Written by Haley Parnell, LINK nky reporter
From a business that started in her basement 17 years ago, Denise DeMoss grew her company herself and is now operating out of a storefront at 305 Crossroads Blvd in Cold Spring, Kentucky.
Celestial Scents Candles was born from a hobby and learning how to make soaps from YouTube videos in DeMoss’ basement.
Pre-COVID-19, DeMoss would attend craft shows and fundraisers to sell her products, but she had to get creative after things shut down in March of 2020.
“This has been something I’ve been doing for years,” DeMoss said. “I’ve literally been doing it for 17 years; I didn’t want to put my business on the back burner.”
She started operating her business out of her friend’s store at the time, Flower Bug, in a 300 square-foot room. The building was sold, and as COVID-19 regulations eased, DeMoss moved her business to a short-term lease at Newport on the Levee.
We knew we weren’t going to renew our lease down there,” DeMoss said. “I started looking for other places, and I just so happened to get lucky to come across the place where we’re at right now at Cold Spring Boulevard. Not only did we set up shop as far as the retail side, but we were also able to bring our production here as well.”
The shop sells everything from soaps, candles, lotions and sugar scrubs to beard oils and beard balms.
“All we make now is an aloe vera-based soap,” DeMoss said. “It is the best skin conditioning, lathering, softening of the skin soap. You do not feel dry, so it’s really nice. That is our go-to soap.”
They also add different fragrances to the base to provide various options for customers.
“We offer a hand and body lotion that has three different vitamins in it A, C and E, and then we also offer an avocado lotion which is literally oil squeezed out of avocados,” DeMoss said.
Celestial Scents Candles has a section of their store dedicated to men with beard care, skincare and candles.
“Our new store has been categorized for our men due to their feedback,” DeMoss said. “Because we have learned that our male clients want to come in, they want to get exactly what they want, and they want to get out.”
When DeMoss started her business, she investigated the requirements to be a wholesaler for big box stores. Part of those requirements was having certifications for your business.
“It really could have been easy to back down from because it’s very intimidating,” DeMoss said.
One of the most common certifications she needed was for a woman-owned business. She started working with the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, and DeMoss said they invited her with open arms.
“It took me three days to collect all of the items that I needed to collect,” she said. “It took me two and a half hours to fill out the online application and upload all of those documents that I had to collect. To even submit that request was very rigid, and it was very time-consuming.”
It then took 90 days to acknowledge the request. Once it was acknowledged, DeMoss had to have a two-hour Zoom meeting where she demonstrated her soap and lotion-making skills, so they knew she was the one who made the products. Two weeks later, she was awarded the National Women’s Business Enterprise Certification.
During that time, DeMoss also obtained her Women-Owned Small Business certification and the Women’s Business Enterprise Certification.
“Basically, what those certifications do is it allows me on every product that I make to put the women’s owned logo on there, and I proudly do,” DeMoss said. “Every label that I have has a women’s own logo on it.”
DeMoss gets choked up as she talks about opening weekend.
“Sunday night, we as a family went to dinner, and we were just like, I can’t believe that all these people supported us. It was just amazing,” DeMoss said. “We had people come in who bought candles from us when we did our business out of our basement. They’re like, ‘Oh my God. Yeah, I remember I used to come to your house, and we would buy candles from you. You had one little shelf.’ It was absolutely amazing.”
Photo: Some of DeMoss’ products (courtesy of Denise DeMoss)
