Bookish Scents: Literary Candles

I have a bit of a candle obsession. If there were a support group for people like me, I’d join it. Or maybe I wouldn’t, because who doesn’t love candles?

I’ve seen blog posts about candles whose scents are based on novels, like Wuthering Heights or The Hunger Games or the smell of old bookshops. But when I followed the links to these candles on Etsy, I was put off completely by the postage I’d have to pay to get these candles from America. I’m a poor student; even I can’t justify spending £12 on p&p for a candle.

So I started looking about on Esty and found a few UK candle shops (with much more reasonable prices). Whilst the candles aren’t based on books, I ordered a couple of candles from ‘Cozy Glow‘. One was called ‘Rainy Days’, the other ‘Pine Needle’. Their candles don’t tend to be an amalgamation of scents, which I enjoy. For example, I really like the smell of roses or sandalwood, and they have candles that are just those scents.

‘Rainy Days’ is one of the few which has a mixture of scents. It smells really comforting and its aroma is gentle, not overpowering. I can’t put my finger on what’s in it, but I think there’s a faint aroma of baby powder.

The ‘Pine Needle’ candle is a little overpowering when you sniff it, but when lit the scent mellows slightly and its really relaxing. It helps me to calm down in the evenings after a busy day. ‘Cozy Glow’ also have excellent customer service, I must add, and the delivery was quick.

Now, onto the literary candles.

I ordered two from ‘Old Glow Candles‘. One is ‘Ghost Stories’, the other is based on ‘Winterfell’ from Game of Thrones. 

I love horror and all things creepy, so I was excited to see what ‘Ghost Stories’ would smell like. It smells really nice but not… creepy. Yet in all honesty, what does creepy even smell like? No one wants a candle to smell of death and decay. I do really like the aroma of it though. I can’t put my finger on what it does smell like, so if anyone purchases it and has any ideas, let me know!

‘Winterfell’, however, wow. Just wow. As soon as I sniffed it I was like “This smells like a castle!”. You know those holidays where your parents drag you around some musty old castle or stately home? ‘Winterfell’ smells just like that and more. It doesn’t smell like a disused castle, but a working one. It’s a little musty, but not in a bad way; it’s supposed to smell like Winterfell after all. There’s definitely a woodiness to it and a scent that reminds me of the incense used in Catholic churches. It smells just like I’d imagine Winterfell to smell. Wild but homely.

I really like both of these Etsy shops. ‘Old Glow Candles’ took a while to dispatch my order, but I’m not sure if that was due to them needing to actually make the candles; they may not have had any ready. They have a lot of other literary candles, including Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Neverland and Rivendell. I’m excited to try the last two especially when I have the money to buy them.

I hope ‘Cozy Glow’ consider releasing some themed candles because, whilst I love their simple candles, I think it would be great to see another company’s take on how the moors of Wuthering Heights would smell, or the Red Keep at King’s Landing. But either way, they have a large selection of candles and I can’t wait to try some more.

In case you missed the links earlier in the post, here they are again:

Cozy Glow

Old Glow Candles

Have any more literary candles you love? Have you tried any other candles from Cozy Glow or Old Glow Candles? Let me know in the comments below!

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