The world is quite familiar at this point to how much I love scents. I sniff defusers like a crackhead, burn candles like an arsonist and collect all the free perfume samples from magazines and Sephoras around town (I’d say there are worse problems to suffer from for those who would tut). Therefore, it would only seem befitting for me to post another ‘A Bookish November’ article on a bookish candle company, and which better one to feature than the first one I stumbled upon when I first started bookstagram a few months back – Novelly Yours on Etsy?
Novelly Yours is an Illinois-based candle company run by the lovely Brittany Smith that specialises in soy, literary inspired candles, tea lights, wax melts/tarts, as well as provides custom orders for those with specific tastes. All dye-less candles are vegan friendly, but when asking her dye suppliers, Brittany was unable to determine whether the dyes themselves were vegan friendly or not.
For those wondering, candles range from being inspired by book characters such as Inej/ ‘The Wraith‘ from Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows (which I’ve reviewed here); to wax melts inspired by Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen series; to bookish lands such as Morrighan from Mary E. Pearson’s The Remnant Chronicles (my most recent read – as of this morning); to general bookish scents like Book Boyfriend; to general pop culture referenced candles such as Rachel’s Trifle from that Thanksgiving episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. with all the layers visible through the glass jar packaging.
Speaking of packaging, you have the option of 8oz tin and glass jars, and obviously, the glass jars come at a higher price. Whereas as tinned candles come at an average of $11, the glass jars come at $17.63. Additional prices include $14.92 for their samplers, under $10 for their tea light samplers (that come with four tea lights), and $16.27 for custom orders and the Amortentia deal.
Here’s the difference between the two (custom orders and Amortentia, that is), because it boggled me initially: a custom order is literally a custom order – where you can request any scent or combination of scents you’d like. An Amortentia candle is a candle you can make using any scents out of a list of 83 already existing scents available at Novelly Yours.
If you’re looking for additional deals, Brittany offers a ‘choose two’ deal where you can select two 4oz tinned candles for $11, and a ‘choose four’ deal for 2oz candles that also comes at $11.
For those who can’t have flames burning, each wax melt comes at $4, and ‘fandom sets’, as Brittany likes to call them come in collections of 2oz, 4oz, 8oz tinned candles as well as wax melts, and the prices for these vary depending on the sizes you select.
And for all my fellow discount hunters:
I have a never-ending coupon code available to all customers for $4 off of four or more 8oz tins (STOCKUP4) and $2 off the purchase of four or more wax melts (TONSOFTARTS).
If you follow any of my reps on Instagram, they always have 10% off coupon codes for any purchase, no minimum!
And sometime before the holiday season, I’m planning a flash sale so keep your eyes open for that! Any sales will be announced on my social media platforms.
You can find Brittany’s reps for November through to January on Instagram through their usernames listed below:
- @_livelaughread
- @acciobooksncoffee
- @lizzielovesbooks
- @meganthemeganerd
- @crimeofrhyme
- @bookswrotemystory
When discussing how Brittany produces her candles, she stated:
I come up with candles two different ways, essentially: It’s either while I’m reading and I make a note or it’s from a book I’ve already read and I go back and research scents later on. I usually look for specific passages because I like to bring something to life that the author has already imagined for an even more vivid experience! There are moments of interpretation to allow a better blend of scents but I try to match specific scents as best as possible!
Currently, Novelly Yours‘ scents are solely inspired by YA novels and its characters, but the newest addition to the product line is a Disney collection of candles and wax melts. Some of the scents include Beast’s Library from Beauty and the Beast, naturally – one of my favourite Disney adaptations of a fairy-tale, Jasmine’s Garden from Aladdin, and Unbirthday, inspired by The Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland.
One candle in particular – a newer addition to the collection – takes the best of books and Disney, and turns it into a candle based on a fairytale retelling of a story adapted by Disney multiple times – Cath’s Lemon Tarts inspired by the backstory of The Queen of Hearts, as told by Marissa Meyer through Heartless.The scent is described to smell like ‘lemon cake, sugar, [and] buttercream’, and the sound of the mingled scents is enough to make me drool.
When asked on any additions to her collection in the future, Brittany told us:
I actually just announced a new selection of scents that I’m bringing into the shop [this week]! I’m introducing four new regular listings and semi-retiring some older scents in order to make way for the new! New candles include Liam (inspired by The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken), Matt Finch (inspired by Open Road Summer by Emery Lord), Lily Bloom’s (inspired by It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover), and Kestrel (inspired by The Winner’s Trilogyby Marie Rutkoski)! A few older scents will be available only on an inventory basis starting in November (meaning they’re not gone for good but will only be available as I have inventory on hand) in order to make way for these exciting new scents!
