The Journey Behind El Viaje Scents, Fragrance Inspired by the Places That Move Us
- Stephen Aiken
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
El Viaje. In Spanish, it means the journey. And for us, that’s exactly what this brand has always been about.
Not just the places we’ve been, but the ones we dream about. The ones that live in our memory through a single scent, a lemon grove, a lavender field, a forest trail after rain. Scent is extraordinary like that. It doesn’t just smell like somewhere. It takes you there.
That’s the whole idea behind El Viaje Scents. And it started, like so many good things, completely by accident.
Born in Lockdown, Built in Belfast
When the world stopped in 2020, Stephen, the person behind El Viaje Scents, was a hairdresser in Belfast with suddenly nowhere to be and an overwhelming need to make something with his hands.
“I just needed a creative outlet,” he says. “I started making candles at home and giving them to friends and family. I didn’t think much of it at the time.”
But his friends and family did. The feedback was, in his words, “raving” and it kept coming. So Stephen did what any quietly ambitious person does when the universe gives them a nudge. He listened.
What followed was the creation of a proper brand, the name, the packaging, the colour palette, the whole world of El Viaje Scents. All designed and built in Belfast, by one person, in a purpose-built studio at home.
Why El Viaje? Why Spanish?
The name comes from a lifelong love affair with Spain.
Stephen attended school there as a child, an experience that left a deep impression and a genuine, lasting connection to the country, its culture, and its language. Spain isn’t just somewhere he’s been. It’s somewhere he sees himself returning to, perhaps one day to live.
Choosing Spanish for the brand name wasn’t a stylistic decision. It was personal. El Viaje (The Journey), felt like the truest possible name for a brand built around the idea that a single scent can carry you somewhere else entirely.
The Power of Scent
Ask Stephen why fragrance and not something else, and the answer comes quickly.
“Scent is incredible. How it can make you think of a location, evoke a memory, it has so much power. That’s why I love it.”
He’s right, of course. Scent is the only one of our senses with a direct line to the part of the brain that processes memory and emotion. A smell doesn’t just remind you of somewhere, it puts you back there. The feeling, the light, the air. All of it.
That’s what every El Viaje product is trying to do. Not just smell nice. Transport you.
The Stories Behind the Scents
Each El Viaje fragrance begins with a journey, real or imagined.
Sometimes Stephen creates the scent first and then asks himself where it takes him. Sometimes a place comes first and he researches it deeply, its flora, its landscapes, the industries and traditions that define it, before building a fragrance that captures its essence. Occasionally someone comes to him with a request: make something that smells like this place. And he does.
Conca D’Oro is a perfect example. The name refers to the “Golden Shell” the fertile valley surrounding Palermo in Sicily, historically famous for its lemon exports. The scent opens with bright, sun-warmed lemon, softened by lavender, a nod to Italy’s beautiful lavender fields. You can almost feel the Mediterranean heat.
Every scent in the collection has a story like this. You can read each one on the product pages, short portraits of the places that inspired them. We’d encourage you to look them up. They make the fragrance mean something more.
A Day in the Studio
Stephen’s studio sits at the back of his Belfast home, purpose-built, stocked, and always smelling extraordinary.
A typical making day starts early. The wax melter goes on first, slowly warming to the right temperature while the rest of the studio comes to life. Music on, usually something atmospheric. (Stephen is a devoted Agnes Obel listener. If you haven’t heard her, consider this your sign.)
While the wax reaches temperature, wicks are set into the glassware and fragrance oils are carefully measured and blended. Each candle is poured in two halves, a deliberate technique that gives a cleaner, more even set to the finished product. It’s one of those small details that makes a real difference to the quality.
Once the candles are cooling, the rest of the day shifts to room mists, wax melts, or when stock allows, the hand-dipped charcoal incense sticks that have become quietly one of the most talked-about things in the range.
It’s a full day’s work. Every time.
Still a Hairdresser, Still Inspired.
Stephen hasn’t left hairdressing behind, he still works as a hairdresser alongside running El Viaje Scents. But as the brand has grown and the orders have kept coming, his hours in the salon have gradually given way to more time in the studio.
It’s a balancing act that feels increasingly like a tipping point.
What’s Next for El Viaje?
The collection keeps growing, the scents keep evolving, and the ambition behind the brand remains exactly what it was from the start, to create home fragrance that feels like more than just a nice smell.
Something that takes you somewhere. Something that stays with you.
That’s the journey. And we’re only getting started.
El Viaje Scents is made in Belfast, inspired by the world. Shop the full collection at
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