How they compare
| Candle | Price | Size | Burn | Per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aesop Callippus | — | 10.5 oz | 55 hrs | — |
| Wild Herb Tonic (P.F. Candle Co)Best value | $24.00 | 7.2 oz | 40 hrs | $0.60 |
| Palo Santo (Brooklyn Candle Studio) | $34.00 | 7.5 oz | 50 hrs | $0.68 |
| Santal (Brooklyn Candle Studio) | $34.00 | 7.5 oz | 50 hrs | $0.68 |
Burn hours are as stated by each maker, never measured by us. Where a shop publishes a different figure we record both and say so. A dash means we have not verified that price ourselves yet.
What Callippus actually smells like
- Top First impression, fades fastest
- Middle The body of the scent
- Base What lingers in the room
How close each one gets
Wild Herb Tonic
P.F. Candle CoCrushed thyme, clove leaf and eucalyptus over lemon balm, on guaiacwood and patchouli. The green top and dry-wood base, without incense.
Palo Santo
Brooklyn Candle StudioPalo santo over sandalwood and amber. Resinous and ceremonial in the same register, and the closest verified thing to frankincense.
Santal
Brooklyn Candle StudioVetiver and sandalwood under hinoki cypress. Vetiver is the original's base note, and it is unusually prominent here.
What people ask about this scent
- Are those the maker's note tiers?
- No. The maker publishes these notes as a flat list without a top, middle and base. The grouping shown here is ours, arranged to make the accord readable, and it should not be read as the maker's own structure.
- Why is incense so hard to dupe cheaply?
- Frankincense and myrrh are resins, and convincing substitutes are expensive. Cheaper incense candles usually reach for smoke or amber instead, which smells warm rather than resinous and gives the substitution away.
Ember & Main is not affiliated with Aesop. We reference the name to describe how these scents compare, and our comparisons are independent editorial opinion. Links on this page currently earn us nothing. If that changes, we will say so here.