Malta friends start business making and selling ‘wickless candles’

Two Malta women are burning the candle at both ends – but only figuratively – to
make and market a new product.
Toni Bishop and Debbie Cilz have developed a "wickless candle" that provides mood-setting
fragrance without the fire hazard. They established "Reflections of Montana" after about six months
of mixing waxes and scrutinizing scents.

By BECKY SHAY
Of The Gazette Staff

The candles come in 10-ounce apothecary jars and sit on an electric warmer which melts the special blend of wax and
releases the fragrance. Plastic-capped glass lids capture the fragrance when the candles aren’t in use.
The electric warming gadget looks like a coffee cup warmer but doesn’t get as hot. The temperature is important, the
women said, because if the wax is too hot the additives break down. Among those additives is a "secret ingredient" – a
binder that locks the scent in the wax and lets it evaporate with heat.

Evaporating scent

The scent is the only thing that evaporates from the candles.
"When you burn a (traditional) candle and the jar is
empty, where did the wax go?" Bishop asked.
Cilz’s husband, Marlin, knew the answer: "Into your
drapes, on the furniture, on the walls …"
After less than half a year in business, the owners don’t
know how long it takes the candles to evaporate, because
none have yet. Because the scent weakens with time,
Reflections of Montana candles come with a half-ounce
bottle of scent, which lasts about four months. Owners just
put five drops of the oil in their candle once a week.
About 30 minutes after warming, the Reflections of
Montana candles start to release scent. It takes about two
hours for the candles to melt on the warmer. Bishop and Cilz
suggest turning off the heater at night, which gives the
candle a chance to harden and resets the scent.
The scent is one of Reflections of Montana’s selling
points. Although the women developed the candles, their
husbands may have the best sales pitches, at least for their
favorite fragrances.
Marlin Cilz likes the "Just Peachy" candle. According to
his promotion, the scent is so realistic "you can feel the
peach in your hand."
Babsie Bishop favors the lilac candle: It reminds him of
the smell of his grandmother’s yard when spring blooms are
at their peak.

The husbands weren’t always so enthusiastic. Their wives actually set out to "prove them wrong" on their predictions
the candles wouldn’t sell. The women won that battle – and got a candle-making shop built in Cilzes’ garage, where they’ve
made about 2,800 candles.
The candles come in more than 100 scents, which aren’t marketed until Bishop and Cilz are sure they are realistic.

The
smells range from red wine to baby powder and iced pineapple to rain. Kids say the buttery vanilla scent reminds them of
Rice Krispie Bars. The banana smells so much like banana Popsicles, that Cilz flashes back to the cold treats she had as a
child. The rose smells like a freshly plucked petal, not the perfumed, synthetic scent more commonly found in rose-scented
goods.

True and accurate

"They (scents) have to be true and accurate or we pitch them and start over," Bishop said.
The aromas include nine scents dedicated to Montana which are already favored gifts for out-of-state friends and
family, the women said. They range from Montana Wildflowers, is a blend of six floral scents, to My Montana Home that has a
comforting, spicy smell, to Montana Cabin with its pine-log home aroma.
During MontanaFair, many customers bought one candle setup – their fair special was $25 for a candle, the warmer and
a supply of oil – and then came back the next day for more, the women said. Cilz and Bishop also have a customer "wish list,"
complete with phone numbers they will call in time for men to buy their wives the birthday or anniversary gift of their choice.

Men like the candles, too. One airman from Malmstrom Air Force Base visited the Reflections of Montana booth at the
Montana State Fair in Great Fall and the next day 10 guys came, they said. The candles are perfect for dorms, like the living
quarters at Malmstrom or at colleges, nursing homes, offices and day cares where open flames are not allowed.
And, the scent isn’t too strong. That is unless the customer wants a strong scent, like the one the spearmint candle
provides. On the opposite extreme, there are scents with neutralizers which work great to counteract smells like pet odors.

Bishop said she used one when Malta was hit by a heavy rainstorm and water got into her basement creating a musty smell.
Cilz and Bishop said there have been many ups and downs in the business. There were a lot of disappointments in the
trial stage when they would mix a candle then wait overnight to test its quality, and it didn’t work out. Then there was the
elation when they found the right mixture.
It was a little overwhelming when their supplies arrived: Two tons of wax, an eight-foot-tall wall of boxes of jars and
another set of boxes full of the glass lids. And the not-so-large, but equally daunting, box of plastic lid seals which had to be
individually applied to the lids.
Most Reflections of Montana candles are sold at home parties. Bishop and Cilz give hostesses a deal on merchandise.

They have done a loop through Helena where people hosted four parties in three days. The women are willing to come to
Billings for parties. After MontanaFair, they may attend other large shows here, like the Montana Agri-Trade Exposition.
Eventually they may consider retail sales, although outlets would probably be limited, they said. They are building a Web
page under the Reflections of Montana name.
It’s hard to say what the future holds for the business. Bishop said she and Cilz started out hoping to just make enough
money to take a cruise.

"We got doing it and the response was so good and people liked it so much we thought ‘maybe we’re missing the boat,’ "
she said.

Pun intended.

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