Words by: Jerwine Bonafe and Tanya Singh
Photo Credit: The BLOMSTRE

 

A home fragrance brand by a wife and husband duo, The BLOMSTRE offers a wide range of scents to serenade your senses.

 

 

Based in Hong Kong, The BLOMSTRE, founded by husband-wife duo, Jerwine Bonafe and Aaron Que, aims to shape modern Filipino artisanal heritage through its selection of lovingly hand-crafted and hand-poured soy wax candles, and other home fragrances. Products are made in small batches using non-toxic, natural, and organic ingredients from their home studio in Hong Kong.

 

Could you tell us a little bit about your backgrounds?

 

Aaron and I have always been entrepreneurs – from distributing frozen goods and household items to local institutions in Manila to creating The BLOMSTRE in Hong Kong. Seeing exciting opportunities and meeting likeminded people drive us to keep going. I (Jerwine) think of myself as a lifelong learner – collecting certificates is a hobby of mine. I recently received my certificate from ICAD, a well-renowned Korean institution for aroma design, for formulating zero-waste household products. Aaron’s background in engineering makes him a natural at handling the operational side of the business. I think our backgrounds synchronize us both as a couple and as business partners.

 

 

 

How did the concept behind The BLOMSTRE come about? Tell us The BLOMSTRE story.

 

The word “blomstre” means “blooming” in Norweigian – inspired by our family ties in Norway and my love for flowers. The way the logo is conceptualized is by highlighting the “O” with leaves incorporated into the design, which sounds like “olives,” a name we love. When we first started The BLOMSTRE, we were purchasing deadstock fabrics from Sham Shui Po and creating upcycled fashion bags. During the pandemic period, we saw an opportunity in home fragrances and decided to pivot the business to cater to the demand in our community.

 

How would you define the foundation for your brand? What do you seek to communicate with your products?

 

Our motto is “creating mindful moments by serenading your senses”. As Filipinos, it is our culture to love and welcome people with arms wide open. We hope our products convey the love and sincerity we put into creating them and for people to be reminded of meaningful moments in their lives and creating new memories with us.

 

 

 

Could you talk about the production process from start to finish? How are the fragrances

 

We started by creating scents that are very personal to us and the brand. True to our name, our first collection is inspired by florals (like Harana, Kundiman, and Caballero) and is now a classic bestseller. Throughout the years, we’ve met amazing people around us who have been great sources of inspiration for our creations. For example, the cocktail series was inspired by our love for bringing people together to have a good time – a heart-felt homage to our dear friends and fellow Filipinos who are deeply rooted in the F&B industry. We collaborated with well-seasoned bartenders and professional mixologists to ensure that we can get the scents of tantalizing cocktails into your home! We believe that it’s the community that we’ve built and the people who support us and the integration of that into our creations that makes The BLOMSTRE unique.

 

Could you talk about some of the key ingredients in your products? Where are they sourced from?

 

We are proudly using natural soy wax and wooden wicks in our soy candles for longer use and clean burning, making them non-toxic and safe for your home. Our raw materials are mindfully sourced from USA, Korea, and Hong Kong.

 

Daria Seagrass Basket and Tropical Leaves Seagrass Placemat

 

What’s next for The BLOMSTRE?

 

Soy candles aren’t our only beloved products, we also offer other home fragrance products such as room diffusers, hand sanitizers, and more. For the past years, we have been building and working with various industries such as F&B companies, tech brands, and entrepreneurs to help them create their signature fragrance as an extension of their brand personality. We also wish to expand and highlight our refilling program in order to further incorporate sustainability in our practices.