Haya Khan was a law student working at Farmer's when she fell in love with scented candles.
After struggling to find any with rich South Asian scents – and realising a 9-to-5 job wasn't for her – Khan now runs a home fragrance company.
Auckland candlemaker Haya Khan at work Photo: Masala Scents
Haya Khan - founder of the South Asian creative collective Masala Bazaar and the home fragrance company Masala Scents Photo: Masala Bazaar / Instagram
Masala Scents is just one of many Kiwi South Asian brands stocked at Masala Bazaar – a tiny retail shop in Parnell.
Inside, you'll find jewellery and clothing made in India, prayer mats, hijabs, hijab magnets (great for holding any item of clothing in place, Khan says) and lollies made with certified-halal beef gelatine.
Masala Bazaar caters not only to Muslim people but also people buying for Muslim friends, she says.
Khan's candles, which are infused with fragrances like cardamom and clove, are a first in the New Zealand market.
Their scents are "flavourful" and very rich, she says: "They've got a story to tell and they're complex."
Before lockdown, Masala Scents was Khan's "side hustle". During 2020 she created a solid business via Instagram and also connected with other like-minded Kiwi entrepreneurs.
Later that year, they put on their own successful market day and the idea of a South Asian creative collective was born.
Soon after, though, Khan graduated from law school and began working in an office. Eventually, when she couldn't stop thinking about candles, she quit her law job and threw herself into candlemaking full-time.
"[I realised] I've had enough, I don't want to go to work, I'm tired … because I'm not being creative enough. And I need to be creative in order to actually sustain myself or there's no point."
Khan has now gone from creating and packaging 11 candles a day to sometimes 200 candles a day – still by hand.
"Everything is done by me, and that's insane."