I also have a Candle of the Month that changes each month and is only available for that designated month and I’ve started to include seasonal candles in my line-up which are also available for a limited time. I’ll be announcing November’s Candle of the Month soon!!
In addition to this she said that ‘November and December will have their own Candles of the Month and I’m working on rolling out at least one seasonal candle for the winter months as well. I’m expecting the holiday season to pick up quite a bit so there’s a possibility of a flash sale or too before the holidays hit!’
As of this article, you can purchase any of the new additions to Brittany’s collection, and the candle of the month for the month of November was announced as Fantasy Beasts, inspired by Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Presently, the store is closed until the 11th of November, so because we can’t move forward with our Novelly Yours orders, let’s move back TO THE START FOR ANOTHER BACKSTORY!
(That transition though…)
Candle making can be viewed by many as a hobby, and that’s just how it started for Brittany – as a hobby, when a friend of hers sent her regular candles as a present. Thinking it would be fun to embark on her own candle making journey, Brittany experimented with candle-making, and when she mastered the basics came the trouble of finding inspiration for her scents – but that’s what books are for, right? As for the name, she stated:
I actually was really looking into becoming an author’s assistant a few years ago. I love organizing and helping out, especially where emails/social media/blogging were concerned, but in the end I decided it would be too much work to try to do with my regular job. I selected NovellyYours as my “company” name — “Novelly” for a book reference and “Yours” to reference being an assistant. When I started making candles, the name fit just as well and it was the perfect opportunity to use it!
And as always, here is a little she had to say on what Novelly Yours and its products mean to her:
Q: What do your products mean to you? (this can be interpreted as a creator, as a businesswoman, bookworm, or all!)
A: My products really mean a lot to me in so many ways. I put a lot of heart and soul into each idea and spend a lot of time making each candle and it means so much to me when I hear great feedback. It’s a creative outlet for me which is a lot of fun and it’s a great way to constantly enjoy what I’m doing! But most importantly, I always want to make sure customers are happy with their products. I didn’t start this candle company as a way to make money (although now I’m hoping to someday do this full time!) — I started it because I wanted to share something special with other readers and fans and that’s the most important thing to me above anything else!
Q: How do your products reflect you?
A: I think you can see my creativity and attention to detail in each one. I love coming up with the different scents involved and I don’t settle for something that smells “kind of like” something that an author described. An author asked me to create a custom candle that smelled like a paint studio and there are literally no available fragrances that smell like paints, so I came up with an idea that involved a mix of fragrances to create the end result of a paint studio. I wanted to take the time to give my customer what they wanted and it was actually even more fun to get creative and pick out notes of different scents that gave off the final feel of something totally different. It was really cool to see that come to life!
I’ve also designed my own labels. They’re nothing too fancy (and I totally get label envy from some of those gorgeously elaborate labels out there) but I feel like they represent my personal style really well and they’re also simple enough to be incorporated in a number of different photos for bookstagrammers. Eventually I’d love to do another redesign but for now, I think they work great for me!
Q: Lastly, what are your customers getting when they purchase from Novelly Yours?
A: When purchasing from Novelly Yours, you’re receiving a candle that has had a lot of hard work and inspiration put into it. I don’t think a lot of people know how time consuming it is to make candles and it really is a process from start to finish! It’s always fun so I never complain about the work but I’m still working a full-time job outside of making candles so I’m literally working seven days a week. When customers order from Novelly Yours, they are getting a candle that has had a lot of dedication put towards it because even if it takes me extra time, I’m going to do it right!
I also feel like I provide good customer service to my customers. I take customer satisfaction very seriously so anything from replying quickly to addressing issues to dealing with the post office, I’m willing to help out wherever is needed.
Lastly, Novelly Yours customers will receive a candle that has been very thought through. I choose each scent I put into the candles very carefully and I take the extra time to find a unique name and quote to include on the labels. Sometimes it takes an extra long time to search and find just the perfect one but I won’t put out a candle for sale if I don’t feel it’s right!
The biggest take for me from this article was to take care of what you purchase, or what someone has gifted you. I think it’s very easy for us nowadays to say we’ll buy a replacement, but with the reflection we’ve had over the last couple articles on what kind of work goes into the making of your requested product, or the care, I think it’s become evidently more necessary for us to cherish what we have.
If you’d like to get in touch/follow Brittany, you can do so on multiple platforms such as Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest!
(NOTE: all images featured in this article are taken by Brittany herself, and were used from her Instagram!)
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