Season five of the Real Housewives of Dallas was unlike any other; it was filmed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it featured its first Asian-American housewife who’s also a full-time anesthesiologist. Dr. Tiffany Moon joined the show as a friend of long-time cast member D’Andra Simmons but quickly faced scrutiny by the rest of the cast for her dedication to an early bedtime and her insistence that her close-minded castmates try traditional Chinese food (chicken feet, anyone?).
However, Moon’s Housewives era was just a stepping stone on her ambitious agenda. While she enjoyed her time on the show (Bravo has not announced RHOD’s return), she is energized by pursuing a variety of projects, along with her typically busy schedule as a mom of twin six-year-old daughters and working as an anesthesiologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.
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Moon is a self-professed ‘workaholic’, which made the slower times of the COVID-19 pandemic quite the adjustment for her. When elective surgeries were canceled at the beginning of the pandemic, Moon’s schedule was drastically decreased.
“I found a little bit of extra time on my hands and I also suffer from severe anxiety and so I need something to do that’s kind of a goal-oriented thing or else I just sort of sit and worry. So I started mixing essential oils and making my own candles,” says Moon.
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With a number of friends working as doctors and nurses around the country, Moon decided to craft care packages for her friends using her first batch of candles.
“All the candles are named after anesthesia medications and they all have a tagline so like the first one I made was called propofol, which is the drug that we use to put people to sleep. So propofol is for humans who need a nap,” says Moon.
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Her friends quickly fell in love with the rejuvenating scents and their clever titles, and recommended Moon sell them online. Within two months of being online, she sold about 400 candles.
“I was like, ‘oh my god’ and then I had an ‘oh crap’ moment because I was like, I had to go down to the basement and make more candles!”
From there, Moon quickly hired a small, mostly-female staff based in Dallas and Aroma-sthesia was born. Even through expansion, the company has kept all of its operations in-state. Candles are hand poured using premium soy and coconut wax and three coatings of essential oils, ensuring a long lasting aromatic smell without the use of harmful paraffin wax.
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Moon is particularly passionate about candles because of how they can evoke memories and emotions. The brain has olfactory receptors that are linked directly to our emotion center and our memory center, so often smelling a familiar scent will transport us back to that first, or most memorable, moment of experiencing it, says Moon.
Aroma-sthesia has also provided Moon with the opportunity to donate its proceeds to a variety of charities. For May, in honor of AAPI Heritage Month, Moon will be donating May’s proceeds to the AAPI Women’s Fund.
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Between pursuing her passion project, raising a family and working as an anesthesiologist, it’s hard to imagine Moon taking on any more. However, the busy doctor plans to work on a children’s book and a book about her life as a United States immigrant and her unique journey to the top.
Another pandemic project was her successful Tik Tok page. Moon’s step-daughter initially created the account for her so she could like her videos. As isolation and togetherness waned on Moon and her family, they found fun by dancing along to popular Tik Tok trends.
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She now also has over 12 million views on her hilarious Tik Tok page, though she doesn’t take it too seriously.
“I always say, the moment you start thinking of it as a job it becomes not as fun,” says Moon.
For Real Housewives of Dallas fans itching to know more about the truly off-color season 5, Moon has stayed in touch with D’Andra Simmons and her mom “Mama Dee”, whom Moon refers to as “the seventh housewife.”
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Moon says she hasn’t heard from or spoken to the rest of the cast, but she’s not completely closed off to the idea of another season. If the show were to be revived with a different cast, like the latest season of Real Housewives of Miami, she would reevaluate.
“I learned so much from it and I'm grateful for it but I think it does need to be rested for a few years. I think Bravo made the right decision by not having season six this year. So let's see what happens,” says Moon.
Purchase Aroma-sthesia candles throughout the month of May to donate to the AAPI Women’s Fund. Check out the Aroma-sthesia Instagram page and website to shop the full collection.
Photography by: Courtesy of Tiffany Moon
