Made in Mississippi: Southern Scents by Carla
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arla Cummings was tired of buying candles to make her huge house smell good, so she decided to make her own candles with stronger scents. “I learned about the ingredients in the candles because you’re breathing in the aroma,” said Carla, explaining further that what goes into your body affects other parts of your body. She went to wood wicks and soy based candles and began looking at products that go on your body, because what goes on your body also goes in it. That started Carla on another journey: essential oils. Carla began creating products with essential oils and shared these with neighbors and friends. They came back for more. That was 20 years ago when she started Southern Scents By Carla. Today, she still makes sure her products contain natural organic ingredients that are safely absorbed through the skin into the body. “If you cut a clove of garlic and rub it on your foot,” explained Carla, “after about 15 minutes you Article by Richelle Putnam
will taste the garlic on your tongue.” Lotions, soaps, anything applied to the skin is absorbed into the body, including household cleaning products that may contain chemicals and toxins. “Cut off the top of a dandelion, and you will see white sap come out, just as when you cut a tree and sap comes out,” said Carla. “God designed these plants to start healing themselves when they are cut or punctured or infected or hurt. Those saps are also healing to humans as well. The Bible talks about how God gave the plants for medicine.” Everything that Carla creates is also edible, “not that you want to,” she added, since you’ll likely be blowing bubbles for quite some time after eating the soap! But all her products are non-toxic. Her natural organic products contain essential oils the body needs to maintain a healthy wellness and all ingredients are seed to seal. Carla uses essential oils in her candles and in Shea Butter and Goat’s Milk to make soaps and lotions and body butters, which are natural and absorb easily into the skin. Photos by Brittney Dowell