Conversations with Merve Colpan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Merve Colpan.

Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
Hi! I’m Merve Colpan, the person behind Arya Tara Candles based in Tucson,  Arizona. I’ve been a Tucson resident for seven years and launched my business  in January 2021. My journey was complicated and to be frank I often struggle  with packing the whole story into just a few paragraphs; there are so many layers  to it that uncovering each one makes me feel like a matryoshka doll. I was born in Istanbul, Turkey – my parents landed there in the 80s as  immigrants from Central Asia after completing their medical degrees. As a  college student I thoroughly enjoyed researching cosmetic formulations. I  received my Bachelor’s in bioengineering and I started looking for a Master’s  program to specialize in cosmetics. I found ISIPCA, a well-respected French  institute that offers post-graduate degrees in cosmetics, flavors, and fragrances. My chances of being accepted were very slim because they only admitted 20  international students per year to their English program at the time, but I gave it  a shot. That was the only school I had applied to and to my surprise, I was  accepted! 

While in Versailles, France, I developed a passion for fragrances and the  chemistry behind it all. I decided to specialize in that field instead of cosmetics  as I originally planned. We underwent extensive training that involved  memorizing the olfactive qualities of hundreds of essential oils, absolutes, and  molecules used in perfumes and key perfumes that were considered milestones  in the history of fragrances. We would spend hours in the lab learning how to  formulate “accords” that go into a fragrance. It really felt like joining a secret  society and learning a language only they could speak. 

The program also included an accelerated Master of business management  course in Padova, Italy, so that was the next stop. Then I worked as an assistant  perfumer in Holzminden, Germany and wrote my Master’s thesis on formulating  a modernized hybrid tea rose accord. I think my affinity for rose scents is rooted  in this project; studying different varieties of roses on a molecular level made me  appreciate how much variation there could be in the scent of a single type of  flower – and that’s just fascinating to me. After graduation I worked as a  perfumer for a while, then following a major life change I moved to Washington,  then to Arizona. A few years later I was ready to start my own business, Arya  Tara Candles, specializing in ethereal home fragrances.

Let’s dig deeper into the story – has it been an easy path, and if not, what challenges have you overcome?
Nope! I thought of starting my own fragrance business in 2014 but waited 7 years  before acting on it. It had never been a smooth road and my tendency to always  choose the more challenging path didn’t help, either. Shifts in personal life, a  constant search for a place to settle down and seemingly endless bureaucratic  procedures complicated things. But none of those obstacles matter as long as you stay loyal to your heart’s desire, the important thing is to know what you’re  after. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. What can you tell our readers who might need to be more familiar with what you do?
I enjoy using scent as a form of creative expression, that’s my favorite part! In  two years I’ve released over 50 different scents and continue to work on new  blends year-round, so there’s always something new to discover. Our most  popular collection is Wonders of Arizona, offering photorealistic scents of the  flora and landscapes of this wonderful state. In contrast to that realism, I’ve also  released scents like Mermaid’s Whisper, Forage & Feast, or Black Forest Fairy  Tale that depict highly fictional, dream-like olfactive scenes. 

A large part of what sets my work apart from others is pure know-how. When I  worked in the industry I would sit down with seasoned perfumers every day,  performing an olfactive evaluation of incoming supplies, deciding what to accept  and what not to accept and discussing all the reasons behind. This incredibly  valuable experience helped me understand the particulars of sourcing. I know  how to select the highest quality materials and use them efficiently in my  formulas, which is a huge advantage in creating exquisite products. I focus solely  on the beauty and dimensionality of the scent rather than the price tag or  budgets, which would have created a big issue in the corporate world where a  high margin is preferred over anything else. 

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some changes you expect to see over the next five to ten years?
Newer generations are becoming more aware of how important it is to take care  of themselves physically and mentally, and scents play a role in that. Our sense  of smell is quite strange if you think about it, it provides constant feedback from  our surroundings, and we have no way of shutting it down – as long as we  breathe, we smell. I firmly believe in “intentional happiness,” making a  conscious effort to improve how we feel. Surrounding ourselves with scents we  enjoy – scents that trigger happy memories – has a proven positive effect on our  mood – and I can see more people benefiting from scent the same way they do  from playing music in their personal spaces.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://aryataracandles.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aryataracandles/

Image Credits
Personal photo: Hannah Bryan