Smoking kills! And yet, the kids keep doing it – the World Health Organization now warns that nine times more children than adults are vaping, fueling a “new wave of nicotine addiction.” Teens may be teetotaling, but they definitely haven’t given up nicotine.
Back in the early 2010s, Emily Schexnayder, born to two smokers, was a high schooler who didn’t want to smoke. Well, “I wanted to smoke, but I didn’t want to smoke tobacco. I don’t really like the effect of nicotine.” After veering away from prop cigarettes for movies, she ended up making her own blends using herbs from a tea bar off South Congress.
The original blend was largely what is in Schexnayder’s new line of Angel’s Cigs now: mullein, marshmallow leaf, damiana, raspberry leaf. Damiana, native to South Texas, is an alleged aphrodisiac, “but to me, it gives a sense of relaxation and optimism, a little like a mood lifter,” she says. Mullein is often used as a remedy to clear out the lungs. Lobelia has been used as a smoking cessation tool historically and has stimulating effects similar to tobacco, but it’s a very small quantity within each cigarette. Raspberry leaf, used mostly in tea, is anti-inflammatory and has been used in folk remedies to aid in childbirth and ease menstrual cramps.
“I was just this weird girl that always had rolled her own funky cigarettes, in high school, early college,” said Schexnayder. She never considered them a business venture, but after an eight-year career in art museum administration in Chicago, she moved back to Austin last year to be closer to family. Cut loose from that path, “the name Angel’s finally came to me, and then I felt like the rest of the road was there.”
Angel’s has already garnered a wave of name recognition just from Schexnayder’s social network – LoLo Wine held her launch party in late July, and they’re now stocked at Justine’s, Hole in the Wall, and Noah Marion, an upscale design studio. That kind of word of mouth is a big deal for what is still a cigarette brand, even if it’s not tobacco. The overhead is steep – a machine that rolls one cigarette at a time costs $250 and the next one up is $30,000 to import from China. Combine that with processing the herbs by hand, and it’s a painstaking process to create a niche product.
“I’ve done a lot of research and I’m very careful about the blend,” Schexnayder says. “These are tried-and-true things.” She’s cognizant of safety concerns, and doesn’t want any association to cannabis; she’s looking to ape the vibe of old-school cigarette brands. “I really admire heritage brands like Lucky Strike and Marlboro, they’re so classic.” The design, by Caleb Vanden Boom, is vintage-inspired and simple, with tiny cherub insignias that evoke old-school charm. “I like that kind of stability, but I’d like to be able to have some fun, like a pink pack, limited-run collaboration blends, special holiday packs, a Valentine’s Day pack that’s more damiana-heavy. I would love to have fun with the packaging.”
At its core, Schexnayder says her goal is to offer something that acknowledges the aesthetic draw of the cigarette without tobacco’s negative effects. “I want them to be near cigarettes, but their opposite,” she says. “I want these to gently take the edge off, to be super soft on your throat and lungs, and to be there for you when you want them – but gone when you don’t.”
For the smokers trying to quit, or the non-smokers craving the aura of a cigarette, explore alternatives at angelscigs.com.
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This article appears in December 12 • 2025.