You need a Christmas gift that smells like the season, and evergreen pomegranate is the scent you have in mind: cold green branches with a tart red fruit running through them. Our top pick is Touch Grass, because it sets the dark, sour bite of black currant against cedarwood and green galbanum, the same fruit-over-forest balance that makes pomegranate and pine work.
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None of our candles lists pomegranate in its notes, so we will not call one a pomegranate candle. You are really shopping for the pairing, and you can find it in two of our pure beeswax candles, hand poured in New York City with wooden wicks and phthalate-free fragrance.
Why a tart fruit and an evergreen belong in the same jar
Pine on its own can drift toward floor cleaner. Fruit on its own can drift toward hard candy. Put a sour fruit over a woody, resin-like note and each one holds the other in place, because the acid softens the sharp green edge and the wood keeps the fruit from turning sugary.
Pomegranate does this job in most holiday blends because its juice is more sour than sweet. Black currant does the same work. Bite into one and your mouth puckers before the sugar shows up, and that tart, dark quality is what a winter scent needs on top.
So when you read a candle label this December, look at the structure before the name. A sour red or dark fruit on top with something green or woody underneath will give you the feeling you are after, even when the word pomegranate is missing. That brings us to the candle that has both halves.
Touch Grass, the green branch and the dark fruit in one candle
Think about the first evening the tree is up. The living room smells of cold branches carried in from the car, there is still sap on someone's hands, and for one night the whole house feels like the season has started.
Our Touch Grass pure beeswax candle holds that evening in a jar. The notes are Fig, Black currant, Galbanum, Coconut, Davana, Cedarwood, Amber, Orris, Tonka bean.
Here is how those notes build the evergreen and fruit effect. Galbanum is a green resin gathered from a plant in the fennel family, and it smells like a stem snapped in half, bitter and fresh. Cedarwood comes from evergreen trees and gives the dry, woody floor under everything.
Black currant brings the tart fruit, and the green skin of the fig adds a second layer of fresh, slightly sweet fruit. Amber and tonka bean sit at the bottom and warm the whole thing, so it reads as a cozy room in winter instead of a cold walk in the woods.
A great scent only matters if it lasts through the season in a closed-up house, which is where the wax comes in.
The wax decides whether that scent lasts until New Year's
December rooms are sealed rooms. The windows stay shut, the heat runs all day, and a candle might burn for hours during a party. Whatever the wax releases has nowhere to go.
Start with how paraffin is made. Refineries heat crude oil and separate it into fuels like gasoline and diesel. What is left near the end is a heavy, waxy residue, and refiners bleach it and sell it as candle wax. Paraffin is petroleum waste with a wick in it.
Research has shown that burning paraffin releases benzene, toluene, and formaldehyde. Scented products in general can also give off a mix of volatile organic compounds, which are carbon-based chemicals that turn into gas at room temperature. In a room with the windows closed, that is the air everyone at the party is breathing.
Soy is a plant wax and a real step up. Many soy candles, though, are blended with paraffin so the top sets flat or holds more fragrance, and the label may only say soy blend.
Beeswax is made by bees, filtered, and poured. It needs no chemical processing. It also has the highest melting point of any candle wax, so it melts slowly and the candle lasts longer: our 12 oz size burns 80+ hours.
The fragrance matters as much as the wax. Many candles use toxic fragrance that contains phthalates, which are chemicals added to make a scent cling longer. Every MBur candle uses phthalate-free fragrance and no chemical dye, so the color you see is the natural color of the wax.
| What to check | Paraffin | Soy blend | MBur beeswax |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the wax is | Leftover from refining crude oil | Plant wax, often mixed with paraffin | 100% beeswax, a single ingredient |
| How it burns | Melts fast | Melts at a low temperature | Highest melting point, slow and steady |
| Soot | Black soot on jars and walls | Less than paraffin | Clean burn, very little soot |
| Wick | Check for metal cores | Depends on the maker | Wooden wick, two on the 12 oz size |
| Fragrance | Often toxic fragrance with phthalates | Check for phthalate-free on the label | Phthalate-free fragrance |
| Dye | Often dyed | Often dyed | No chemical dye |
| Where it is made | Mass production | Mass production or small batch | Hand poured in New York City |
One more detail matters for a holiday gift. Beeswax burns with a light closer to natural sunlight than other waxes, so the glow next to a tree looks warm and golden. Now for who gets which jar.
The picks, sorted by who is opening the box
Touch Grass ranks first because it carries both halves of the evergreen and fruit pairing on its own. The other picks follow from the person you are buying for, the size of her room, and whether she leans toward forest or fruit.
1. For the host with the big living room: Touch Grass, 12 oz
This is the size for the friend whose living room is where Christmas happens. The 12 oz size has two wooden wicks, burns 80+ hours, and is $65.
Two wicks matter in a large room. They melt a wider pool of wax faster, and a wider pool releases more scent into the air, so the cedarwood and black currant reach the far side of an open floor plan.
Picture her cookie swap on the Saturday before Christmas. She lights it an hour before anyone arrives, and by the time the first guest is shaking snow off at the door, the room smells like cut branches and dark fruit. With 80+ hours, it will still be going strong when the family comes over on the 25th.
2. For the friend in a small apartment: Touch Grass, 5 oz
The 5 oz size has one wooden wick, burns 40 hours, and is $32. It suits a studio, a bedroom, or a home office.
A small room has less air to fill, so one wick is enough to carry the scent wall to wall. Too much candle in a tight space can feel heavy, and this size keeps the green notes crisp.
