If you want to use natural incense sticks, look for a set that says it uses all-natural ingredients. The fragrance should smell like an authentic herb or flower.
Try out a pack of Morning Star sandalwood incense, which blends floral essences and different types of wood to create the scent. Some customers say it reminds them of their college dorm rooms.
Satya
A popular brand of incense, Satya offers a variety of high-quality natural ingredients in their incense. These ingredients are combined into a paste and rolled onto bamboo sticks. They are then sprinkled with additional powder and left to dry. Different combinations of ingredients create unique scent recipes, which is why Satya incense has such a loyal following. The company is owned by two brothers, and while one branch of the business remains in Bengaluru with the old recipe that customers love so much (nag champa), the other uses a different scent that some consider inferior.
The best incense from this brand is Nag Champa, which features the fragrance of champaca flowers and frangipani wood. This fragrance has a classic tranquil scent that’s perfect for meditation and relaxation. It also has a fresh and clean scent that’s great for clearing your mind. Try it before you head off to sleep or when you’re feeling stressed out.
Nippon Kodo
In contrast to traditional incense that can be heavy on both fragrance and smoke, these incense sticks are softer. Because the core isn’t made of bamboo, these incense sticks give off less smoke and allow the delicate scents to shine through.
The incense from Nippon Kodo is made using skills inherited from Takai Juemon, a 16th century artisan who provided incense for the Emperor of Japan. Their Ka-fuh series features the delicate fragrance of blossoms and sunlight, with each stick burning for about 25 minutes.
This incense is available in boxes ranging from 200 to 300 sticks and comes with a small ceramic holder. For a more modern take on incense, try the Shoyeido range which offers both kneaded incense that you roll up and burned Japanese incense. Each stick has a distinctive length and thickness which helps with measuring time during meditation or chanting, and they’re made of a wood that burns slowly with a pleasant scent.
Daily Incense
The delightful big sister to Trunk Design’s Ku washi paper leaf incense, Daily incense comes from the same masters of aroma on Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture. These long sticks burn with minimal dust for up to 30 minutes, infusing your space with natural fragrances of Hinoki, Sage and Sandalwood.
Incense is used in many cultures around the world to purify the air, create a calm and focused atmosphere for meditation or prayer, as well as simply to freshen the space. It can also be a great addition to your relaxation or ritual bath.
Our study showed that regular incense burning is associated with a greater diversity of the oral microbiome, with both observed richness and Shannon entropy significantly increasing in daily incense users compared to occasional or never incense burners. This suggests that regular incense use has both therapeutic and probiotic effects on the oral microbiome. The effect was most pronounced for those who burned incense at least five times a week.
Wildberry
Wild Berry is another popular American brand that offers a wide variety of powerful fragrances. Each fragrance is hand dipped and contains a special ingredient that keeps the fragrance fresher longer. This ensures that each stick smells exactly like it does in the jar. This attention to detail makes Wild Berry one of the most reliable brands on the market. Each scent is distinctive and captivating in its own way. Some of their most popular fragrances include Baking Brownies, a warm and decadent dark cocoa aroma; Awapuhi, a radiant green floral fragrance with notes of wild berries, melon and jasmine; and Blend 22 – a fruity mix of over a dozen fragrances featuring strawberry, heliotrope blossom, ginger, peach, patchouli and cinnamon spice. This company has been making high quality incense since 1971 and is a true delight to the senses!