GIBSON AND DEHN: Home Fragrances Inspired by Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Gibson and Dehn is a fragrance line of candles and diffusers that is inspired by locations throughout Saratoga Springs. Proprietor and founder Michael Dehn Breault is fifth generation ‘Dehn’ and spent his childhood summers in Saratoga andworking with his grandparents at Dehn’s Flowers and Gifts. Dehn’s Flowers and Gifts is a staple of Saratoga having been in  business for over 120 years.

A scent with the name Beekman Street has a floral scent with notes of Peony and Hyacinth because it’s the site of Dehn’s family greenhouses. Another fragrance called Féte with a champagne and sorbet scent is named after the floral féte parades held in Downtown Saratoga since the 1890s. While an ocean scent candle called Coastline is inspired by the many regattas held at Saratoga Lake. A new line of candles and diffusers, for the holidays, called Norway Spruce is reminiscent of the decorations by Dehn’s Flowers and gifts that fill downtown during the Christmas season and the large trees that are placed outside the Adirondack Trust Company on Broadway.

“So every fragrance that we launched, we made sure that it really had a specific tie back to the heritage of Saratoga. Then with each of the fragrances that sells, they’re all inspired by botanicals in some way, some are very tied to things that would have been grown in the greenhouse and some are a bit even more far reaching,” Breault said.

“I’ve always been incredibly proud of what the family has done and my background is in natural resources and landscape design;and flowers, the scents and fragrance has always been something that’s been inspiring to me. I’ve had a couple different companies so as an entrepreneur... I started thinking about how we leverage our history and come forward with something that I’m very passionate. That’s when we decided to launch Gibson and Dehn as a retail fragrance brand,” he added.

Breault says while growing up in Saratoga, there was always a lot to see, including nature and the arts. He loves the cultured city life and small town feel Saratoga has to offer. He still makes sure to visit Saratoga a few times a year to gain inspiration from the original greenhouse as he now lives in New York City and his cousin now runs Dehn’s Flowers and Gifts. He says he gets his entrepreneurial character from his grandfather and learned “What it really takes to create something that has value, it’s as simple as planting a seed which turns in to a flower.”