Bayberry wax has very little fragrance on its own. The process to render the wax from the berries uses the "wet" process of boiling the berries in water until the film of waxy substance rises to the top and can be carefully skimmed off. Any tiny amounts of scent the berries had is leached into the water bath and gathered for the perfumery industry. The resulting wax is smooth, creamy and largely without any fragrance at all.
For those of us who enjoy a little more of a sensory experience, I created an optional blend of fragrance and essential oils to conjure the feeling of being in a cold winter woods, how I imagine the scents to be as my ancestors gathered the berries for the winter lighting. I use the essential oils of various pine and fir needles, camphorous notes as in the myrtle leaves on the shrubs, herbaceous notes from garden herbs that would be drying on the mantle, and spicy notes found in clove buds and cinnamon leaves to remind me of the happiness of the holiday season. All of those natural notes are folded into a bit of my own fragrance oil that contains notes I cannot replicate from nature. The result is a beautiful nod to the courageous people who came before us.
