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akira7

I love incense, and have for as long as I can remember. This one rental store that used to be near me (all kinds of cool old tapes, CDs, posters, and I'd rent a SNES game every week) would always have incense burning. It was like a rental/music store that verged on wanting to be a head shop. I loved that place, and I can still remember the smell, but unfortunately never learned what it was. This place also was around back when Pink Floyd's Pulse first came out, and they had this HUGE subway size poster of the Storm Thorgerson cover on the wall. It was huge, and they kept it on there until they finally closed down.

Anyway, my dad always used to burn basic nag champa around the house. For anyone looking to pick up some incense, start with your basic nag. Just find your nearest head shop or something similar, and they're sure to have all different sizes of the classic kind. I just refer to it as the blue kind. It's blue with white text on it. A regular box of 25 or so should run maybe $3.50 or so. There's also a nag champa from a company that has a red and yellow box, which is another one that's probably just as good. Your basic stuff, get stocked up on it.

I've been burning a lot of this kind called "Nag Champa Flora" which is kinda what it sounds like. It's a nag champa scent, but with a more flowery smell (don't worry, it's still not your mom's candles). This comes in a black box with some floral patterns on it (including one that kinds looks like mary jane). It also gives off a really thick smoke, stuff that'll stick to you and fill your room. If you're looking for something new, try this.

Two others that I always like to be well stocked up on are Sandlewood and Patchouli. These are both a nice, mature, musky smell not far removed from an almost cologne like smell. They lend themselves nicely to incense. I have some good memories burning sandlewood everyday for a number of months.

Occasionally, I like something a bit sweeter. Certain kinds of vanilla are really good, but I just can't burn sweet scented kinds all that often (because I like to burn a stick a day, and it gets a little nauseating when it's so syrupy sweet smelling). Certain fruits are alright, but if anything's too sweet, it's like why bother with incense when you should probably looking for candles.

Someone mentioned Gonesh sticks, I'm a big fan of those. They have a basic set that are pretty much classic aromas. I highly recommend any of these.

That's pretty much my thoughts on incense. I love the stuff. My advice to anyone who's thinking of buying and burning it with any regularity is buy boxes or packages. Don't bother with that "pick your sticks" mix and match crap, buying 10 different scents. I also don't really dig variety packages either, other than just to find a new one, because I personally like to stick to one or two, load up, and then just burn 'em and not think about it. Find stuff you like, and stick with it. Try something new only when you're ready for something new. Always nice to have a good supply of old standbys.

Anyone got any good ones for me to check out?

 

chunk

Well, since this thread is resurected, I have a question.

IS the smell of incense very strong or "sticky"?

As in, my parents arent really candle/insence/smelly stuff people. The only smells that fill our house is my moms cooking.

Now, my parents are pretty reasonable people. I would be willing to bet that if i could convince them that an insence wouldnt "stink up" the house for weeks, they would let me burn one every so often.

So how long does the smell stick around? How well is the smell contained? If I light one or two in my room, will the smell spread throughout the house?

SmasheR

I find the best buys on it in headshops, but I usually buy mine for around 4$ a pack at the local Cigar Land. And yes I burn Nag Champa religiously.

Speaking of our friend Nag Champa, my girlfriend got me some Nag Champa beauty soap for christmas, I have to remark I smell delicious under it's influence.

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Left the philly at home, do you have another? I wanna get blunted my brother..

akira7

It all depends on what incense it is. Talking simply in averages (and talking about sticks, not cones or anything) here's what I'd say.

Your basic nag champa isn't too sticky. It'll stick to your clothes pretty good if you stay in the same room the whole time. As far as your own senses, it's not going to be too strong unless you're standing right above the smoke inhaling (which isn't good for you anyway).

Nag champa is a rather light, airy aroma, yet is still a thick enough smell you don't feel you're pussing out or anything. Nag champa truly is the incense standard, the vanilla if you will, because it really is just a happy medium of all various kinds of scents into one. If you get a sweeter smelling kind, it might stick on you more than a more earthy kind. I'd stay away from some that are just smokier to begin with (and yes, they do make some that are just short of smelling like a fire's smoke).

Your average stick will probably drift throughout the floor you're on. If you're in one corner of the house, one may or may not smell it in the opposite corner, or downstairs if you're upstairs. It's possible, though, but it's probably just faint. I always have my door closed, too, so it stays within my room. Note that the smoke's not like a group of people hotboxing joints or blunts; it won't fill the room with smoke. It's usually a light haze that'll just kind of 'linger' in the room, so you don't need to worry about suffocating or anything (though some people do like to have their doors open to other rooms, because their eyes water, etc.)

So be sure you burn something that your parents can agree is something they don't mind smelling because chances are they'll get some degree of the aroma, too. After the stick's burnt (which can take anywhere from 5-20 mins depending on the thickness of the incense on the stick), it'll linger strong for a couple hours. If it's good incense, you should still be able to trace it the next day (but you'll only smell it in the room it was burnt in, it'll be long gone anywhere else).

If you stay around it, it might stick to your clothes and hair for that day. So again, pick a scent you like, because others might smell it too, and you want it to be good. If it does stick to your bed or furniture, it'll be gone in two days, tops.

Again, all of this is relative, and I'm speaking in averages. I've burnt sticks at noon that I couldn't tell I even burnt by supper, and I've had some really good incense that could linger for days. A relatively good way to judge this is check out the sticks themselves. Incense is a kind of pulp that is rolled onto sticks and dried. So, literally, the thicker the incense is on a stick, the stronger it may be, compared to some dinky little sticks that hardly seem to have enough incense to cover the stick itself. Those probably will last for about the time it burns and that's it.

Another thing to factor in is authenticity. Many types of incense are made and/or imported from India (the blue box of nag champa I mentioned, for example). Then there's also your gas station/card shop American made stuff. Generally, this stuff is manufactured, and when you see it, it doesn't even look all that pulpy, but more 'crusty'. If you want the most bang for your buck, go for the Indian kinds (they're often handrolled by women of certain Indian villages), because they'll last longer, burn thicker (the smoke with bellow out of the stick in a fluffier fashion, while the American-made kind usually just streams straight upwards making your ceiling smell wonderful), and usually smell more natural. There's good non-Indian stuff out there, too. Not a must, but just a rule of thumb.

I recommend to start off pick up this...

or one of these...


Burn one, see if your parents care with your door open or close. If they don't like it, it won't have set you back too far.

Itzamna

Ebony Love, my friend "Why does it smell like sex in here"

I like to burn sage!

 

hutchstoner

You can't ever mess around with anything other than naga champa. i usually alternate between golaka and the agarbatti.

guntroll

I gopt some great brownish stuff (just burnt it) and I have no idea what it was. Personally I just walk a third of a mile to the store get some and walk the 1/3 mile back. I plan on ordering some off of EDIT during spring break but tilll then my normal stuff will due

Dank Perception

Gonesh are so bad. I have about 9 packs of them, been unopened for months. Don't buy that crap brand, espcially orange cream. They don't last that long, they smelllike death (most of them) and the smell doesn't stick around long as nag.

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I forgot

Alive-And-Dreaming

I looooove incense. I keep 'em burning 24/7. It's like cooking. I love finding out what scents go well together. Currently, I'm digging Nag Champa sticks burning with the gonesh Jasmin cones. That's the setup I've got going right now.

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''I can remember one occasion, taking a shower with my wife while high, in which I had an idea on the origins and invalidities of racism in terms of Gaussian distribution curves,'' ~ Carl Sagan

xebrazi

[quote=JnEverett;681366]....My favorite that I use all the time is Nag Champa. ....../QUOTE]

Me too