How to Buy Stick Incense

Incense has been used for thousands of years to help focus attention during meditation or religious services, to purify or cleanse spaces and to provide the simple and transitory pleasure of scent. Though there are many different types of incense available today, stick incense is the most convenient form. It's easy to light and easy to burn safely. Buying stick incense is a good starting point for your exploration of this ancient type of aromatherapy.

Instructions

1. Learn about the different types of stick incense available. In general, there are three types: one with a wooden center around which incense is rolled, one with a bamboo center around which incense is rolled, and one made out of compressed incense. Incense with a wooden center usually provides the least pure scent, while compressed incense provides the purest scent.

2. Decide upon the scent that you prefer or the mood that you want to invoke. The best incense scents are herbal, spice, wood and resin-derived because they burn the most fragrantly. Many upscale brands of incense claim aromatherapeutic benefits of different incense scents on each package.

3. Choose other details that are important to you, such as the length of time each stick will burn, whether the stick burns without creating smoke and whether the incense is made from all-natural materials.

4. Determine your price range. A package of cheap stick incense may cost as little as a dollar. A single stick of compressed incense can cost more than $15. Shoyeido offers a 35-stick bundle of agarwood incense for around $600.

5. Visit a specialty store, either in-person or online, to purchase your incense. Import stores, such as Indian or Japanese specialty stores, often carry high-quality imported incense, while natural food and natural health stores offer a good range of aromatherapy incense. Online, you can purchase directly from companies that produce incense.

6. Ask if the store offers sample assortments if you can't decide upon one scent. Sample assortments are an economical way to try out a variety of incense scents.

Tips & Warnings

• If the wooden center of a stick of incense is a fragrant wood, such as sandalwood, the incense may deliver just as pure a scent as does compressed incense. Select incense made from natural spices and scented wood, such as sandalwood and agarwood, rather than one that uses other woods as fillers or that uses artificial scents.

References

• Shoyeido Incense
• Best Incense