Review: Whisper

Coming up on Halloween I decided that a "creepyish" sounding incense would be a fun one to do since next week I'll probably be posting something Halloween/Incense related instead of a review. I do intend to pick up some new samples to try very soon from a few new brands so I hope to add a little more variety into my diet. I'm very open to suggestions so if you'd like me to try a brand, or have any suggestions to make I'd love to check it out, just send me a link! :)

Name: Whisper
Brand: MoonDancer
Got it: RenFaire
Rating: **** (4 stars)
Why: Whisper is a good nighttime scent. it's subtle but still fragrant enough to let you know it's there. It's got a dusky musk scent and unlike some of the warmer scents this one has a crispness like a cool nighttime breeze (or a disembodied voice tickling your ear). It's not a natural smelling incense, and by that I mean sometimes you can pick our certain herbs or flowers that were used in the making of it, this one seems very "created" or put together so it's a scent that you'll either love or hate but it is quite distinctive and I happened to enjoy it :).

Review: Wayfarer

Round about this time of year I get that burning desire to travel, just to explore aimlessly and see where the road takes me....this scent in particular seems to capture my "rambling" frame of mind:

Name: Wayfarer
Brand: MoonDancer
Got it: Ren Faire (Sterling Forest)
Rating: **** (4 Stars)
Why: I really like this scent mostly because it reminds me of a campfire which was the first thing I thought when I burned it. There are tones of frankincense and some other exotic elements I can't quite put my finger on, but they give the scent some depth. It's like when you come back from a vacation and you open your suitcase and your clothes have that "other place" smell that reminds you of all your adventures. It is a bit heavy and so putting it in a large room would probably work best for this one. Its not over powering but it does have a bit of a kick to it. It also burns really so one stick lasted me about  an hour and a half, since all of MoonDancer's incense is handmade this will undoubtedly vary from stick to stick but I felt that it deserved some note. :)

Review: Green Tea

This review was a little difficult to get going since this particular scent had a hard time staying lit! So here's a tip, if you buy fresh joss sticks and they won't light or stay lit,  they may be a little too moist. Try to lay them out on wax paper for a few days and let them dry out. It's what I eventually ended up doing with these guys and it worked like a charm, so without further ado:

Name: Green Tea:
Brand: MoonDancer
Got it: RenFaire (Sterling Forest)
Rating: *** (3 Stars)
Why: Green tea is a soft, subtle scent that borders on being a bit on the bland side. I suppose if you were sipping a cup of green tea (as I often do) you wouldn't want to be overpowered by the smell, but because it's incense you are burning it would be nicer if  you could tell the scent was there.  It has an woody, earthy quality to it and would be a nice clean morning  scent to get you energized for the day.

A Personal Moment

Right now, it's raining cats and dogs outside and as I sit at my desk at work I find myself pondering what would be the most relaxing course of action to follow the post-workaday druggery (it's not that I'm slacking off, I'm just idling between jobs).

Of course that means I'm thinking of incense in some capacity. What sounds great to me as my Tuesday winds down to a close, is an aromatic exploration, blending some delicious tea (or now I can even get away with hot chocolate since autumn is on its way if not already upon us!) with a lavender joss stick. It occurred to me that perhaps you, dear reader,  would be interested in the mood effects of certain scents. Of course I'm talking about aromatherapy!

So here's a basic helpful guide to scents and their mood improving effects (alphabetically):

Basil- apart from it's culinary benefits the scent of Basil is great for improving concentration.

Jasmine- a great soothing and relaxing scent, but it's also great if you'd like to put some sparkle in your love life, since it acts as a great aphrodisiac!

Peppermint- for those who are down in the dumps, let peppermint pick you back up while lowering your cortisol (read= the chemical form of stress) levels! Not only is it a nice fresh clean scent that wakes you and gives you a little more bounce to your step, it's also great for relieving both headaches and stomach aches!

Rose- feeling amorous? We all know that the rose has many meanings but is generally associated with romance and love. It only stands to reason that the world's most romantic flower is also has powerful aphrodisiac properties!

Rosemary- apart from smelling delicious, Rosemary has also been shown to improve mood and performance,  while relieving stress, it also doesn't make you drowsy so it's a good afternoon scent to keep you revved and ready to power through the 2-3 o'clock drowsies.

Ylang-ylang- a great stress relieving scent that helps ease hypertension, stress and promotes mental calmness. Be warned Has been known to lower mental processing speeds, and impair memory, also overexposure can cause headaches and nausea.

