Candle-making and fantasy novels saved me.

That much I know.

Hi, I’m Julia,

the human behind the candles!

Our story.

In the summer of 2021 I, like many, had been “sheltering in place” for over a year, working at home, alone in my apartment, mental health in shambles. Needing support, I decided to move back home for a while and it was soon after that that my mother asked me if I’d be interested in taking a candle-making class.

Funny enough, the night before I had been considering taking on a “new peaceful hobby” and candle-making was already at the top of the list. I’ve always found it rather hilarious that we were simply on the same wavelength! Like the universe was saying, “this is the move.”

I went in wanting to create a candle I could burn while practicing an anxiety reduction technique based around visualizing happy memories. As a lifelong Harry Potter fan, I naturally associated this with the “Expecto Patronum” spell. Long story short, the candle I created became Shadow & Flame’s first scent blend!

For me there’s something that’s incredibly comforting in fantasy novels. Perhaps it’s the escapism or simply that the characters within my favorite stories go through their own struggles and emerge stronger. They fight for “a better world” or show the reader that “through love, anything is possible.”

These characters are like my friends…

Something incredible about the bookish community is that I’m not alone in that. We all just want to show love to our favorite worlds and bring those worlds a little closer to us - S&F scents are just one way of doing that.

I really can’t stress enough how deeply personal every collection and release is for me. I make things based on what I love and put them out in the hopes that others will love them too. (Every time I hear that you do, a part of me can’t quite believe it- and a very real person does a happy dance!)

Connect with Me

ON MY PERSONAL INSTAGRAM: @LITERARYVILLAINESS

When you get a book in the mail and your nails just so happen to need an update 💖
Design inspired by “The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy” by @brigitteknightley
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Pink base/details: @mooncat Momo Yuyake
Neutral base: @lightsla

And with that…Fin 🖤 (for now?)

I wrote this bonus epilogue in what feels like a fever dream, while working on the end of Lillith’s story in Parts II and III.
Firstly, it just felt like Theo wanted so desperately to have a chance to sho

Veneflora Part III is here 🖤 Join me as Ben and Lillith’s story comes to its conclusion!
With worlds—and her heart—on the line Lilli is faced with serious choices here at the end. Do you think she makes the right one?

(And thank

A little extra lore from Veneflora Part II 🖤🥀 Our conclusion in Part III (and its bonus epilogue) is fast approaching! See you all Saturday afternoon!

Part II is live on Ao3!
🥀
Thank you for all the support, without which this extension to Veneflora would likely have not come into being. ❤️ I spend most of my time on other planets in the Empire, so being able to come back to a couple of my favorit

Customer love:

“My girlfriend and I had our bathroom ceiling develop a leak and it turned into a hole. The maintenance team for our apartment building had to come in and fix the pipes, which left debris and rubble all over, and brought in this huge industrial heating fan.

And the whole time Lavinia and I realized how something like that can make home not exactly feel like home. Today they came in and replaced the ceiling and took out the fan, so we cleaned out the bathroom and turned on one of your waxes and the bathroom finally felt cozy again.

Ever since you sent us the waxes, we’ve always had one wax in the bathroom basically 24/7 and so the bathroom always smells so nice. And now that it smells like that again it feels whole again.

You never realize how regular something is in your life until it is taken away and we always have scented candles or your waxes in every room, so each room smells good but different. And it just felt so weird to not have that in the bathroom. And now your wax has restored balance.

I just wanted you to know your creation is very much appreciated and loved in our home.