What Does Frankincense Smell Like?

Frankincense smells of lemon peel on cold stone, with a pine-resin through-line and a faint pepper. People expect smoke because they have seen a thurible. The resin itself, unburnt, is bright and almost citrus. When you heat it, you get church. A candle that only smells of campfire has added smoke and called it frankincense.

The actual smell

• Lemon-pine resin — the opening. Somali and Omani types lean this way.
• Cold stone / mineral — this is why it feels “sacred” rather than forest.
• A dry, slightly peppery wood — the drydown. No vanilla unless someone added it.

Myrrh is darker, sweeter, more medicinal. Copal is brighter and more Mexican-church. Cedar is attic. Frankincense is the lemon-stone one.

In a candle

Heart and base. Throws as a clean halo rather than a pudding. Soy-coconut keeps it from going smoky-acrid, which paraffin sometimes does. If your frankincense candle smells of bonfire night, the wick is too long or they put cade oil in it.

Do a full first pool. Resins live in the wax; tunnel them and you get a hot lemon spike and then nothing.

In a house

Winter afternoons. It likes high ceilings and it likes quiet. A small bathroom is too tight — you will only smell the lemon. A sitting room after a walk, coats steaming, is about right.

If you want cold-air and mineral without the vestry, Nevis is the mountain version of that idea.

Quick answers

Does frankincense smell like Christmas? Only if they added orange and clove. On its own it is more Easter-in-a-stone-building.

Frankincense vs sage? Sage is herbal and savoury. Frankincense is resin and citrus-wood.