Pure palo santo essential oil, cedarwood, and patchouli in a hand-poured soy wax candle. Warm, woody, and quietly resinous. Sourced from naturally fallen wood in South America.
Palo Santo means holy wood. It grows in the dry tropical forests of the Pacific coast of South America and has been burned in ceremony and daily life across the region for centuries. The scent is distinctive and immediately recognisable — warm and woody at its core, with a natural citrus lift from the resin and a faint mintiness underneath that keeps it clean and open.
This candle carries that material in a considered three-oil blend. Pure palo santo essential oil provides the warmth and resinous character at the heart of the fragrance. Cedarwood adds a dry, structured woody depth that grounds the blend and gives it backbone. Patchouli sits beneath both — earthy, slightly sweet, and persistent — slowing the release of the lighter notes above it and giving the burn a richness that develops and holds across several hours.
The result is a candle that smells layered and intentional from the first hour of burn and deepens as the wax warms. It is not a single-note woody fragrance. It is a considered composition built around three materials that have been used together in aromatic traditions across the world for centuries.
Hand-poured in small batches into a 240ml glass jar using natural soy wax. No synthetic fragrance. No paraffin. No chemicals. What you smell is the material — carried into the room by a slow and even flame.
The blend
Three pure essential oils work together in this candle.
Palo Santo — warm, woody, and gently resinous, with a natural citrus lift and a faint clean mintiness. The defining note of the blend and the material the candle is built around.
Cedarwood — dry, structured, and quietly authoritative. It adds depth and body to the palo santo, giving the blend a woody backbone that holds across the full length of the burn.
Patchouli — earthy, slightly sweet, and deeply grounding. The base note that slows the release of the lighter oils and gives the candle its richness and persistence. Present but not dominant — it supports rather than leads.
The sourcing
Palo Santo is a protected material, and its sustainability matters. The brand works exclusively with a supplier in South America who processes only naturally fallen branches and trunks. No living trees are cut. No surrounding forest is damaged. No new paths are made through the ecosystem.
The same supplier actively supports a local reforestation project through which an estimated 40,000 trees have been planted — many of them delivered to local schools and colleges. When you buy this candle, the supply chain behind it is one that leaves the forest in better condition than it found it.
The palo santo essential oil in this candle is distilled from the natural resin of that wood. The resin concentrates in the heartwood over the tree's lifetime and it is this resin that carries the scent. It is not a synthetic approximation. It is the material itself.
How to use
On the first burn, allow the candle to burn for a minimum of three hours. This allows the wax to melt evenly to the edge of the jar and prevents tunnelling on subsequent burns. A full first melt pool is the single most important thing you can do to extend the life of the candle.
Trim the wick to 4mm before every burn. This prevents black smoke, controls the size of the flame, and keeps the burn clean and even throughout. Never burn for more than four hours in a single session. Never leave a burning candle unattended.
The glass jar will be warm after burning. Allow it to cool fully before moving it. Once the candle is finished, the jar can be cleaned with warm soapy water and reused.
What is in it
Pure palo santo essential oil, pure cedarwood essential oil, pure patchouli essential oil. Natural soy wax. Cotton wick. No synthetic fragrance. No paraffin. No chemicals. No animal products.
Country of origin: South America.
Vegan. Allergen free.
Product details
Volume: 240ml. Glass jar. Hand-poured in small batches. First burn: minimum three hours. Wick: trim to 4mm before each burn. Reusable jar after use.
Why this candle works as a gift
Palo Santo is a material people have heard of but rarely experienced at this quality in candle form. Most palo santo candles on the market use synthetic fragrance to approximate the oil's character. This candle uses the real thing — distilled from the same ethically sourced South American wood as the rest of the Palo Santo range — and layers it with cedarwood and patchouli to create a blend with genuine depth and staying power.
The sourcing story is clean and verifiable. The glass jar presents well. The three-oil blend is warm and accessible enough that almost anyone will respond to it immediately, and complex enough that those who know fragrance will appreciate what they are holding.
It sits naturally within the Palo Santo Hamper alongside the essential oil for those who want to offer a complete experience of the material.
What customers say
"I was so happy to discover these, they are my favourite things. I have them burning all over the house and love doing yoga and meditation with them around. They are so beautiful and they are also reasonably priced." — Sadie Frost
Frequently asked questions
What does this candle smell like?
Warm, woody, and gently resinous, with a dry cedarwood depth and a rich patchouli base underneath. The palo santo provides the defining character — citrus-edged, slightly minty, and clean. Cedarwood gives it structure. Patchouli gives it persistence. The blend develops across the burn rather than peaking early and fading.
How is this different from burning a palo santo stick?
The candle carries the same pure palo santo essential oil as the incense sticks in the range but layers it with cedarwood and patchouli to create a broader, warmer composition. The experience is sustained over several hours rather than concentrated into a forty-five minute burn. Both are valid and complement each other well.
Does this use real essential oils or synthetic fragrance?
Real essential oils throughout — pure palo santo, pure cedarwood, and pure patchouli. No synthetic fragrance is used anywhere in the formula.
Why is the first burn so important?
Soy wax has a memory. If you extinguish the candle before the wax has fully melted to the edge of the jar on the first burn, it will continue to burn only to that same diameter on subsequent burns, creating a tunnel through the centre and leaving wax on the sides unused. A full first melt pool — minimum three hours — prevents this entirely and gives you the full life of the candle.
Is the jar reusable?
Yes. Once the candle is finished, allow the jar to cool, remove any remaining wax with warm water, and the glass is clean and reusable. It works well as a small storage vessel, a planter, or a holder for the palo santo sticks from the same range.
Is this suitable as a gift?
Yes — it is one of the most consistently gifted products in the range. It presents well, the sourcing story is genuinely worth sharing, and the three-oil blend is warm and accessible enough for almost any recipient. For a more complete gift, the Palo Santo Hamper pairs the candle with the pure essential oil.