Co-Founder Matthew Herman tells L'OFFICIEL about the genderful ethos behind the cult-favorite candle brand and how the new Fant&ocirc;me Collection invites you to tap into your spiritual side this fall.

Fall brings longer nights, shorter days, and cool weather that makes you want to curl up inside and light a candle. This season, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/boysmells-genderless-perfume-candles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Boy Smells</a> encourages you to do so with its latest drop, the <a href="https://boysmells.com/collections/fall-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fant&ocirc;me Collection</a>. Spicy, earthy, and maybe even a little witchy, the candles are perfect companions for daily (or even spiritual) rituals.
&ldquo;The Fant&ocirc;me Collection really plays into the cross section of spirituality and owning your identity,&rdquo; Boy Smells Co-Founder Matthew Herman tells L&rsquo;OFFICIEL. It can be as simple as lighting a <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/gwyneth-paltrow-good-vagina-candle-fire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">candle</a> and setting an intention, but Herman believes that there is something true to human nature about manifestation and for Boy Smells&rsquo; diverse community, many are &ldquo;creating their own realities, their own identity and parsing out space for themselves in the world, which takes a lot of focus and dedication towards manifesting how you want the world to look like.&rdquo;

For Herman and his business and life partner David Kien, they set out to make Boy Smells an inclusive and celebratory queer-owned brand that leaves the gender binary behind. While candles themselves are a <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/best-gender-neutral-unisex-fragrances-perfume" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gender-neutral</a> vehicle, their fragrance can often be boxed into &ldquo;masculine&rdquo; or &ldquo;feminine&rdquo; definitions. &ldquo;There is a sexism embedded in olfactory expectations,&rdquo; Herman explains. &ldquo;Men are supposed to like wood, musks, or leather because they are strong and animalistic or whatever. And girls are supposed to smell like florals or fruit, just like they are delicate, sensitive, and emotional.&rdquo;
To challenge this, Boy Smells&rsquo; scents mix notes from the two binaries, resulting in something complex and alluring to anyone. &ldquo;All of our scent structures are combined with florals, woods, musks, and fruits&mdash;we like to say that our scents are as complex as the identities of our customers,&rdquo; the co-founder says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s great to honor the full spectrum of your identity through the candle you light or the fragrance you spray on your body, and at Boy Smells we call that genderful rather than genderless.&rdquo;
According to Herman, embracing the idea of being genderful, what he thinks of as a &ldquo;post-binary, final evolution of gender,&rdquo; means to acknowledge what the history of your gender has been, how it can evolve, and how it can reflect the spectrum of gender and gender expression. Even beyond gender identity, fragrance can help us connect with different aspects of our personalities or the role we want to play on a specific day&mdash;burn the best-selling <a href="https://boysmells.com/collections/best-sellers/products/cowboy-k" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cowboy Kush</a> to have your playing-it-cool, main character moment; light up Kacey Musgraves&rsquo; collaborative <a href="https://boysmells.com/collections/best-sellers/products/slow-burn?variant=31388008448067" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Slow Burn</a> to chill out; or ignite the favorite <a href="https://boysmells.com/collections/best-sellers/products/hinoki-fantome" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hinoki Fant&ocirc;me</a> to tune-in and meditate.

Based on the popularity of the latter, the new <a href="https://boysmells.com/collections/fall-2021/products/iris-fantome?variant=39533782630467" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iris Fant&ocirc;me</a>, Copal Fant&ocirc;me, and Th&ecirc; Fant&ocirc;me make up the trio in the new collection, all of which are grounded around ingredients that have ritual usage. Copal is a Mexican incense that has spiritual significance dating back milennia; black tea is used in traditional tea ceremonies or leaf readings; and distilled from the root of the iris, orris is one of the world&rsquo;s rarest scents and has history dating back to Ancient Greece. These notes then mingle with the Fant&ocirc;me accord for a ghost-like smokey effect.
The olfactory alchemy that goes into creating the candles results in balanced, warm fragrances ideal for embracing autumn. And commenting on the mystical theme of the collection, Herman notes, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a nice way as we come out of COVID to crystalize our visions and figure out what the future is going to look like.&rdquo; Fall, after all, is the season of change.

Ignite Spooky Season With Boy Smells' New Collection

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