Put out the scented candles, because there’s a new trend in home fragrances: yes, incense is back.
Its surprising host is none other than supermodel turned wellness advocate Kate Moss, who recently launched Cosmoss Sacred Mist incense.
Adding to Kate’s Cosmoss range of fragrances and skincare products, the product comes beautifully packaged and is designed, she says, to create “a calming environment to meditate, reflect and relax.”
But you don’t have to be a yoga addict to ignite your passion for incense. There’s nothing like it for an instant fragrance transformation.
Candles fill the room with their scent very slowly. Vaporizers and air fresheners are instantaneous, but unfortunately the scent tends to fade quickly.
Incense (pictured) is back and there’s nothing like it for an instant fragrance transformation.
On the contrary, as renowned perfumer Francis Kurkdjian (creator of the worldwide best-seller Baccarat Rouge 540) explains, his favourite incense “fills the room in five minutes”.
Francis prefers a traditional Japanese style of incense, used by several of the brands mentioned below: thin sticks, made from a paste of aromatic ingredients, without a center rod.
Other options include cones or nuggets, made from scented paste, as well as stick incense, the most popular type, made by repeatedly dipping bamboo sticks into a fragrant mixture.
As early as 3000 BC, Egyptian priests burned incense made from aromatic resins and herbs to connect with the gods.
Perfume gets its name from the Latin phrase “per fumum,” or “through smoke,” and incense is still widely used in religious ceremonies around the world.
In recent years it has fallen out of favour due to a lingering association with hippies, but it is calculated to appeal to devotees of the modern cult of well-being, who see the lighting of a stick or cone of incense as a relaxing ritual after the chaos of everyday life.
Even luxury perfume brands Loewe and Byredo are getting in on the incense trend. I tried out the best of what was on offer…
GOLD, INCENSE AND MYRRH
Perfumer H Gold Stick Incense, £35 for 30 and brass holder, perfumerh.com
British perfumer Lyn Harris has helped lead the incense revival. Her fragrant sticks are made by one of Japan’s few traditional incense producers in Kyoto, which supplies Buddhist temples. The newly launched Gold is the summer bestseller at Lyn’s super-cool Mayfair boutique, with a rich blend of citrus fruits, spices, frankincense and myrrh.
Kate Moss Water
Cosmoss Incense, £32 for 30, cosmossbykatemoss.com
Echoing Kate Moss’ award-winning Cosmoss Sacred Mist fragrance, these bars combine notes of fresh citrus, orange blossom, bergamot, tuberose, oakmoss and cedarwood, “to fill your space with heavenly aromas of relaxation.”
RICH AND REALISTIC JASMINE
Jasmine Flower Temple of Incense, £10 for 20, templeofincense.com
From an online incense store with a really wide range of products, the scent of jasmine is linked with good luck in love, wealth, sleep, healing and harmony. It is rich, intense, exotic and true to the scent of the flower.
Jasmine Flower Temple of Incense, £10 for 20, templeofincense.com
WONDERFULLY GREEN
Loewe Tomato Leaf, £45 for 25, perfumesloewe.com
One of two incense options from the coveted Spanish luxury fashion and leather goods brand (the other being Ivy Leaf, with honeyed floral notes), it transports you straight to grandpa’s greenhouse with its whiffs of tomato.
AROMATIC INDIA
Astier de Villatte Delhi, £45 for 125, astierdevillatte.com
Famous for its handmade white ceramics, AdV also offers more than a dozen options in its luxury incense collection, inspired by different cities.
It’s like an ‘India lite’, an exotic but never overwhelming fusion of resins, vanilla wood, musk and herbs.
HIPSTER LIBRARY
Earl of East Primary School, £18 for 16 cones, earlofeast.com
Hipsters love Earl of East, and these incense cones regularly sell out at the London brand’s lifestyle stores. This scent, “Elementary,” evokes an ancient library, through smoky wisps of sweet tobacco, amber, and hints of leather.
CELEBRITY SLEEP ENHANCER
Psychic Sisters Sleep Well, £7 for 14, psychicsisters.com
You may not have heard of British clairvoyant Jayne Wallace, but her wellbeing brand Psychic Sisters, which has a branch in Selfridges in London, has launched a range of incense sticks that includes a blend of lavender and chamomile designed to help you fall asleep. They’re also reportedly “charged and energised with reiki”, to make you feel even better.
ANCIENT RITUAL
Mount Athos Incense by Officine Universelle Buly, £21.35, buly1803.com
Inspired by a 2,000-year-old tradition of burning incense in the ancient Greek Orthodox monasteries of Mount Athos, these small, pale incense pebbles are still handcrafted by monks. They are available in 14 scents, including the heady floral fragrance of gardenia. Light a single nugget to scent a room, or leave the box open and the aroma will gently diffuse.
Super chic (and expensive)
Byredo Trois Encens Incense Stick Set, £134, byredo.com
If you don’t mind shelling out extra cash on incense, three of the cult brand’s iconic fragrances (Burning Rose, Bibliothèque, and Sweet Grass) have been reborn in a pricey incense set that offers 60 plump sticks (handmade in Tokyo), plus a sleek ceramic holder.
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