By 1890, a stretch of Bushwick fourteen blocks long held fourteen breweries, and the neighborhood got a name to match: Brewer's Row, the beer capital of the Northeast. Picture the smell of it on a warm afternoon, malt and steam rolling down the street. The same blocks now pour candles instead of lager.

That is where Element Brooklyn keeps its hand-poured candle factory. Andrew Nicol started the brand in 2022, and he and his father began by formulating in his apartment. The soaps and creams are made in New York, the candles in Bushwick, and the brand says it is Leaping Bunny certified, gives 1% of revenue to Ocean Conservancy and is net plastic negative through rePurpose Global. The idea underneath is simple: luxury fragrance without the wasteful packaging. I like a brand with a point of view that fits on a sink.

The trick is to treat the Element Brooklyn name as a scent shortcut, not a recipe copy. The brand publishes a "compare to" line for every hand soap, and I read those as scent comparisons, not identical formulas. Mandarin Crush points at Aesop Resurrection, and Pumice Stone points at Aesop Reverence. Wild Pear nods to Byredo Suede, which makes it a gentle place to start if you want something low-key by the kitchen tap.

Genovese is the herbal one, aimed at Le Labo Basil. Kiso Forest leans toward Le Labo Hinoki, for anyone who likes a bathroom that smells of woods. Commodore is the hand and body soap, so it can live in the shower too. Olympus and Jardín Azteca take their cues from Loewe's Oregano and Tomato Leaves, the green pair, and they are the ones I would give a friend who says she does not like sweet scents. Buy the big bottle of one, and keep the reusable dispenser on the counter.

How it lines up with Aesop. Element Brooklyn sets Mandarin Crush against Aesop Resurrection Aromatique Hand Wash on its own product page, with a note that it is not affiliated with or endorsed by Aesop. Beauty Independent says the brand also references Aesop for other soaps. I read it as a scent direction, not a copy of the formula.

 

What reviewers say. Apartment Therapy and Eater both recommend the soap refills as a stand-in for Aesop. Trustpilot reviewers are split, and a few say Wild Pear and Desert Bloom smell different from the originals. Mandarin Crush, Kiso Forest and Wild Pear are among the brand's oldest scents, according to Beauty Independent.

 

What it smells like. Element Brooklyn describes Jardín Azteca as a green, tomato vine fragrance, earthy and verdant. The brand says it started as a candle, and enough people asked that it became a soap. The candle is in the second grid, so you can keep the scent matched from the sink to the shelf.

 

Where it is made. Element Brooklyn's soaps are formulated and manufactured in New York, and the candles are poured in Brooklyn, in Bushwick. The soap is sulfate-free and sold in pouches that fill a reusable dispenser twice.

Mandarin Crush is a fair test of the whole idea, so follow one scent family across the page. If it is the soap you reach for, buy the Mandarin Crush Hand & Body Cream next, so the citrus does not fight anything else in the room.

The creams are where the brand stretches past the sink. Desert Bloom Hand & Body Cream is the floral, warm-weather one, and the Desert Bloom Body Soap matches it for the shower. Kiso Forest comes as a Hand & Body Lotion, a good bedside bottle if you like a woody smell at night. Acadia Hand & Body Soap, which the brand compares to Molton Brown Coastal Cypress, is the one I would put in a guest bathroom.

Then the candles, all hand-poured in Bushwick. Tea in the Sahara belongs on a dinner table, Whispering Pine suits a hallway or a mantel, and In Full Bloom is the brand's answer to a Diptyque Baies candle, according to Business Insider's review. Light it while you cook and you will know in ten minutes whether it is yours.

A pairing I like: Kiso Forest lotion at night with the Whispering Pine candle burning low on the dresser. Woods with woods is very calm.

What I would skip: a strong candle in a small bathroom with a scented body soap and a scented cream all going at once. Choose one loud thing and let the others be quiet.

Plenty of good hand washes smell like almost nothing straight from the cap in a store. Smell it with wet hands before you decide, because fragrance blooms in water and warmth.

Aesop is the reference point for half of the comparisons above, so it is worth knowing the originals. Resurrection Aromatique Hand Wash is the one that Mandarin Crush nods to, and Reverence Aromatique Hand Wash is the one behind Pumice Stone. The Resurrection Aromatique Hand Balm is the small tube I would keep in a coat pocket for winter.

Byredo's Suede Hand Wash and Suede Hand Cream are the matched pair, and the wash is the same scent family as Element Brooklyn's Wild Pear. Diptyque's Softening Hand Wash and Velvet Hand Lotion feel like a spa in a pump bottle, the kind of thing I would place on a console by the front door so visitors notice it. Sangre De Fruta's Head of Roses Botanical Hand Wash is the most romantic bottle here, a floral that I would save for the powder room.

Keep the Aesop balm in your bag and a refill bottle of the matching scent at home. You get the same smell wherever you wash your hands, and no one has to know which one is which.

What I would skip: a heavily perfumed hand cream on the day you are cooking for other people. Hands go near food, and the scent wins the room.

I pick the counter before the soap. A narrow marble shelf wants a slim pump, a wide tray wants a soap and cream pair, and a dark bathroom can carry a bottle with a label you like to look at.

Susanne Kaufmann's Hand Soap and Hand Cream are the calm pair, made for a spare, pale bathroom. Flamingo Estate's Heirloom Tomato Hand Soap and Jasmine Damask Rose Hand Soap are the two I would put side by side, one green and savory, one floral, for a host who likes a little surprise. D.S. & Durga's Big Sur After Rain Hand Soap is the outdoors one, good for a house with open windows.

Nécessaire's The Hand Cream is the plain, practical bottle I would keep next to a desk. Santa Maria Novella's Hand Cream goes where guests will see it. OUAI's Hand Wash is the friendly one, easy to place next to a sink without any fuss.

Buy a hand soap and cream from the same brand, so the scent stays consistent. Mixing two brands works when one of them is very quiet.

What I would skip: three strongly scented soaps lined up by one sink. Pick a primary and let the other two be occasional.

The smartest place to begin with Element Brooklyn is the large hand soap in whichever scent you already love from a luxury bottle. It is the fastest way to tell whether the comparison lands for you, and the reusable dispenser makes it a pleasant thing to keep in use.

If it does land, add the matching cream and one candle, and see whether you want the luxury originals on a second sink. I would pick Mandarin Crush myself. Bushwick used to smell like beer, and now a few blocks of it smell like citrus and wax, which is a nice bit of progress. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Nail Care Basics and PanOxyl Body Wash, From an 1847 Soap Maker to Back Acne.