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The Incense Revival Taps Into Our Collective Craving for Comfort
The new school of artisanal burners won’t make your living room smell like a suburban head shop - and the best ones look pretty chic too.
As our lives move increasingly online, plenty of us are craving small moments of ceremony to act as circuit breakers (too soon?). From eye-melting monitors at work to Netflix on the tube and the inevitable doomscroll before bed, it’s possible to live out an entire day without looking up. Sure, you could download an app to control your screen time – peak irony – but those who are serious about tapping back into the real world understand the rebalancing power of going properly offline.
Along with meditation (there’s also an app for that), mushrooms and good old CBD, home fragrance is big right now. A candle is nice, but lighting incense comes with added ritualistic appeal.
Junior Adesanya, founder of Cremate, believes the main catalyst for the incense revival is the zeitgeist’s obsession with wellness. “Since Covid and the subsequent lockdowns, we seem to have become more in touch with the state of our bodies and minds, and therefore we’re looking to more holistic approaches to keeping these in check.”
Yasmin Sewell, founder of Vyrao, highlights the instant vibe shift an incense stick can conjure. “What is wonderful about incense is, the minute you burn it, it alters the energy of your space. The smell has instant impact, where a candle might take some time to get going." She calls it "the ultimate at home mood amplifier.”
Of course, it’s not just about the sense of comfort it brings – there’s olfactory benefits too. The new school of artisanal burners won’t make your living room smell like the damp end of a Glastonbury tent, and there are plenty of aromas to explore outside the traditionally heady realm.
Adesanya agrees most people have preconceptions of what incense smells like: most of us are familiar with the traditional, sacred aroma of Indian nag champa. "With Cremate, although I still respect and pay homage to the classic incense notes, I also like to switch things up a bit. I have created scents including notes of tar, barbecue, confectionery and even weed," he says.
“Our incense in particular is resonating with people because it doesn't smell so much like traditional incense,” says Sewell. “We use the same precious oils as we do in our fragrances, so they have a very fragrant and more complex scent.”
Here, see the incense sticks and cones to burn now.
Emitting lower levels of smoke than most incense sticks, Sewell’s brightly coloured offering goes big on the fine-fragrance notes, delivering a clean, modern aroma. Verdant is a bright, spring-ready blend of flowers and juniper, designed to sort out your chakras while refreshing your living room.
Byredo’s incense set combines ancient craftsmanship with modern perfumery. These incense sticks are hand-made in Tokyo using the traditional techniques, and burn with three scents that are about as far from Totnes crystal shop as possible.
With notes of oak and paper, Bibliothèque will make even the most heavily Ikea’d rental feel cosy and inviting, while Sweet Grass is a soothing blend of sage and palo santo. For something more floral, Burning Rose combines petals with leather.
You can stick The Soap on the side of your sink, but if you really want your home to emulate the unfathomable chicness of an Aesop store, you’ll need to light one of these. Far from the suffocatingly smoky burners of old, the brand’s Kagerou incense sticks are green and herbal, with fresh vetiver lifting the smooth sandalwood base. Each pack comes with a small holder included, too.
Lyn Harris has called upon one of Kyoto's last remaining traditional incense makers to create her Perfumer H offering, keeping the traditional craft alive. But modernity seeps in through her unconventional aromas: taking inspiration from the scents of everyday life, Harris transforms the mundane into something genuinely captivating. Ink is her ode to hand-written letters, with pale, papery woods and herbal elemi.
Gucci Esotericum Bamboo Incense Sticks
Gucci’s eccentric grandma energy lends itself perfectly to the incense boom. These bright-pink sticks come in a host of bright, refined aromas: I recommend Fumus, a birch and beeswax blend that pays homage to the house’s original Florentine workshop. The matching ceramic holder, replete with signature bee, is a considered move too.
Jonathan Anderson's home-fragrance collection for Loewe seamlessly melds the house's artisanal heritage with idiosyncratic scent.
A flawless housewarming gift, this glazed terracotta incense holder comes with 25 sticks in the brand's Tomato Leaves aroma: a green, nose-twitching blend inspired by a thriving British greenhouse.
Alighieri X Cremate Sacred Ash Incense Cones
Alighieri X Cremate Sacred Ash Incense Cones
Fashion’s favourite fragrance name, Cremate has worked with some of the buzziest names in the business, from Aries to Apron Records. This month, Adesanya has created a heady scent for jewellers Alighieri, which captures the spirit of the brand’s namesake poet and his metaphorical dark wood. Turns out, the underworld's olfactory offering is less fire and brimstone and more liquorice-sweetened woods.
Cremate Mary Mother of God Incense Cones
Cremate Mary Mother of God Incense Cones
Cremate's charcoal incense cones are hand-dipped in lemongrass, geranium and lavender, delivering a brighter scent than most. Burn them on the metal lid, which doubles as a holder.
We don’t recommend playing with fire at 2 AM, but the boys behind Cinnamon Projects apparently do, so this hefty set contains an incense to be lit at different times of the day. The five scents will take you from the black tea of 7AM right through to the cinnamon and honey of club kick-out time.
Earl of East Incense Cones
For serious room-filling scent throw, look to Earl of East. The Hackney-based brand creates small incense cones that far belie their size, filling the most high-ceilinged of homes with ease. Both sweet and spicy, the Rose scent is a strong choice.
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