Incense is having a real moment and in this episode we're exploring why and also talking through some of our favourite incense scents.
Why is incense so popular again?
Incense has moved from temples and churches into living rooms,
studios and perfume wardrobes; it’s become a chic, modern ritual as
much as a smell.
Trend reports link the boom to the hunger for spiritual and holistic
practices – incense is an easy way to pause, “set an intention” and
create a little ceremony around everyday life.
Incense vs frankincense
“Incense” is the whole blend you burn – it might be on a stick, cone, coil
or rope – and can contain resins, woods, herbs, spices and florals.
“Frankincense” (also called olibanum) is one particular resin, tapped
from Boswellia sacra trees in Oman, Yemen and parts of the Horn of
Africa.
Etymology you can play with: “frankincense” comes from Old French
“franc encens” – high quality or “pure” incense – while “incense” itself
goes back to Latin for “to burn.”
When a perfume lists “incense” as a note, it may mean a full accord of
resins (frankincense, myrrh, opoponax, labdanum, elemi, woods,
flowers) or a composition that highlights frankincense alone.
What incense actually smells like
Frankincense: resinous yet airy; earthy, piney, slightly smoky with a
surprising citrus brightness.
Myrrh: darker, spicier, slightly medicinal and very “churchy”, often
associated with ritual and antiquity.
Opoponax: honeyed, vanillic, balsamic and comforting – it softens the
harsher edges of smoke.
Labdanum: rich, ambery, leathery and almost animalic; gives incense
perfumes that plush, warm body.
Elemi: sharp, lemony, peppery resin that brings sparkle and lift to the
smoke.
Woods (sandalwood, cedar etc.): add dryness, creaminess or
pencilshaving smokiness and form the backbone of many incenseheavy
fragrances.
Quotes from perfumers:
Francis Kurkdjian on why he loves Japanese incense at home: partly
practicality, because “it fills the room in five minutes, whereas candles
take ages.”
Yasmin Sewell on the moodshift: “Where a candle may take twenty
minutes to resonate in your space, when you light incense there is an
immediate scent that fills the room.”
Sewell again on why incense made more sense than candles for her
brand’s next step: “I felt that incense really connected with our values,
since it’s been used in spiritual rituals for so long,” and “what I really
love about incense is that it shifts the mood instantly.”
Lyn Harris on her daily ritual: “It sets a spiritual tone to my day,” and
incense is “an ethereal veil that lingers in the air.” She burns it in the
morning to set her mood, sometimes midday to reinvigorate her senses,
and even before bed so “there is a sensual haze passing over my
nostrils before I sleep.”
Chris Rusak on the psychology of burning it: incense is “a great vehicle
for empowerment or catharsis via controlled destruction” and “incense
use is intentional. It requires fire or directed heat for full expression,
which we must effect, contain, and control, in order to destroy it but not
ourselves.”
How it’s harvested: frankincense resin oozes from cuts in the
Boswellia sacra tree and dries into golden “tears”, sometimes called
“frankincense tears” or “olibanum tears”.
The jinn love story: a girl from the jinn falls in love with a human boy –
forbidden, of course. As punishment she’s turned into a tree; her grief
becomes crystal tears that people burn on coal for healing smoke with a
bitter taste that mourns lost love.
Ecology: frankincense forests in northern Ethiopia are under threat as
they’re...