LUMI is aromatherapy meets high perfumery, the best of both worlds.
About LUMI
LUMI. Root of luminous/illuminate, to bring light or to enlightened. Established in New York, 2024.
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We create original fragrances that are works of art—conceived, developed, and crafted entirely in-house. Every formulation is guided by quiet intelligence and a deep reverence for the natural world. We do not follow trends. We do not chase scale. We answer to something quieter.
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HOW WE CRAFT
Everything is made in New York. Candles. Body washes. Oil perfumes. Each one formulated with therapeutic-grade botanicals and high-grade natural ingredients sourced from small-scale farms. Some creations, like our White Rose Body Oil, are shaped by seasonal availability—what the land offers, when it offers it. That is not a limitation. That is the point.
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Every product is vegan. Non-toxic. Sulfate-free. SLS-free.
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We are not built for mass production. We are built for attention. Small batches only. Every bottle filled by hand. Every candle poured by hand. Every detail considered. We do not rush. We do not cut corners. We craft at a pace that honors the materials and the person who will eventually hold the finished piece.
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SUSTAINABILITY IS REFUSING THE MACHINE
Mass production creates mass waste. The math is simple. So we refuse it. Small batches. Thoughtful materials. Minimal packaging. Sustainability is not a badge we wear. It is the natural consequence of how we work.
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OUR PRICING PHILOSOPHY
Quality like this costs more. We are at peace with that.
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Consider orange blossom. True essential oil—not fragrance oil, not a synthetic approximation. The real thing. It takes thousands of hand-picked blossoms to produce a single ounce. That ounce costs over six hundred dollars. Mass production cannot touch it. So they use synthetics. We do not. Our prices reflect what we refuse to sacrifice. No shortcuts. No synthetics masquerading as nature. Just the real thing, honestly made. That is why we cost more. That is why we are worth it.
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WHY WE EXIST
We believe the products we use daily should mean something. That they should reconnect us to nature, not distance us from it. That they should honor the gifts of the land. The memories and feelings LUMI products evoke are designed to linger long after the scent fades. Purpose makes that possible. Meaning makes it worthwhile.
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That is the LUMI difference. This is the way. It is our why.
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OUR DEFINITION OF LUXURY
True luxury is not what you own. It is the peace you carry.
Founder's Story
EMERGENCY BRAKE
How It Started
I was grinding through 12+ hour days and weekends in a toxic work environment, playing a blind game of "battleship" just to get the data to do my job. I refused to quit because I had invested so much of myself into it. At first I was suffering from all sorts of mysterious pains and illness without any medical pathology or explanation. Because I didn't listen to my body, it eventually pulled the emergency brake. It forced me into a total, sudden standstill, absolute zero functioning. IKYK: The Body Keeps The Score. During that intense silence, I lit an unremarkable, grocery store-bought lavender candle. That exact sensory moment changed everything. It instantly grounded my nervous system. I actually felt calmer.
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Year 2
Looking for empowering self-help, I tried making my own candles on the weekends.
For two years, it was chaotic. The scents weren’t cohesive—analogous to a toddler finger-painting, mixing too many colors until it just becomes a messy brown wipe on paper. I "gave up" when I became frustrated, returned after a period of time away, and went on like this for about two years.
By year three, something clicked. I finally understood the power of an artist’s discipline—knowing exactly when to blend, and when to walk away. The formulas became complex, beautiful, and deeply calming.
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How It's Going
Scent creation wasn't just art therapy; it helped power down the nervous system from a flight, fight, or freeze state. I am convinced this is my calling. I'm still shocked to this day that I created scents that make me feel softer—light like a feather floating gracefully. I think of my works as "beauty expressed in scent." It evokes feelings of safety, calm, and comfort—a multi-sensory experience of the mind and body that can quickly shift a heavy state into a lighter state.
I believe that if my scent work can help others feel calmer, softer, lighter, grounded, and safe, it is worth sharing with the world under the brand LUMI—from the root word illuminate: to light or enlighten.
Welcome to LUMI
Hi, I'm Jia, founder of LUMI, where aromatherapy meets fragrance and where fragrance cares about how you feel.
The raw, unedited chapters of my story are coming soon in the LUMI Blog.