Incense Reviews

I like incense. I keep notes on the incense I buy.

Shoyeido Horin Nijo

Purchased from Zen Minded. Priced around 3p/min, one stick lasts 20 minutes. My favourite incense while working. It's energising, contemporary, and long-lasting.

Nijo 'Avenue of the Villa' is a sandalwood based incense with fresh floral notes, reminiscent of a fresh afternoon rain.

• Powdery and floral from the start. Like a savoury talcum-powder crossed with a flower-garden.
• That powdery-element is almost creamy. It's a simple and consistent base-note that I really like, and works really well with the accompanying sandalwood.
• Maybe it's because I live on the coast, but I sometimes feel like the savoury notes dip into an almost salt-washed sea scent. I notice this a lot when walking back into a room where it's burning.
• I can't place the floral element. But I don't really know about flower scents beyond daffodils and hyacinths. It's not an insistent component - it's there, but it's happy to take a back seat.
• I think it's actually quite important, that floral. It elevates the incense to something interesting and different. Not at all how you see florals used in products from Nippon Kodo.

Baieido Kokonoe

Purchased from holisticshop.co.uk. Priced around 0.3p/min, one stick lasts 30 minutes. One of my favourites - but not be confused with "Tokusen Kokonoe".

Kokonoe means 'Imperial court'. Gentle fragrance of daffodil.

• It actually smells like daffodils. And not synthetic daffodils either! That flowery-ness is supported by a creamy (buttery?) base that gives it some weight.
• It doesn't feel very complex to me. You get the floral, and then you get that warm, creamy base-note.
• It's still a step above the sort of incense you'd find in shops that sell lighters and hydroponics gear. It's a one-note wonder that isn't overly-perfumed.
• The value is unbeatable. Sometimes I'll avoid burning my Shoyeido Horin sticks because of the cost - that isn't an issue here. Real pick-up-and-go value.