Corpo Sancto

Corpo Sancto is a small-batch candle and perfume house based in Brighton. It was started at Christmas 2014 by Annelie Byström and her husband Chris, who first made rapeseed wax candles and later added natural perfumes. The house says its scents come from a love of nature and music.

Byström is a Swedish-born make-up artist who spent her early years in forests and by lakes, and that Nordic landscape runs through the work. Candles are hand poured in small batches with UK and EU rapeseed wax and wooden wicks. The perfumes are described as botanical: handcrafted from carefully sourced plant-derived materials, with no synthetics, and made to unfold in layers on the skin. The first perfumes were oils on a jojoba base, named after rock and pop songs, and the range now includes botanical eaux de parfum.

The style is outdoorsy, woody and resinous, with a story behind each name. Waiting For The Sun is a violet, orris and tuberose floral on patchouli, cedar and sandalwood. Where The Wild Roses Grow pairs rose absolute and frangipani with oakmoss. This Bird Has Flown is a pine, cedar and rosewood forest. Gold Dust Woman mixes spices, rose and jasmine over frankincense and myrrh, and Marrakesh Express is a smoky amber with pepper, tobacco and vanilla.

Corpo Sancto sits in independent, small-batch British perfumery: a couple-run studio selling through its own website and inviting retailers to get in touch. It suits wearers who like natural, woody and resinous perfumes with a musical, nostalgic twist, and buyers who want a matching candle.