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Nose Best: How a Brooklyn Candle Company is Building Community, One Scent at a Time

LGBTQ owned candle brand Nose Best Candles in Brooklyn, New York | She Comes With Baggage Media

Editor's Notes: What started as a pandemic pivot has grown into one of Brooklyn's most beloved multi-sensory experiences. Nose Best Candles, founded in 2020 by two self-described "unhinged fire signs," was born out of a simple but the powerful desire to help people feel connected even when the world had forced them apart.


Co-founders Brittany Furnari and Cristian Abbrancati launched Nose Best during the height of quarantine, when virtual birthday parties and Zoom weddings became the new normal. Rather than accept that ambiance couldn't travel through a screen, they created candles designed to do exactly that, each fragrance thoughtfully paired with a playlist and a mocktail recipe, turning a simple product into a full sensory ritual.


Six years later, that vision has expanded far beyond the candle itself.



Walk into the Nose Best production studio in Brooklyn and you're immediately pulled out of the chaos of New York City and into something quieter, warmer, and a little unexpected. Their Candle Making Speakeasy workshops guide guests through the entire candle-making process from selecting their signature scent to pouring their own custom creation all within an intimate, speakeasy-style space that feels like a world unto itself.


LGBTQ owned candle brand Nose Best Candles in Brooklyn, New York

We live in a paradox by being digitally connected, yet loneliness has become one of the quiet crises of our time. The founders of Nose Best saw this clearly and built their Candle Making Speakeasy workshops as a direct response. "We still live in a world where people are experiencing feelings of isolation and loneliness," they shared. "We specifically built our candle making class to face this problem head on by encouraging strangers to sit with each other and be creative together." The art of fragrance does the heavy lifting by sparking memories, memories spark stories, and stories spark connection before anyone has a chance to feel out of place.



"We all have olfactory memories that teleport us back to moments with our families, friends, achievements and childhoods," the founders explained. Those memories become the currency of connection in their workshops with strangers sitting together, creating something by hand, and finding out they have more in common than they expected.


As a queer, Latina owned business operating in one of the most diverse cities in the world, inclusivity isn't a marketing strategy for Nose Best, it's baked into the DNA of everything they do. Their identity as founders shapes a brand culture they describe as "daring, unapologetic, joyful, silly and warm." The door is open, and it's open wide. "If someone notices these characteristics and they're game to have fun with us, then we're ready to accept them with open arms."


During Pride Month, that visibility gets amplified even further from corporate market invitations to collaborations with drag queens and features in LGBTQ+ gift guides. June, they note, has become just as significant a season as the holidays.


"Don't be something for everyone. Be everything for someone."

Nose Best is also asking harder questions about an industry that doesn't always volunteer the answers. Most candles don't come with an ingredient list, and the founders wanted to change that. "When you purchase a candle it can sometimes be a mystery," they said. "You have to wonder, 'Is this candle more toxic than the other?'"


Their answer was to build a brand grounded in education while using sustainable, eco-friendly soy wax and making sure customers understand exactly what they're burning in their homes. Last year, they launched their Reduce & Reuse Program, inviting customers to return used Nose Best jars in exchange for a discount. Those jars are then repurposed for new products and fragrance testing, closing the loop in a small but meaningful way.


Balancing sustainability advocacy with the daily grind of running a small business isn't easy, they admit. But community has become their answer to that tension too. Most recently, Nose Best co-launched Shop Small Bushwick in partnership with Hive Mind Books a collective effort to amplify the voices of small business owners in their zip code through one unified channel.


"When all of us have the space to showcase our work and missions, we're all doing it through a singular channel, which I think is more powerful than doing it alone."


LGBTQ owned candle brand Nose Best Candles in Brooklyn, New York | She Comes With Baggage Media


When asked about the "baggage" that has shaped their journey, the Nose Best founders got refreshingly honest. Their biggest lesson? Stop overthinking. "Your first idea tends to always be the best decision," they reflected. "So many times we've caught ourselves spiraling with so many ideas that branched off of one fantastic idea. Then suddenly we're drowning in our minds."


Time and again, they found that when they finally executed something and got to the other side of it, the gut instinct was what worked. Learning to trust that instinct, especially when launching something new or entering a creative partnership, has become one of their most valuable tools.



Follow Nose Best Candles and book your Candle Making Speakeasy experience:

📸 Instagram: @nosebestcandles_

🎵 TikTok: @nosebestcandles

▶️ YouTube: @nosebestcandles



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