Incense why some are better than others

Hi All,

Thought I would give you a basic lesson on why some incense are better than others.  I have been selling incense and aroma therapy products for over five years.  Prior to selling incense, I used to buy them at the typical places, flea markets, discount stores, etc...  Some of them really bothered my sinuses and gave me head aches. 

So I wanted to find out why, I learned that a lot of incense, especially "hand dipped" incense are made from incense sticks called "punks" most punks are made from saw dust, and are then "scented".  The scenting process is typically done by taking a fragrance, sometimes the fragrance may or may not contain an essential oil (look for my blog about essential oils) but the real ingrediant needed is DPG oil.

DPG oil in my opinion is not a good thing to be breathing.  The chemical make up is similar to lighter fluid and when you make a "hand dipped" incense it is a necessary ingrediant or the punk will not burn.  So in short, whatever the fragrance is, it has to be cut with DPG oil.

Yes these incense look impressive, they make a lot of ash, and some are better than others.  The bottom line is though, you really do not know what you are breathing into your lungs.

The better incense (in my opinion) does come from asian countries.  India is the largest exporter, and has thousands of "perfumeries" or incense making factories.  Most of the incense are hand made, come in any fragrance you can think of, and generally all are of good quality.  India, Tibet (Nepal) and other asian countries have been making incense for thousands of years.

Within the asian incense community there are incense that are of better quality than others.  There are charcoal based, masala, and Dhoops to name a few.  The largest selling incense in the US is Satya Sai Baba Nag Champa.  They are a religious sect, or followers of the Sai Baba.  Nag Champa is a flower that grows in India, there is green champa, red champa, and other companies make a very nice Nag Champa. The second most popular is probably Goloka.  Hem is also making a very nice champa. What you really need to watch out for is counterfit Satya Sai Baba, if you have the real thing it will have a water mark (on packages 15 grams or larger) on the package of the maker which is shrinjvas sugandhalaya, the 8 stick box will have the manufactures name and address.  The counterfit ones look like the regular box, there is no water mark and the quality of incense is not the same.  I was burned on a kilo, although it was in a "real" box, one of the seals had been broke.  Inside I found ten 100 gram packs in plain white packages.  Shrinjvas does not package their kilo packs this way, so I never bought from that importer again and I did not pass it off to my customers as the "real" thing.

Satya Sai Baba, also has very nice soap, oils, and other nice incense such as super hit.  Your better incense such as Satya Sai Baba Nag Champa is a masala type incense.  There are also other incense that are very well made and high quality.  In my opinion some of the best are from Nikhil, of course my favorite is Brindivan from Padmini which is a indian sandalwood.

Dhoops are another nice incense to explore.  Typically they are short sticks, or cone type.  There are no bamboo centers from which the material is rolled onto, just pure scent.  Dhoops are used in India for many purposes especially religious.  If you can, find some Hari Darshan or Padmini, even people who do not like incense like these they are very good.

Sia Flora, or Ganesh Flora are two other types of incense you should also try.  I have die hard Sia Flora customers.  Sia Flora is a large masala type of incense, it is very strong with a heavy smoke.  I have been told that it is used by some in India to "cleanse" prior to religious ceremonies. 

Tibetan incense also have their own unique quality, I can tell a tibetan type of incense by the aroma.  Most have a red sandalwood base, and many are made with as many as 18 different herbs.  Many are made in monestaries in Nepal by tibetan people who escaped tibet when china invaded.  Tibetan incense are not on a stick, you need to use a Dhoop holder to burn them. but they are probably the most natural of any incense.  Then there is the rope type, that are a braided rope about five inches long that is filled with herbs.  These are quite pleasant and a very nice experience.

Last but not least, as with any incense we all have our preferences.  In India, it is really not the "scent" but the feeling you get from it that is more important.  Explore, seek out the unique.  Discover the aroma's incense should be used for more than just trying to change how your house smells!

Let me know what you think, or if you found this useful

Laura