We spent the day in the candle studio of Hazeltine Scent Co. and gossiped and ate tacos and talked all about our excitement for the book and, most importantly, made so many candles to send out everyone who preorders a copy of Housewarming.

We’ve been big ol’ fans of Hazeltine Scent Co. for years mostly because they have the most beautiful and high quality candles that are hand-poured right here in New Orleans, but also because Head Candle Lady In Charge, Jane, is such a sweet, creative, fun person to be around. So getting to spend a day in the studio felt less like work and more like a field trip.

*Our custom oil blend, ready to be mixed into wax and poured into the vessels!*

The scent we’re pouring is our custom rose blend that we designed with Jane years ago—it blends notes of rose and pink peppercorn and potting soil and it’s so lovely and floral and earthy. It was a big hit in our shop and we wanted to bring it back so making it the gift you receive when you preorder our book feels like we’re giving it the attention it deserves. Back in the day we just called it ‘rose candle’ but you’ll now see it named ‘Death of Patroclus,’—it’s the same formula and also no one died in the making of this candle. The name is a mythological and literary (à la The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller) reference to Patroclus, the dear friend and lover of the Greek war hero Achilles.

In the story, Patroclus’s death spurs Achilles into a distraught rampage, which ultimately leads to his own death. Per Achilles’s wishes, the two sets of ashes are buried together and a monument is erected that bears only Achilles’s name, Patroclus forgotten to history and his wandering spirit left to roam aimlessly rather than advancing to an afterlife. And if that’s not a devastating story about a toxic gay relationship, I don’t know what is. So we named our favorite candle after it!

If you’ve preordered our book you’ll receive your copy in the mail sometime around publication day (April 19th), but also if you just fill out this little online form with your mailing address and a copy of your book purchase receipt, you’ll get a 4oz dramatic Death of Patroclus candle, too! If you haven’t yet preordered—do so before April 19th to qualify for your gift! We loved designing and pouring this scent, and we have been burning it in our house every day since our candle field trip, and we can vouch that it is really really nice however biased we may be.

If you want to get your hands on some of the other incredible products from Hazeltine Scent Co., click on the below images to start building your cart! If you’re a little overwhelmed about buying candles before smelling them, check out the Discovery Set for a little PuPu Platter of sorts to get you acquainted with which scents you love.