Evergreen: The Forest Candle for Sitting Still

The short answer: Evergreen is a walk through an evergreen forest. Cypress and pine with tonka bean underneath giving it a soft warmth, and a trace of eucalyptus keeping the air clear. Rounded rather than sharp. If you want the same woods with a bite to them, that is The Noble Train.

What most pine candles get wrong

Pine is easy to do badly. Push it too far and you land somewhere between a floor cleaner and a car air freshener, which is a very short distance to fall.

The usual mistake is leaving pine up front with nothing underneath it. It is a sharp, resinous note, and unsupported it just keeps being sharp at you.

Evergreen solves it from the bottom up.

How it is built

Cypress and pine are the body of this candle, and they are allowed to be. Deep, dense, and unmistakably forest. This is not a scent that hedges about what it is.

Tonka bean is the reason it works. It sits underneath doing quiet, warm, slightly sweet work, and it is what keeps a green scent from reading as cold or sharp. Without it you would have trees. With it you have a room with trees in it.

Eucalyptus is the last thing, and the smallest. Just a trace, enough to keep the air feeling clear rather than dense. You would notice if it were gone. You would not necessarily name it if asked.

Green in the middle, warm at the base, clear at the edges. Rounded rather than sharp. That balance is the whole thing.

The mood it is for

Evergreen is the candle for the end of the day rather than the start of it. It does not ask anything of you.

Reading. A bath. The hour after everyone has gone home. Sunday afternoon when there is nothing on the calendar and you are not going to fight it.

Best in: living rooms, bedrooms, and reading corners.

It is not a kitchen candle. For that you want something with a sharper edge, which is the other one.

Evergreen or The Noble Train?

Both smell like evergreen trees, so this is not a question of subject. It is a question of edge.

Evergreen has tonka bean underneath and no citrus, so it rounds off and settles. The Noble Train leads with crisp fir and lemon peel and has no warm base, so it stays sharp and has a bite to it.

Cozy versus bracing. Evening versus morning. We wrote a full comparison: The Noble Train vs. Evergreen.

Two ways to bring it home

• Evergreen Signature Candle, $24. Amber glass, eight ounces, single wick.
• Evergreen Heirloom Candle, $56. Eighteen ounces and three wicks in our blue and white bowl.

Seasonal, offered for fall and winter. Browse the full Signature Collection, the Heirloom Collection, or shop all scents.

Frequently asked questions

What does Evergreen smell like? A walk through an evergreen forest. Cypress and pine with tonka bean underneath and a trace of eucalyptus. Deep and green, warm at the base.

Does it smell like a Christmas tree? It is closer to being among the trees than to a cut tree in a living room. The tonka bean gives it a warmth a cut tree does not have.

Is it good for sleep? It is our most calming winter scent, with no citrus to keep you alert.

How is it different from The Noble Train? Same woods, different edge. Evergreen is rounded and settling. The Noble Train is crisp fir with a bite.

Keep reading

More stories: The Noble Train vs. Evergreen, Apothecary No. 1 for our herbal scent, and How Long Should You Burn a Candle?