James Robertson founded Isle of Skye Candle Company 20 years ago – with a mission to use quality natural products, with fragrances inspired by the island’s beautiful landscapes

Lead image: Cuillin mountain range, Skye

Daily rituals

I try to get a walk in every day to clear my head, and enjoy the reasons that we live in Skye – whether to new places, one of the beaches or up the mountains. The last few years have been so intense, so I’m definitely planning on making sure my work/life balance is a lot more life, and a bit less work.

James Robertson, founder of Isle of Skye Candle Company

Burning bright

We’re always working on improving our products and developing our five shops. It’s about differentiating ourselves from the hundreds of other candle brands out there. We were the only UK company making natural fragranced candles at one stage, so we had a head-start – and our USP is our fragrance. I actually started making soaps before I made candles, so that’s something we think about, but there’s still so much scope for us with our candle collections. 

Hit the right note

We started out with purely essential oil mixes, which was trial and error. Certain oils are really volatile and don’t work very well in candles, while others do. They’re great, but it does mean you’re quite limited. Our Scottish Collection became so popular – it seems to remind people of walks in nature – so we now work with a fragrance house that develop the natural botanical scents we love. 

Sense of place

My favourite fragrance is one of the first Scottish creations I came up with – Scots Pine. It brings me back to a place on Skye called Dalavil. It feels quite remote, and there’s a glen down there with some really old Scots pines. On a hot summer’s day, the bark heats up, and you get that smell when you’re walking through the forest – I have really nice of memories of swimming in the loch there when it’s warm.