"I want customers who visit the area to be able to take a piece of the Hamptons home with them," says Brittany. "Or like myself who has lived here my whole life, I want a candle that smells like home."
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Four years ago, Brittany began to feel the effects of an autoimmune disease while working at a clothing boutique, Therapy Life & Style. An insufficient absorption of B-12 forced her to struggle with frequent bouts of passing out and an overall lack of energy. In an effort to boost her mood, calm her anxiety and to "feel grounded" while having to take a leave from work - she began experimenting with essential oils and aromatherapy. And because she was out of work during the holidays she decided to put that aromatherapy knowledge to use by creating her own candles. "I made Southampton candles and just gave them as gifts to my family," says Brittany. "My family is all from Southampton and I associated the smell with cotton, gardenia and white tea. A sophisticated clean, breezy scent that reminded me of all the beautiful houses on the ocean out here that I babysat growing up haha."
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With some prodding and encouragement from her family and a connection already at a clothing boutique, she put them out on the counter for consignment and they immediately started selling. "Customers would come in and ask if I could also do towns nearby like East Hampton, Hampton Bays and Montauk." So Brittany took that suggestion and crafted an initial set of 6 scents. "All the towns out here I had either kind of a feeling or a particular memory that I wanted to convey in each of the candles," says Brittany. In her initial 6 were Bridgehampton - Grassy and bright for all the fields. East Hampton - Strawberry for her memories of strawberry picking. Montauk - Sandalwood to capture the ocean and the laid back atmosphere. West Hampton - Bergamot because citrus is a warm, welcoming, uplifting scent. Watermill - Apple for the Milk Pail market and all the orchards. With her orange basket of six candles in tow, Brittany attended farmer's markets, cold-called spas, and went from town to town to drum up interest.
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Now Hamptons Handpoured is carried in over 40 stores on the East End and has crafted over 50 scents (with more on the way!). Brittany was also recently contacted by the PGA to create a custom candle for the US Open where she was the only local Hamptons vendor to showcase. (If you're wondering, the candle was Fescue Breeze - the smell of fresh cut grass with a hint of sea salt scent). "I use really high quality ingredients and literally pour them myself with small kettles and pitchers. My glassware is also heat-resistant with a heavy weighted bottom that won't overheat. They are actually whiskey glasses so you can reuse them as glass ware or repurpose them as little planters," says Brittany. "I think people appreciate when something is homegrown in the area and not just somebody slapping a label on a candle that came from an automated machine with no story."