Making your own natural incense cannot only be fun but rewarding due to the fact you are using pure essential oils. Even though incense has traditionally made with highly flammable essential oils, many manufactures trying to save money have abandoned them to use in their place, fragrance oils made with alcohol and other assorted chemicals. Fortunately for the general public, it is possible to create your own incense products at home.
Joss sticks and even cones which are self-igniting (meaning a charcoal disk is not needed to keep the incense burning) can today be purchased in “punk” form, meaning they are unscented. They are pre-made out of aromatic wood, resins, self-ignite, etc., and awaiting a good soak in fine oil. The downside is many times a large number or packs of sticks have to be purchased at a time. You may find yourself having to make 500 hundred sticks of one scent, like sage instead of a number of small batches of various scents. This may be the incentive many find in buying incense-making kits. If you are thinking of doing so, look for kits that allow you to actually make the incense... e.g. roll it and such. A kit with simple punk joss sticks or punk cones and a couple of bottles of fragrance oil is many times not worth the price they are asking for it. The Internet is a fine place to look for such kits and even recipes for home incense making.
If you will be using pure essential oils instead of commonly used fragrance oils for your incense making, keep in mind not all botanicals smell very pleasant when burned. Rose, sage, rosemary and most resins like myrrh and amber are very traditional and very inviting, but oils from the mint family such as peppermint can cast an awful, bitter scent into the air. This is why it is important to read up on the botanicals you will be using first. Also, incense must cure (dry) after being infused with essential oil. Not doing so can lead to a dangerous situation, as essential oils are extremely flammable. Incense making is certainly not for children.
-MAM
NOTES: Marie Anakee Miczak, Secret Potions, Elixirs & Concoctions (Lotus Press: 1999).
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