil, and I knew I did not want to use paraffin. I approached the wax company that I work with about creating a product with more coconut oil, perhaps apricot oil? And, it worked. My blend is just perfect. Coconut, soy, apricot, and beeswax. Formulating fragrances can be very costly, and I could have chosen a cheaper fragrance or fine fragrance. I chose the latter. All Voyage et Cie’s perfumes are the highest grade and most expensive, whether it is for a candle, perfume, or diffuser.
Ryland: What is your signature piece?
Melanie: I would say my signature piece is definitely my large vessels. At the time I began making candles, I had never had another company offer as many large-size candles as I offer.
Ryland: Where do you get creative inspiration to develop new scents?
Melanie: I get my inspiration from my surroundings, mostly when I travel to Europe. The way men smell as they walk past me on a street or restaurant. I am very attracted to masculine scents, and the majority of my line is rather masculine. One of the latest fragrances that I made exclusively for men, named Homme is a combination of lavender, grapefruit, and cardamon that smells very much like an English gentleman from a by-gone era.
Ryland: What is your morning routine? What daily habit helps you thrive & be creative?
Melanie: My morning routine starts at about 5 am! Since the pandemic I have slowed down a lot, enjoying my home and relaxing. Instead of running to the gym I take a brisk walk or get on the peloton. I then brew a cup of my new organic wellness teas, lately, the skin glow which has incredible properties of sea buckthorn, red clover, rooibos, and rosehips. I just love how I feel after. I make a smoothie and head to my atelier factory in downtown LA. It is a long drive and my mind is accelerating with new ideas almost every day, and I blare music, another necessity I need to have at work, and loud. We take dance breaks every day. At the end of the day, I always make something new, either in skincare or a new scent.
Ryland: What does "life equipment' represent to you? (top 5 life equipment in your life? Can't live without?)
Melanie: My top 5 Life Equipment things I can’t live without would be: I love music, art (museums), probably my most favorite thing to do. Travel, what I miss so much, visiting my favorite city in the world - Paris. My garden flowers, plants, being able to create perfume. Most importantly my daughter Isabelle, her hugs and love, and last but not least my dogs, Lily and Midge.
