I just wore a bit of avignon yesterday - i had forgotten how calming it cqn be. My fave from the series used to be kyoto.. My absolute favorite candle is Astier de Villatte's Delhi candle which has beautiful incensey notes. I got it on sale ( it is expensive!!) so i'm not looking forward to it getting over.

I salvaged a great Danish Modern desk my former boss had discarded. As soon as it came into my house I smudged sage all around it to remove any trace of negative energy. I love incense and would burn it often if my husband were not so sensitive to it. Thanks to Modern Fumie for that Science Daily link!

Howdy, Portia -- great post! I love incense scents in general; for my house, I have been enjoying the Papier d'Armenie line of incense papers in booklet form, especially the scent by Francis Kurkdjian. His own line of incense papers are lovely, too, but somewhat more $$$. Also got some lovely incense cones from a perfume buddy for the holidays and they are so nice!

Though y'all might be interested in this link from science daily: Burning incense has (positive!) psychoactive properties. :) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080520110415.htm

I cook often but hate the smell of food in the house, so I regularly burn incense and candles. I like variety, but my go-to favorite is a rather inexpensive one called "India Temple Incense", which is very strong and leaves a nice lingering scent in the home for a day or so. I'm also a fan of "Fred Soll's Resin on a Stick". He hand dips every stick and adds various dry ingredients to the resin. They are all natural, fairly priced and he ships everywhere. You can see them here: http://www.fredsoll.com/

Incense is so deliciously calming. The Japanese ones are nice I think, also the Arabian bakhoors...my most recent is full of agarwood.

I do burn sage to clear the air but have to be very careful with incense because of my wonky sinuses. Instead I use a Lampe Berger and essential oils (rather than their premade scents). xoxoxoxoA ps. you still there? You didn't get pulled out of the water by that wallaby-eating snake, didja? Stay safe, darlin'.

I love incense. I use them regularly to clear the accumulated energies in the house and on me. I do have a great collection but one of my favourites are the ones from Japan and India. Once I bought some "blank" incense sticks and loaded them with my favourite perfumes. When I used them right away, it kind of worked but the ones I didn't use for a few weeks lost its scent. I might try again with perfume oils.

Hi Portia, I don't have any incense but I'm positively intrigued by the incense you got from Jin's mother. Is there any way you could find out which temple it was from? I'd love to visit it on my next trip to Korea. l just sampled and loved Chergui, so I'll have to think about if it resonates as incense-y on my next wear!

I haven't burned incense since high school (graduated 14 years ago). It was usually that somewhat cheap stuff that I thought was great but was really horrible but haven't burned it since. Now I stick to CdG Kyoto and Zagorsk and eventually will get to Avignon.

I love incense and have many I've collected over the years. Most of them are pretty standard fare, as in easy to find, mainstram brands, etc. I do like to make my own incense (the loose kind you burn on charcoal disks, burning trail) and like making ones that "clear the air". Sometimes if I overdo it I will have a haze of smoke lingering around the ceilings for a bit and then I'm reminded of being in an opium den or a Grateful Dead concert :)

Burning sage is a great way to clear the air and the energy of a place. However it will leave your home smelling like pot, so I always follow the sage with incense. It's nice to light the incense with an intention to fill the fresh space with whatever qualities you want for you home, peace, love, etc. My all time favorite incense is Nag Champa, but I have several that I like. I also love incense in perfume but have yet to find my perfect one. Interesting blog post - thanks!

I have some incense papers that were sent to me in a swap - not sure what kind they are but they smell great. Incense perfumes are one of my favorite categories: Encens et Lavande, CdG Incense Series, CdG 2, Bond 9 Silver Factory, Messe di Minuit, Nicolai Vanille Tonka, Nu edp and many others!

I love just about all incense, but currently I've been burning this Nag Champa and others, that I buy from some Indian, Eastern market close to me. They have the best stuff! It's all pretty mystrious in there and as hard as I try to decipher the products, I don't, because I just don't stay I there too long.....it's the kind of place where the TV set behind the register is blaring something really loud, and sounds like something that's gonna cause the black SUV's to pull in any minute..... Great incense and oils is NOT worth getting hauled off by the " eff. Bee eye ". Good stuff though!