A Note About Slow North from a Neighbor

Guest Contributor: Jessie Collins

I have a new neighbor, and I’m in love! Last month Slow North opened their doors in north-central Austin where I’ve lived for nearly three years. In that time, I’ve watched this already-charming area turn into an even-more welcoming and exciting place to live. Slow North’s arrival couldn’t have made that sentiment any truer.

I’m not a stranger to Slow North. In fact, Slow North has made me feel loved and cared for since the day the first candles launched in the online shop. Their products have always been about something bigger and more important than simply botanical goods. The company’s founders saw a need for clean living in their own home, made it happen and then chose to share it with others. Their generosity and sincere passion for a healthy household catapulted and revealed for me the need for wholeness down to the details.

This is the beauty of Slow North – every product is made with intention. Their candles create a space to make meaning out of the simplest and most sacred moments in every day. There’s a peaceful and healing quality about a product so pure, and you can’t help but feel good about your purchase.

NOW somehow – in some magical way – Michelle of Slow North has managed to bottle this feeling and create a whole dang store out of it. You step into the therapeutic space you want to spend all of your time in. The married scents of their candles are a dream, and the multi-purpose room makes you want to linger and explore forever.

To your left is the production studio where the most wonderful people hand-pour your favorite Slow North candles. Without any kind of barrier between the makers and the shoppers, the design of the studio offers a completely transparent look into their process and ingredients.

To your right, the most beautiful shop filled with an array of good things that would make just about any home a little more special. From jewelry to planters, Slow North’s shop is so beautifully stocked without feeling at all elitist or unattainable. Quite the opposite – you can sense the founders’ love for “slow” and intentional living in every piece. Everything is hand-crafted by amazing artisans, beautifully created and perfectly complementary to the next.

To make it even more wonderful, Slow North has opened up the studio for workshops. I believe this space will act as inspiration and guidance for so many people. This neighborhood lacks very little, but Slow North most certainly fills a long-awaited void for a store of this kind.

Like everything Slow North does, this dual-purpose space makes people feel cared for. It feels like a gift to the community, and I’m a happy camper knowing it’s my neighbor.