References:

http:// http://www.essortment.com/aromatherapy-scent-meanings-effects-15912.html

Review: Peace and Protect

Name: Peace and Protect
Brand: MoonDancers
Got it: RenFair (Sterling Forest)
Rating: *** (3 stars)
Why: It's a clean crisp scent, that's very light and not overpowering with a subtle warm sweetness to it. It has a nice and relaxing effect so I highly recommend burning this in the evenings before bed because it does help me sleep (though we know that leaving anything burning while sleeping is a HUGE no-no and could result in you being homeless..or dead). It's not a stand out jumps out and grabs you kind of scent, and I guess for that reason I feel that it's kind of average as far as scents go. Some smells have certain evocative powers that just really grab you this isn't one of them but it is a really nice soothing scent.

Fun Smelly Fact: Coffee is used as a scent cleanser, so if you ever burn so much incense that you can't smell the difference put some ground coffee in a small bowl or saucer and take a whiff. It'll clear out  all the jumbled, tangled smells bouncing around in your nostrils and let you enjoy the distinctive odors of whatever perfume or incense you're trying out.

New Review: Fall

Name: Fall
Brand: MoonDancers
Got it: Ren Faire (Sterling Forest, NY)
Rating: *** (3 Stars)
Why: In honor of Autumn (my favorite season) I knew I had to review MoonDancer's "Fall" scent sometime in September, and soooo here it goes! Fall is very smokey and a very heavy scent, which is almost overpowering. I was expecting more from it, but it seems to be STRONG without much else to it. I don't catch any subtle nuances of cinnamon or rustic cider or even perhaps an baked apple or the smell of newly fallen leaves. It's just BAM and then you're left thinking...well Autumn is more than that. I do enjoy it, I just think that you'd need a bigger room to scent it in, and possibly it should be renamed to BAM (of course I'm just kidding).

New Review: Aura Cleanse

Name: Aura Cleanse

Company: MoonDancer

Got it: Ren Faire (Sterling Forest, NY)

Rating: ** (2 stars)

Why: I imagined this scent being a little softer than it was, it's very smokey and there's not much to it's scent other than that.  It's heavy and can be overpowering at times, but maybe in a bigger more open space it would be nicer? I always buy at least four sticks of any scent that I'm going to review, so I will burn this again and should I change my mind I will update the review, but for now I was a little dissapointed...It burned for about an hour so it was pretty standard. 

Note: You'll be seeing a lot of MoonDancer's incense here for a while I just came back from the RenFaire and she's got great prices (16 sticks for one american dollar!) so since I'm poor I generally wait to buy some of her stuff every year. This year I spent two dollars haha so I have about 8 new scents to try out from her. This was just the first I've reviewed by her, but I have used her products before and she's great. 

One last thing: Just because I rate something doesn't mean you as a buyer won't like it. Any scent can be extremely subjective so you can use my blog as a guide but keep in mind this is my opinion. Don't be afraid to try things I don't like. I'm all about being adventurous so by all means if you think something is different about a scent feel free to comment or disagree, just do it kindly,  I would do the same for you. :) (also, I will delete and posts that flame either myself or other posters).

Review: Burning Leaves

It's my birthday! And so I decided to do another post this week, highlighting one of my favorite scents so far!

Name: Burning Leaves
Brand: MoonDancer
Got it: RenFaire
Rating: ***** (5 stars!)
Why: It's a great scent! Rustic but not overpowering or too smokey, it smells exactly like burning leaves (obviously), but there's an added texture to it that makes the scent almost sugary, as if you were sitting in front of an Autumn bonfire with a hot mug of cider (complete with cinnamon stick) in one hand and a brown sugar candy in the other. It's got a kind of old fashioned, slower pace of life quality to it that makes you want to just stop and relax. I highly recommend it!

A Word about Incense Types

When I started this project I had a few people (you know who you are) ask me about various types of incense and how they are burned and whatnot. I figured a post explaining the different types would be beneficial.

There are a few types I will go into greater detail about each type at a later date but for now I'll focus on a few of the easily accessible varieties you will probably run across in your travels.

Two BIG categories of incense:

Directly-burning- meaning it's light by a flame and can burn all by itself.

Indirectly-burning-meaning it cannot burn on it's own usually requires a heat source to keep it going.

What you'll normally find is directly burning incense so I'll focus on a few main types of it:

Stick (Joss Stick) incense- this is probably what you've bought, you've seen it in Buddhist Temples, or in vendors at the mall. Long wooden stick made with fragrant oils and powders, has an internal burning core that you light directly (making it a directly burning incense for review) and burns on its own. In some countries it even comes in a coil and is used for mosquito repellent but the basic concept is the stick incense we know and love.

