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Ember & Main
Scent Finder

Find the family before you pick the candle

Most bad candle purchases are a family mismatch, not a quality problem. Six questions about the rooms you live in and what you already own, and we will tell you where to start and why.

6 questions · no email needed for your top match

Question 1 of 6

Which room is this candle for?

Room size and use change how strong a scent should be.

The six families

Every scent on the market sits in one of these, or bridges two. Knowing which you like narrows a wall of candles down to a shelf.

Citrus and fresh
Bergamot, neroli, grapefruit and sea salt. These read clean rather than sweet, and they suit smaller rooms because they lift quickly without lingering.
Floral
Rose, jasmine, and blossom over soft musk. The trap here is soapiness, so the good ones sit a floral over something drier.
Woody
Cedar, teak, sandalwood. The most year-round of the families, and the easiest to live with in a room you use every day.
Gourmand and sweet
Vanilla, tonka, caramel, and spice. The strongest throw of any family, which is why they suit large open rooms and why they overwhelm small ones.
Green and herbal
Fig leaf, vetiver, herbs, and stems. Quiet, dry, and the least likely to smell like a shop, which is what people usually mean by an expensive candle.
Amber and smoke
Amber, smoke, incense, and resin. Cold-weather scents that make a room feel enclosed rather than fresh.

Questions

How does the Scent Finder work?
Six questions, each weighted toward one of six scent families. We add up the weights and recommend the family your answers lean toward. The scoring is fixed, so the same answers always give the same result.
Does it recommend a specific candle?
It recommends a scent family and then shows candles in it. We do not claim to match you to one exact fragrance, because that would need blind testing we have not done.
Do I have to give my email?
No. Your top match is shown immediately with the full explanation. The email is only for the two runner-up families, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Read about wax types next