Attorney Amina Mack using unique candle business to help give back to community

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    MARLTON, New Jersey (KYW) — She’s a lawyer by day who has taken on a unique hobby in her spare time. During the pandemic, that hobby has grown into a business that’s also giving back.

To make the perfect massage candle it takes skill and the right blend.

“This one has been cooking for a little while… it includes cocoa butter, shea butter, sweet almond oil,” Amina Mack said.

For Amina Mack, the founder of Lucky Thirteen Candle Company, mastering the craft took a whole lot of determination, as well.

“I actually taught myself through watching a bunch of YouTube videos,” Mack said. “I just kept practicing, practicing, practicing, mixing a bunch of different combinations and then I found the perfect combination that just worked really well.”

What makes these fragrant candles so unique is that the essential oils and fragrance oils that Amina adds, liquify as the candles burn.

“The ingredients allow you to melt it, use it to moisturize your skin, give yourself a massage, get a massage, and then it will harden back up and you can use it multiple times,” Mack said.

Amina makes the massage candles in her spare time in her Marlton, New Jersey home, where since the pandemic, she’s been also doing her day job.

“I am actually an attorney full time. I work for the government with social security disability,” Mack said. “I was planning for my wedding, and I said, ‘You know what? I need some extra money, extra cash and I said I love candles, I love fragrance oils, essential oils, how can I combine the two and create something unique – a unique candle.’ So it just kind of came to me.”

After she and her husband AJ tied the knot last summer, she decided to keep the online business going.

“Weekly, I’m making at least 30 candles, but then there are also other opportunities where people will come up to me for wholesale orders. So, I can be making 200 candles in one week,” Mack said.

Amina is now taking a portion of the proceeds and giving back.

“I’ve been very fortunate, very blessed in my life. As an attorney, I’ve been in public service. So for me, it’s very important that I give back,” Mack said.

Since last June, she’s been donating between 10 to 15% of the money she makes from sales each month to non-profit organizations including, Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia, Special Olympics of New Jersey, and The Philadelphia Bail Fund.

“For me, this doesn’t feel like a task, this is actually fun,” Mack said. “There are so many people that I’m educating, who have never heard of this type of candle and they’re loving it… and I love the fact that I am introducing people to a different type of candle.”

Lucky Thirteen’s candles burn at a low temperature so you won’t get burned when you pour out the oil, and Amina uses all-natural ingredients.

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