Incense, but make it modern
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Imagine if, rather than the severity of a ticking hand, we marked time in gentle smoke trails. Consider the sixth-century Chinese incense clocks that tracked time by burning powdered incense on pre-measured labyrinthian paths. For me, growing up in a Hindu household, the smell of agarbatti marked the beginning of long journeys away from home. My mother would insist on pre-flight prayers, dotting vibhuti ash on my forehead as a talisman.
As I moved into my own spaces, I shrugged incense off as being too close to home, opting for other room fragrances: Coqui Coqui diffusers from the Yucatán peninsula, Buly 1803 scented alabaster from France, or Mad et Len lava rock from the Sahara Desert. But in more recent scent-seeking endeavours, I can’t help but notice a new ubiquity of incense. It’s a homecoming, of sorts.
Byredo has recently reshaped three of its home scents into limited-edition handmade incense sticks (£134). Aesop has released three incense scents (£29) and a bronze holder (£115) to bring “aromatic quietude” to the home. Gucci’s fuchsia bamboo sets (£70) are a sensorial addition to the brand’s heady aesthetic. Louis Vuitton’s VIPs received osmanthus incense cones for their mid-autumn festival gift boxes. Interior designer Athena Calderone has collaborated on incense with Cinnamon Projects ($40); Perfumer H’s dusky new Paper scent, created alongside London stationery store Choosing Keeping, infuses Kyoto-made sticks (£35); and Pharrell Williams launched an incense holder with Neighbourhood: a Vulcan hand that smoulders from the fingertips (£180).
“Incense is an energy amplifier and also super-grounding; it has even been found to trigger a release of serotonin,” says Yasmin Sewell, founder of wellbeing brand Vyrao, who added incense (£35) in the second offering of her perfume collection. “You light one stick and your space is transformed in a moment.”
Incense has been used globally for millennia, for medicinal and mystical purposes alike, but the rise in demand for “self-care” goods has seen an increase in grounding daily rituals that serve as circuit breakers from endless screen time. According to a report by Global Market Estimates, the global incense market is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of almost 12 per cent from 2023 to 2028.
Elise Pioch, whose glass and marble incense holders form part of her brand Maison Balzac, lights one of her Chapelle sticks every evening before bed. “It closes the day in a ceremonial, familiar way and allows me to clear my mind before I fall asleep.” For Rosh Mahtani, designer and founder of Alighieri, it is a similarly intentional practice. “I have a distinct memory of my grandparents burning incense as part of their daily holy ritual.” Mahtani recently added an incense collaboration with Cremate London, called “Sacred Ash”, to her jewellery and lifestyle offering. Mahtani describes it as “the smell of old libraries, church vaults and Dante Alighieri’s dark wood”. “The act of lighting the stick or cone feels like such a powerful way to end the day and release an intention alongside the scent,” she says.
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