When the St Palo necklace first launched, we had to introduce the concept as something that at the time nobody was really familiar with.

I thought this time around that I could share my insider knowledge as I have had some time to get to know the St Palo Wood Burner after having developed its design.

Firstly I would advise that you read the safety instructions on the packaging, as while this is much safer than having the wood itself to the flame, there are still always hazards to consider.

Our Palo Santo wood has been selected specifically to work with the wood burner. You can absolutely use your own palo santo sticks but some of them may not be the optimal shape.

Placement is an important thing to consider as the larger the room, the more mild the aroma will be. If you place it by a window, the scent may get a little lost.

Carefully light your tea light and place in the centre of the base of the burner. Please only use metal cased tea lights. This burner essentially turns into its own oven so plastic cases are not suitable!

It takes a few minutes for the burner to warm up, so be patient if you can! The colder the room, the longer it will take as it’ll have to fight the cold as well as heat up.

Every stick of Palo Santo has its own unique formation designed by our dear mother nature, so intensities may vary and even sometimes the aroma comes in waves. If you can imagine the oil in the wood being heated up and making its own way out, it has to find its own path!

If you’d like a boost to the senses, simply lift the wood out and pop it back in.

If you feel like it’s run out of its scent, I flip the wood around and burn the other end but make sure you check on the candle first! The other ways to renew the wood are to shave the ends which often draws out more oil.

Clean your burner when it is cold and use a damp cloth and water only and we advise to burn for no more than an hour at a time.

Don’t forget the sticks can still be used for burning traditionally!

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The Palo Santo tree is commonly known as a native species of the dry-tropical forests of Ecuador. The inhabitants of the surrounding communities live off the trade of Palo Santo. This means that if they do not find clients for it, they will have to cut it down to use the land for livestock or developments etc which has already happened in many other places.

So contrary to what is currently being portrayed in social media about all Palo Santo, the real threat to this wood and also many communities will be if theres no use for it anymore. Rather than avoiding Palo Santo we need to make sure its being sourced ethically.

The vision of the project our wood and oil comes from is the sustainable use of this resource, Palo Santo Bursera Graveolens. They focus on what they can control. One aspect is an educational project, to involve the communities and to teach them not to cut the tree while alive or cause its death unnaturally.  A cut tree has no value, since it does not contain the medicinal properties of the Palo Santo, nor does it have aroma.

We process only naturally dead branches and trunks, without cutting down any living trees, damaging the surrounding area or making new paths. Really the wood isn’t harvested but collected/foraged.

Annually and for 5 consecutive years they have been reforesting Palo Santo trees in a pilot project of 50 hectares. Moreover, for over 10 years they have been reforesting and donating plants to several institutions. 

The national government of Ecuador has also been involved. We are currently waiting for them to declare this 50-hectare area as a "protective forest", to prevent logging, invasions and damages.

Once protected, this forest will be open to universities and communities to learn the experience, and mirror it in other areas of the dry-tropical forest of Manabi.

We are doing our part to contribute to the care of the environment and the preservation of this sacred wood, Palo Santo Bursera Graveolens. Please support the cause and spread the positive projects so the negative stories don’t stop its trade all together.