- I recently visited a business in Durham that's honoring the past and present through scent.

Tiffany Griffin and her husband, Dariel Heron, create candles and sensory experiences inspired by Black culture and history.

I teamed up with producer Miriam McSpadden to bring you the story of Bright Black.

- Candles as an item are to mark a moment.

It might be a moment of solidarity.

It might be a moment of celebration at a birthday.

It might be a moment of peace and centering.

And so what we hope that we offer folks is an opportunity to mark a moment.

I am a psychologist by training, focused on the relationship between racial identity, racial discrimination, and education and health outcomes.

Whatever I do for work, I'm honoring the beauty and brilliance of Blackness.

I think that scent would be a nice medium for doing so.

- What are you trying to create in terms of a feeling for your customers?

- We settled on, we wanted like a really nice cold throw.

So you smell it and it's like, you actually smelled something.

I don't know if you've ever smelled a candle and you're like, I don't smell anything.

So we wanted a really nice cold throw, a really nice hot throw.

So when you burn it, you can smell it in your space without it giving like headaches and stuff.

- So those are the words.

- [BOTH] A cold throw and a hot throw.

- Okay.

- We wanted something that was healthy and clean.

So all natural, like phthalate free, sulfate free, all the toxin free stuff.

- What are the four categories of scent that you have?

- Yeah, so we have our diaspora collection, which tells the story of five cities of Black greatness through scent.

We have our genres collection, which tells the story of five Black musical genres through scent.

We have our giving collection.

From the very beginning, you know, cooperative economics was front of mind.

And the way that we're realizing it, at least at this moment, is through our giving collection, where we partner with different nonprofits.

We almost always take the lead on distribution and then we donate a proportion of sales to help support their work.

And then the fourth is the ritual collection.

These are scent stories designed to mark moments of time.

Received an email from Meredith Coop, who is Michelle Obama's long time stylist.

She's like, "Hey, we're looking to shake up voting merch."

Like, we wanna create statement pieces that spark conversation in ways that lead to sustained and meaningful civic engagement.

Enter a candle.

So, you know, we designed our Ida scent.

We sold it and then donated a portion to When We All Vote.

- Bright Black goes beyond candles.

And you have something called scent stories and the oils.

Tell me about those products and that experience.

- So we started offering body fragrances as well.

And then once we moved into our current location, we had this like beautiful public facing space and decided we wanted to be this hybrid retail experience where folks can come in and create their own scents for themselves.

- Well, this afternoon, I'm gonna have a friend of mine join me.

So what will be the experience?

- We usually center, just take a breath together.

And then there'll be a guided meditation.

So I'm gonna ask you to close your eyes if you feel comfortable.

I want you to bring to mind a moment when you knew, without a doubt, that you were exactly where you were supposed to be.

And then you go through a process where you translate what came up for you during the meditation into just a brainstormed list of scents.

- How do you represent sunshine as a scent?

- What are you, I mean, I have thoughts, but what are the first things that come to mind for you?

- Because it's outdoors, definitely trees and a little bit of herbs, probably not as much flowers, trees and greenery.

- And then you take that list and start playing.

And then you go into mad scientist mode.

Everything that's here on the scent note sheet is at our scent lab behind you.

So let's say your memory conjured up sandalwood and peppercorn, just for an example.

So halfway up the dropper is 0.5, and 0.5 is one part.

And then I'm gonna stir it up, and then I'm gonna smell it.

Waving it is the best approximation of how it will play as a candle and/or on your skin.

Deep inhale, not so much.

Waving, yes.

Get to something that feels right and then tweak from there.

So which were the two that are the contenders?

These two?

- One and five.

- All right, here's one.

Got it?

Here's two.

- Hmm.

I think I would prefer two.

- Two?

Y'all are officially scent storytellers!

(cheering) - Let me put this on and be empowered right now!

- Right?

- Bright Black retail store is in the Lakewood Shopping Center at 2020 Chapel Hill Road, Suite 24 in Durham.

For more information about their scent story experiences and more, go to brightblackcandles.com.