Bookish Candle ☻ Rum + Tobacco ✿ Gatsby's After Party

No seriously, hear me out… I’ve been an avid candle lover since a high school fundraiser where my drill team sold them. The students received a ziplock bag w tiny samples of the scented wax for each candle we offered. I remember once I bought a few of this, my bedroom became a candle zone. My parents really resented that I’d burn a candle every evening, and sometimes multiple candles at once. I don’t remember the company or brand anymore, but those little sample packs really started my obsession with a delightfully scented safe haven.

Over the years since then, I've tried all the main famous brands of the market (Bath and Body, Yankee, Scentsy, etc). For many years I was convinced a certain store was the best, no one could do it quite like them, especially their holiday collections.

Flash forward to 2024, I stumbled upon Literari’s booth at a market for makers in Houston. It was one of the cutest booths there with VERY eye catching branding and displays. I was obsessed with the bookmarks and bags galore! My husband and I spoke with Jordan, the owner and creator, and she told us about the clean and safe ingredients she uses. We smelled everything and picked out two iridescent jar candles to try, one being this Gatsby candle.

Admittedly, we were somewhat skeptical and maybe jaded after trying other loved one’s small business’s scented offerings with the promises of natural ingredients. Soaps, bath bonds, scrubs, you name it. Sadly, we felt they never really smelled as good or as strong or as long as the previously mentioned brands we’d grown accustomed to. But we were at the market for a reason so we went through with the purchase anyway.

We carefully read the candle care instructions Jordan provided us with. That first burn of Gatsby’s after party, our home (which is a pet owner and recreational grass smokers home mind you) immediately filled with the same luxurious smell that exuded from the candle itself pre-lighting, which if you have much experience with a wide variety of candles, you know is NOT always the case.

I find it difficult to describe the notes you pick up from this candle, but it’s somehow simultaneously musky and sweet in the best way and just so CLEAN smelling. It was until consistently burning the literati candles we had and subsequently blowing them out until we realized that whatever those clean ingredients Jordan told us about at her booth are THE TRUTH. There’s was no chemically fume coming off of the wick at all. Once I noticed how her candles didn’t smell yucky upon blowing out like many others, I could NOT unnotice it.

Our two candles from the market lasted about 2 months total of consistent or burning at least one on most days. I recently found that I had burned the candles for the last time, it was time to lay them to rest. Out of sheer desperation, I stopped at a bath and body location on the way home from work yesterday. I needed a candle THAT DAY (destructive dog day at home) but since Literari is based in Florida and I am in Houston, I knew I’d have to get something local to me in a pinch.

Right now, bath and body has their fall/halloween collection. For a long time, this season used to be the time I spent the MOST at the store stocking up on enough candles to last until the next years fall collection was released. I spent over thirty minutes in there that afternoon picking up every single scent on every shelf and figuring out which one I wanted that day. Every candle I picked out smelled chemically and artificial suddenly. I was so grossed out by so many of the smells, but I desperately bought the candle that was the closest to Gatsby I could find due to lack of suitable alternatives. I went home and burned the store bought candle and almost immediately blew it out. It just didn’t hit like my new found obsessions from Literari! Going forward I’ll keep Jordan’s luxurious products in stock for my house so I never have to buy a lower quality product again!

Trust me, buy these candles! You’ll never go back to what you knew before! Thanks Jordan for curating these unique scents.