Cone- this looks well, like a cone, rounded coney edges, usually says cone on the package, you get the idea. It's small  feels like a pastel or a crayon wrapper to the touch, usually you need a special burner that has a little circle in it for you to burn it, since unlike Joss Sticks, cones burn all the way through so there will be nothing left of them. Cones usually are more concentrated and have a heavier scent (at least in my experience). It is also a directly burning incense so you have to light it on fire and then blow it out to get it going much like the Joss.

Pyramid- same as the cone except pyramid shaped.

Smudge Sticks- okay so if Joss Sticks are the goody two-shoes of the incense world that have a dainty scent, that dissipates nicely throughout your house, smudge sticks are their bad ass fat cousin. Usually you'll find this as a bunch of herbs (Sage is pretty popular) bound together. It's a directly burning incense so you do light it on fire, and when you do, watch out, because they have a very  heavy woody scent and produce alot of smoke, so if you don't have good ventilation it's gonna be very overpowering very quick. Usually burned in a dish, or very commonly in a pretty abalone shell burner. To put out, you guessed it, smudge that sucker! Great for insect or even people repellent! Often used in rituals and other spiritual gatherings.

So there you have it! Those are mostly the ones you're going to find in stores. Some time I'll put up a post about the indirectly burning incenses but for now just enjoy! :)

First Review: Bulgarian Red Rose

So this is where I write down the scent and tell you, dear reader, what I think about it. I can't say that the format of these reviews won't change over time, but for now I wanted to give you a heads up about how things are gonna go down....o heck I'm just gonna write the review and you'll see what I mean :)

Name: Bulgarian Red Rose
Company: Sonec
Got it: As a gift
Rating: **** (4 stars)
Why:  Roses are my favorite flower, and as a gift someone sent me this lovely scent a while ago. It was packaged in the forbidden plastic bags, BUT it has withstood many months of storage and still has a really lovely scent, a testament to it's quality at the very least (or maybe the plastic bag is just poorly made? haha). It's pleasing, not overpowering, actually smells like roses (always a plus when that's what you're lookin' for). If you're looking for mood incense with a little more depth maybe look elsewhere. It just smells right upfront  like roses so it's more of a floral perfumer than a mood setter. A big plus to this brand and this scent is that the standard stick lasts forever, Mine burned almost two hours! Most standard sticks burn for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Basic Incense Care

So you got an incense burner for your birthday, now what? Well obviously you use some of that birthday money and get yourself started with some incense! Here are some helpful tips so that you can get the best bang for your buck:

1.) If you have to pick the sticks individually make sure (although it's a pain) to use individual bags to wrap each of the scents you choose. If you store them altogether the scents have a tendency to blend into...well a gloppy smelly nothing scent which isn't what you wanted.  Avoid plastic ziploc bags because they are made with petroleum products and suck the fragrance right out of your incense. If you must transport them that way, try your best to remove them asap and see step 4 for more help.

2.) Label each of the bags (another pain, I know) but unless you have a smello-graphic memory you're not going to remember which scent is which. I've made this mistake a few times and regretted it, especially when I found a scent that I really loved and because it was unlabeled I had a hard time replacing it (if I could find it at all).

3.) The point of buying incense is to use it up eventually to buy more , so as a beginning shopper you want to experiment with all kinds of scents and find some that you like. So make a list of the ones you really like (or if you're like me, blog about them haha) and come up with some scents you regularly enjoy. Don't lose that adventurous spirit though, there are lots of companies out there and lots of scents to try! :)

4.) When storing your incense, try to use wax or rice paper bags (these work well), other methods of storage can be wooden boxes, or for shorter sticks I've read that cigar boxes work well. Keep the sticks in a cool dry place, moisture is baaad for incense. Good incense can last anywhere from 2-3 years! Lower quality incense usually loses it's fragrance much more quickly...so since you're just starting out I would suggest experimenting with some of the cheaper ones first and move onto the nicer stuff after you've experimented a bit.

Welcome Welcome!

This is a minor side project I've decided to start for no other reason than that I like incense and that I'd love to blog about different companies and scents as well as how to make it, and the history and purposes of the invention. It's not a serious pursuit, it's mostly for my own enjoyment haha but if you're reading and a mistake in the search engine didn't lead you here by accident, come on in, sit a spell and we'll talk shop a bit! :)