Birch & Brook is a ‘rising star’ British home fragrance brand whose candles we are always happy to have a-flicker. 100% natural wax, hand-poured by artisans – and most importantly, with fab smells.
The brand was created by Jessica Jones, who for the past 14 years has worked in fashion and interior design (including for Ralph Lauren). Her dream, for Birch & Brook? ‘To create a gentle atmosphere, when the pace of life was slower, the fun both innocent and wild – and anything possible…’ You’ll find them at concept stores like Roullier White, Bluebird and The Cross.
We love Library – all leather and woodsiness – and Dressing Room, with its powdery, backstage-in-a-theatre rosiness, underpinned by more mysterious notes of cedarwood and moss. Chypre-lovers: that’s one for you.
And – a little sneaky preview – coming soon is Birch & Brook Evergreen: all pine needles and crisp winter mornings, and quite getting us in the mood for thick scarves and walking boots. To quote Jessica,
‘It encapsulates the enchantment of the forest, walking beneath aromatic conifer canopies, shafts of sunlight bathing green ferns and moss covered tree trunks’.
We love sharing people’s favourite smells – not least because it opens a door into their psyche, as well as their personal treasure chest of scented memories. So here are Jessica’s…
1. Hot car seats in the summer. When we were little, my parents drove a Citroen Dyane. In the summer, when we opened the car doors the heat radiated off the hot plastic car seats. The smell reminds me of being warm and cosy wrapped in a towel driving home after a long day on the beach.
2. Wood shavings. In the 1970s pretty much everything in our household was handmade by my father. He was amazing at carpentry and I can vividly remember the smell of freshly cut wood. In fact our Library candle is reminiscent of sharpened pencils, which I also love.
3. Walking through the woods after the rain. For me, one of the best smells in the world is the smell of the moist earth after it has just rained. There’s a real freshness to it, of plants coming alive again.
4. Mahonia flowers. There’s a place in London where I go to escape the bustle of the city, to get there I walk across a bridge which is covered in mahonia foliage. The flowers come out in early spring and the intoxicating scent for me, signals the excitement of longer summer days.
5. Open fires. There’s nothing more relaxing and honest than an open fire, it really brings us back to the basics in life.
Birch & Brook Candles from £18 for the travel size to £38
Buy them at Birch & Brook
