Apothecary’s Garden

May 28, 2014 at 11:01 pm (Fir, Frankincense, Pine / Pinon, Spruce)

Apothecary’s Garden is in Canada and has a number of interesting and “off the beaten track” incense materials, as well as tinctures at his Etsy store. The owner does much of the materials collecting all over the world , which you can read about in his blog.

I have tried the Frankincense Rivae, Papyrifera and Neglecta which are nice a a bit different then Omani Greens or the Somalia. I am experimenting with some of the wild collected sap’s for new blends. Nice Etsy shop and a very informative blog.  I will add the links onto the left hand side of our blog under suppliers and blogs. -Ross

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Mermade Magickal Arts/Gaia Tree

May 16, 2014 at 7:27 am (Amber, Balsam, Benzoin (Loban), Cedar, Evergreen, Fir, Frankincense, Incense, Mermade Magickal Arts, Mike, Spruce, United States)

When I first started getting into blended incense, I was fascinated with church and forest blends, in fact over the years I’ve gathered more of them than I know what to do with. Many who have spent some time in Catholic churches know the basic scent of frankincense and some of these blends could be quite fine, having that amazing citrus scent as a base. The forest blends often went deeper than this and I’ve run across several whose fruitiness tends towards the scent of green apple mixed with pine, spruce, fir and other evergreen scents. In fact while around here we talk a lot about the wonders of aloeswood and sandalwood, I’ve always really prized the much cheaper and easily accessible forest blends, they’re a great way to scent your space.

Katlyn Breen is turning out to be a master of the art of earthy, foresty scents, in fact I’d probably have to do a bit of research to create a list of all the wonderful blends that have come out of Mermade over the last decade in this vein. And these blends are in many ways much more carefully crafter and deep than the average forest resin blend and many of them go in all sorts of neat and interesting directions. Gaia Tree is one of her newest, listing black frankincense, storax benzoin, arbor vitae, green cedar tips, black spruce, green myrtle, fir, and benzoin and tolu balsam essential oils as ingredients. This is a very rich and powerful forest scent, starting with the citrus of the frankincense base, moving towards the evergreen and apple mix I mentioned earlier, adding a touch of spice that is reminiscent of Mermade’s amazing Mahjoun incense, an almost confectionary level of sweetness and a really strong touch of amber that comes from the essential oils, in fact it’s one of the most wonderful amber notes I’ve experienced in an incense. This is all well rounded with a distinct greenness that comes from the spruce and fir tips, highlighting the name of the incense itself. While so many forest blends tend to scent fairly clean, there is a rich, creaminess to this one that gives it a wonderfully decadent note.

As always if you haven’t made your way over to Mermade, it should be one of your top incense stops. The Golden Lotus incense heater is an absolute must for blended incense and Gaia Tree couldn’t work more beautifully on it.

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Yamadamatsu / Shihou Kyara (Coil) (Discontinued)

May 12, 2014 at 4:01 pm (Agarwood / Aloeswood / Eaglewood, Incense, Japan, John, Kyara, Woods, Yamadamatsu)
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Where to start. A note on the name, Shihou in Japanese means ‘all directions’. I put some prep time in before I lit this coil to take notes on it, cleansing my olfactory senses with coffee beans and ensuring the room was free from other scents, etc etc.

This coil is all wood. It immediately hits you with concentrated, pure aloes wood scent, with a rich turpentine backed up by a light rosy cedar sweetness, mixed with a hint of ozone. This is by no means a 100-paces style incense, even though it comes in a coil. You will definitely want to sit down and listen to this one on a personal level.

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Kyphi from The Scented Dijinn

May 11, 2014 at 7:49 pm (Kyphi, Lotus, Resins, Ross)

Justine Crane is a perfumer of the old school, using natural essences and materials to produce luxury perfumes, body products and incense. I have tried two of her Kyphi blends and was impressed by both.
The Red Kyphi has all the deep qualities one might expect from a Kyphi blend, there are also many other layers in here, lots of study time and a good choice as a meditative scent. Overall, to my nose, there is an herbal scent as well as a resinated feel to it mixed in with a sort of animal note. Not in the sense of actual animal materials as much as a feeling or vibration. Think Primal scent. This is not the type of incense that is going to fill up a room if used on an electric heater (which is what I am using). It is more along the lines of wearing a very close perfume or cologne that is for your benefit(or someone you are close to).
The Pink Lotus Kyphi is stronger the Red and also has a very interesting progression of scents. The pink lotus aspect jumps right out, mixed in with some resins. Then it all settles down into what I can only describe as sultry, sumptuous, and very seductive. Just the thing for a romantic evening, maybe not so much for meditation 😮 .
I notice at her Esty store that there is also a Lavender Kyphi and if you go onto her blog you can read about the process, which is fascinating and quit informative. Kyphi is not something that one casually knocks out in a day or so; it is a long-term process with many steps and a lot of expensive ingredients. Making it takes passion, using it is a joy. Have fun. -Ross

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