Rows of pure white candles, embossed with a clean glass sheen, line the sleek minimalist shelves of Brooklyn Candle Studio. The compact workshop does not use childishly gaudy coloring or flashy labels, instead offering simplistic designs to appeal to the younger generation.

There is a logistical aspect to this design too: eco-consciousness. The company has launched several initiatives to minimize the negative environmental impact typically associated with burning candles. Aligning with millenials’ ethics in more ways than one, the candles are cruelty-free and vegan, the buzzwords hurtling the Brooklyn Candle Studio into expansion and development. However, they retain the personal touch of a small business — something that the younger generations are willing to pay more for.

“I think we’re definitely a very millennial company,” Lillian Beitzel, Operations and Account Manager at the studio, said in an interview. “Everyone is very artistic (and) it leads to more of a casual, creative, collaborative environment.”

Age of Brooklyn Candle Studio employees ranges from mid twenties to mid thirties, significantly younger than the national average for U.S. workers, which is approximately 45. Beitzel herself is 28 years old, and is accommodating of the conflicting needs of the youth, like desiring luxury at a cheaper price, albeit being slightly older.

“There’s a lot of luxury candles out there that are very expensive. And I know that’s not feasible for a lot of people to buy,” Beitzel said. “We really want to make a product that looks luxurious and high-end but has a more (mid-range) price point so that it’s affordable to a larger range of people.”

At almost $40 for a 13 ounce candle, the store is still considered expensive, especially for a young demographic. (In comparison, a 22 ounce Yankee candle costs $30.) However, something integral in compelling the demographic increases its price: being eco-friendly. The company uses recyclable packaging and a minimal amount of plastic, opting for more expensive and environmentally unimpactful supplies. The studio ensures a clean burn by producing their candles with soy wax and lead-free cotton core wicks, further raising the price. Fortunately for the studio, this is exactly what consumers are more willing to invest in.

“With the rise of the Internet, people (have) realized what (is) happening to the environment (with) climate change,” Beitzel said. “I think that our consumers, specifically, are trying to do a small part (for) micro-sustainability, whatever they can do to help out in that regard.”

Since millenials are lining up to buy reusable metal straws to “save the turtles” and thrifting to combat the fast fashion industry, this is an incredibly smart business move. As past fashions of flashiness and indifference have died out, the hottest new trend for the ostensibly irresponsible new generation is, in fact, sustainability. Even small, seemingly inconsequential customs are being challenged, like using plastic straws and, fortunately for Brooklyn Candle Studio, burning traditional candles.

Yet that is not the only thing appealing about the workshop; its small scale also brings customers in. There are nine full-time employees at Brooklyn Candle Studio, and they physically make the candles instead of using machinery. One-on-one customer service is another touch, giving the candles extra sentiment for the consumer.

“I think (bigger brands) are to be able to produce a (much) larger volume, but maybe don’t have that hands-on quality,” Beitzel said, “It’s the same people in here everyday doing the same thing, really paying attention to their craft.”

Sentimentality has become extremely popular in recent times, in contrast to the epoch of the Industrial Revolution, when standard-issue products became status quo. During that time, the products lacked the small imperfections of homemade items and the customer’s vision of their item’s creator was either blurred or simply missing. With the flurry of industrial manufacturing, feelings of warmth and familiarity toward products were retracted.

Now, the young are searching for it again. The loss of accountability in the nation may have caused this. Media and politics have become more polarized, which has made many truths in national crises become hazy. It has been revealed that oil companies have attempted to cover up the facts of global warming, an increasingly rallying cause for millenials. Trust is rare, and research is commonplace. Millenials want to know about companies, about who is behind it, what their mission is. And it is much easier to trust a smaller company, with a few faces behind the work.

Brooklyn Candle Studio proves that it is a company to trust. One way they are doing so is by drawing scents from employees’ own experiences and informing the customer of it, instead of estimating what the targeted demographic will enjoy. Some of the “Escapist” candles (those with scents designated for a certain place) even include personal anecdotes on their website — “late nights lingering with friends in aged leather booths of bustling Brooklyn cocktail bars” inspiring the Brooklyn Escapist Candle.

“Every area (has) different plants and climates and weather … so that will start to lend different smells,” Beitzel said. “I think we’re, right now, still focused on what we are enjoying because that provides even more inspiration, instead of pigeonholing into something that someone else may like.”

Brooklyn Candle Studio’s divergence from traditional marketing tactics have served them well. In the past 18 months, the studio has received some of its largest orders from well-known retailers, such as J. Crew, which requested 4000 candles for sale.

“(It was) really exciting for the whole team, to be able to produce a … very large amount of candles and get into these name-brand stores,” Beitzel said. “To know that our products are going to be seen by a lot more people than have maybe seen them before, it was really exciting.”

As the studio becomes a more popular brand, there exists worry of losing the qualities of a small business, and there has been internal discussion to try to prevent this. They still only have one workshop and one person working in customer service, but company growth can become exponential. The employees hope to preserve the intimacy between the seller and consumer, even as they are receiving more customers.

“I hope, as we expand, that we are able to keep hands-on touches,” Beitzel said. “It’s important that we really remain a small business at heart, even if we expand and grow.”