Think of her on a Sunday night in mid-December, sitting on the floor with a roll of wrapping paper and a stack of gifts. The candle is going on the shelf, the radiator is clicking, and her small apartment smells like the forest she won't see until she flies home.
3. For the one who loves the fruit more than the forest: Retail Therapy, 12 oz
Some people want the pomegranate half of the pairing turned up. For them, our Retail Therapy pure beeswax candle is the gift. The notes are Red Currant, Black Currant, Jasmine, Peach, Black Tea, Amber, Anise, Tonka Bean.
Two currants carry the tart red fruit that pomegranate is known for, with ripe peach softening them. Black tea adds a dry backbone, and anise brings a warm spice that reads as Christmas without turning into a gingerbread candle. Customers say it fills a room completely.
This scent has me in a chokehold. I burn it in my room and my living room and it fills my space SOOOOO nicely. I've tried quite a few scents from them and they all have different vibes and gives you something unique....and they all smell amazing. Theres nothing I hate more than a candle that can't fill the room and baby this is NOT that. This candle permeates every corner of the room. Cant say enough about how impressed I am with this company.
Tiffany Gordon
Give the 12 oz size, with two wooden wicks and 80+ hours of burn time, to the person who lights a candle every night in December. It is $65. Picture your sister coming home from work, kicking off her boots, and lighting it before she even takes her coat off.
4. For the coworker or the guest room: Retail Therapy, 5 oz
The 5 oz Retail Therapy has one wooden wick, burns 40 hours, and is $32. It fits a desk, a guest room, or a gift exchange where you want to give something that feels personal.
From the packaging to the burn of the candle-everything was top-notch! Candle burned slowly and was exactly the amount of hours the company said it would burn. I was able to enjoy it for days even though it was the smaller size. Company included samples, instructions, and shipped fast. Well done, MBur Candle Co!
Portia Darby
Imagine your in-laws arriving on the 23rd. The guest room has fresh sheets and a candle on the nightstand, and the first thing they notice when they set their bags down is a room that smells like ripe fruit and warm spice.
Where the famous holiday names fit
Pomegranate and pine became a December classic through fragrance houses. NEST New York has a well-known holiday blend built around pomegranate and pine needles. Jo Malone London took pomegranate in a darker, smokier direction, and small makers like La Jolie Muse pour their own pomegranate and pine versions.
Those names tell you the scent. When you are buying for someone else, two more questions decide how the gift burns in her home: what the wax is, and whether the fragrance is phthalate-free. With MBur, the answer is the same on every jar, 100% beeswax and phthalate-free fragrance, so you never have to dig through a label to find out.
The questions you might still be asking
But she already burns a Christmas candle every year. Then give her the one she can keep burning after the tree comes down. Touch Grass has no candy cane or cinnamon note, so it moves from December into February as a winter forest scent instead of a holiday-only one.
But he says he doesn't like sweet candles. Touch Grass is the safer pick for him. The bitter galbanum and dry cedarwood sit on top, and the amber and tonka bean stay low in the background.
But I don't know which room she will use it in. Go with the 12 oz size. Two wooden wicks will fill a living room, and it works just as well in a bedroom with the door open.
How to present it so it feels like a real gift
Tuck a sprig of cedar or fir under the ribbon and set a whole pomegranate beside the box. The real fruit and the real branch finish the scent story before she even lights the wick.
Write the first burn on the gift card: let it burn until the melted wax reaches the edge of the jar the first time. Beeswax remembers its first melt, and a short first burn leaves a tunnel down the middle.
Add a short line about the room it is meant for, like this one is for your living room on Christmas Eve. A note like that tells her you thought about her home, and it tells her where to put it.
A few care tips are worth adding to the card too. Trim the wooden wick to about 1/8 inch before each lighting, and burn it for up to four hours at a time. Keep it a safe distance from the tree and any garland, and crack a window during a long party so fresh air keeps moving.
Frequently asked questions
What does an evergreen pomegranate candle actually smell like?
It smells like cold green branches with a tart red fruit over them, woody at the bottom and sour on top. Our Touch Grass candle gets that effect from cedarwood and galbanum paired with black currant.
Will a beeswax candle smell strong enough for a holiday party?
Yes. Customers describe MBur candles filling whole rooms, and the 12 oz size has two wooden wicks to spread the scent in a large space. For the strongest fruit, Retail Therapy is the one reviewers say reaches every corner.
How do I stop my Christmas candle from tunneling?
On the first lighting, let it burn until the whole top layer is melted to the edge of the jar. After that, the wax melts evenly each time. This matters most on a two-wick jar like the 12 oz Touch Grass.
Is there an option that leans even more toward the evergreen side?
Yes. Sunday Reset has notes of Peppermint, Clove, Cedar, Patchouli, Vanilla, Eucalyptus. It opens cold and minty, then settles into cedar and clove, with no fruit at all.
Can I burn these past Christmas?
Both picks work all winter. Touch Grass reads as a forest walk, and Retail Therapy reads as ripe fruit and spice, so neither one feels out of place in January. You can see every scent in our beeswax candle collection.
The one to give
The best evergreen pomegranate candle for Christmas has a tart fruit on top and a green, woody base underneath, poured in a clean wax that holds up in a closed winter room. Touch Grass is that candle, and the person you are buying for will smell the difference the first night she lights it.
Give the 12 oz Touch Grass to the person whose living room is where everyone gathers. It makes the room smell like the first night the tree is up, and it backs that up with cedarwood and black currant over two wooden wicks for 80+ hours. As one customer, Paige, put it:
They smell up a WHOLE room during the burn & even a while after blowing them out. I won't buy other candles anymore, they're just that good
Paige
Order it now so it arrives with time to wrap before the holidays.
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