Fine incense can be a wonderful and enjoyable way of experiencing Aromatherapy as it is the essential oil content that is released into the air when the natural ingredients are burned. This is especially true with gatherings outdoors. Citronella and lemongrass incense are commonly burned to repel insects such as mosquitoes which can harbor the sometimes deadly West Nile virus. Other popular scents such as vanilla and lavender can set a restful mood during outdoor dinning.
The daunting task for many is finding quality incense suited to their needs from among the countless brands not to mention types and price ranges. Here we will look at a number of classifications of incense, along with origin, best uses and makers. The most commonly seen incense type in the US, the chemical dipped punk stick, will not be included as they are not suitable for Aromatherapy. Even ones that are soaked in pure incense should only be considered for burning outdoors as the punk stick used was manufactured for use in firecrackers, not incense. Inherent glues, wood powder, and byproducts (which some have claimed included animal dung) may ruin any beneficial effect the essential oil could provide. Punk joss stick incense can fool the untrained eye as being hand rolled incense, the wood stick size is the best marker. True hand rolled incense uses very thin, irregular sticks of a fragrant wood. Punk stick’s are larger and usually all uniform in size.
Joss Stick Incense Joss or stick incense is one of the most universally thought of when it comes to incense in general. With countless burner types, joss sticks offer an easy way to burn incense in your home or outdoors. There are two primary types. Hand rolled and charcoal based. Hand rolled is a mixture of fragrant botanicals rolled onto a thin stick of fragrant wood, held there with a natural glue. Unlike punk sticks, most hand rolled incenses are blends of many ingredients which has a full bodied scent when burned. A rather inexpensive and easy to find hand rolled incense is Nag Champa, the hippie incense from India. The maker of Blue Box Nag Champa makes a number of other incenses such as Super Hits and Natural. All are incredible and unique. This seems to be one incense line you can’t go wrong with. Unfortunately Indian incense makers are leaning more and more towards using chemical scents instead of attars. Still this provides a good glimpse into how incense should really be. Charcoal based incense on the other hand has to be dipped like a punk stick, makers such as HEM, also from India, are famous for their line of such
