LM Woman #7 / Elise Pioch Balzac

Maison Balzac candles embody Elise’s romantically modern take on the world. Her scent spectrum travels all the way from La Rose, a candle made in memory of her grandmother’s love of Joy, by Jean Patou, to a collaboration with contemporary artists Lyn & Tony evoking the smell of the Australian landscape. Elise Pioch Balzac is much more than a candlemaker, her art is a catalyst for memories.

What is your occupation?

I have fun running a business called Maison Balzac

What are you currently working on?

I am working on a perfume diffuser with a very talented artist/product designer. I want to offer more than one way to diffuse our fragrances in the air.

How did you end up doing what you’re doing?

Everything I have done in my life makes sense for what I do now. As if I was building my own Sagrada Familia without knowing it!

How do you approach personal style?

By definition it needs to make sense for you and nobody else. It needs to be profoundly personal and comfortable to you. In my case I know I am influenced by my French roots, my mother and grandmother, but also by my personal taste for children’s books and interior design.

Do you have a uniform?

Oh yes! Black, black, black. With a big necklace.

What would you do, see or learn if you had more time?

I would visit the whole of Africa. I would start PhDs on pretty much everything, from ‘shoes as a deep expression of who we are’ to 'the fascinating lifecycle of a bee’…

What would you tell your 18 year-old self?

Stop going out with this guy and don’t be so shy

Who or what has been the most important influence on you in life?

My parent’s philosophy on life is extraordinary, made of poetry, fairness, kindness and hard work.

If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?

In Casteles, in the mountains of the south of France, where we have a small stone house in the forest. It barely has water and electricity but has a huge fireplace and the most serene surroundings. I want to live there with my husband and daughter, Loulou, next to our only neighbor (the village has got 2 houses).

What has been your most memorable meal?

It was in Casteles actually. My dad caught a faisant in the forest, my mum picked girole mushrooms on the same spot, my brothers and I got wild blackberries off the bush and we took all this back home, cooked it on the fire, together as a family. I must have been 15 and this meal will stay with me forever.

Favourite film?

A few…. Lost Highway by Lynch, Mon Oncle by Tati and

Rushmore by Wes Anderson.

Travel destination?

Home in the south of France.