Edward Nader of Nader’s Gallery reached a very important milestone with his sister Margaret – they just celebrated 32 years of being in business together.

In addition to reaching such a momentous anniversary, he is also celebrating the success of his recently released Edward Nader Collection of candles.

The Edward Nader Collection of candles comes in two foundations: bright and dark.

“They burn beautifully – perfectly flat, they burn evenly and they throw lovely. The throw is nice – it’s not overpowering, it’s a good, solid steady fragrance throw,” Nader said.

The throw is the candles ability to cast its fragrance across a wide area.

The Bright Collection is seven fragrances with a lighter note.

“They’re cleaner, lighter and brighter.

The boxes are a gradation of the spectrum, and the jars are clear with a translucent label,” Nader said. The collection includes Soothe – a combination of pomegranate and sage, Glow – white amber and lily of the valley, Refresh – lemongrass and wild basil, Relax – bergamot, cut grass and Tonka bean, Revive – green apple and lavender, Cleanse – eucalyptus and lavender and Spice – lavender and bergamot.

The Dark Collection brings a more mysterious feel to the candles.

“The second collection is darker, more swarthy, more ambiguous. A richer, fuller fragrance. Not stronger necessarily, but more mysterious,” Nader said. “You might say more masculine even though more women are purchasing them than men. There’s just something about them.”

The Dark Collection are in boxes that are made to look like reclaimed wood, and come in a black jar.

“They’re very earthy and carry a very distinctive smell. Moroccan amber, neroli, mesquite – that sort of thing. It’s a crossing of those that make a darker, richer fragrance.”

The Dark Collection includes Earth – mesquite, neroli and oak moss, Wind –

Moroccan amber, Fire – honey, myrrh, cedar and patchouli, and Rain – tobacco vanilla.

The candles have fared well since being released at Nader’s Gallery just before Christmas.

“I’m really flattered on how well they sold. You have to do a minimum pour on each fragrance, and I was worried I was going to have a thousand candles sitting around, but I sold about half of them in the first couple of weeks.”

Creating the collection has been something Nader has dreamed of doing for quite a while.

“I’ve been wanting to do this for the last six or eight years. I would start working on it and couldn’t get them to work exactly the way I wanted them,” he said. “In the last year, I have worked with several different people to pour them and formulate them for me. I was hell bent on it being a completely organic, soy, essential oil candle and every single person said, ‘Do what you want to, but they won’t sell.’ The idea of them is great, but if it doesn’t burn well, and it doesn’t throw well and it doesn’t make a nice fragrance then you don’t have a product. That’s what finally convinced me, and these turned out lovely,” he said. “The same people who poured mine pour for the Ritz Carlton, they pour for a lot of people like that. I knew I was with the right people.”

The Edward Nader Collection are $30 each and are available at Nader’s Gallery, 524 E. Kings in Shreveport with plans to soon be available online as well.

“I’m so pleased with how receptive people have been. I think people buy one and then they come in and buy a bunch more. They just really make a nice presentation for only $30.”