Smell is a sense intimately linked to our memory. When we light a candle or wear a perfume, our emotions are activated through our olfactory memories and, in this case, memories linked to trips or experiences that are difficult to forget.
A product with high emotional value
Founded in 2020, GOVALIS is a premium brand of scented candles for the home with a clear objective: to take all its customers back to their favourite places and memories through scent.
The project took shape just before the pandemic, thanks to a market study developed by the brand's founder, Cristian Alonso. "We knew beforehand the great tourist potential that the Basque Country and Spain had, so we wanted to create "something" that would allow both us and the tourists to return whenever we wanted to those places we had visited before. That's when GOVALIS was born," Cristian says.
The beginning was not easy, as the project was launched in the middle of the pandemic, but they were able to adapt to the situation, offering the client a product with a high emotional value and creating different collections of candles: Memories, Cities, Communities and Monuments.
The scented candles are
handmade in Vitoria-Gasteiz,
with 100% local and
sustainable components
"When we are asked how we capture the spirit of that city, community or memory so that it is personal and recognisable to everyone, our answer is always the same: visit and ask lots of questions".
"Whenever we launch a new scented candle on the market, such as the San Sebastian candle, we talk to family, friends, acquaintances and even travel there to speak directly to the locals. In this way we collect all the information we need to get the scent of the place".
After this complete olfactory study, they try hundreds of possible scent combinations until they find the one that contains a perfect balance between a fragrance that smells good and the place it is inspired by.
"All our candles are handmade in our workshop in Vitoria-Gasteiz, with sustainable and high quality materials. Using natural soy wax with 100% organic cotton wicks and customised fragrance oils to provide a long-lasting, great smelling burn" concludes Cristian, the founder of GOVALIS, the Basque company whose aim is to link smell and memory.
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