Natural, sustainable, fair-trade, and wildcrafted

Many people burn incense for a variety of reasons from use in religious ceremonies and communing with nature to the simple act of ridding your home of funky odors. Making and burning incense is one of the oldest human crafts.

Incense can be broken down into two categories: indirect-burning and direct-burning. Dried sage leaves are a form of indirect-burning incense or non-combustible incense. They will not burn without the continued application of flame. Direct-burning, or combustible, incense is blended with oils or other mediums that allow the incense to stay lit for a smoldering effect that releases scent until the incense burns out. Incense sticks or cones fit this category.

The latest trend in incense is wildcrafted incense, which loosely refers to incense makers who gather, collect, or trade raw materials through a variety of sustainable means to make incense from all-natural ingredients. The focus is on using resources in a sustainable way and to produce a superior product. It’s certainly a trend that we can get behind and one that anyone who enjoys incense should as well.

Discover the best of wildcrafted incense with these three totally sustainable and delightful brands.

Wildcrafted Incense

Sacred Wood Essence

For more than six years, the makers of Sacred Wood Essence have been working with the same family in Ecuador who source the best quality wood from the Palo Santo tree. They employ many workers in the area and provide a fair wage above the average of other local jobs. There is no harvesting or cutting down of trees which make it fully sustainable–the wood is only harvested from trees that have fallen. Palo Santo incense is similar to sage and cedar.

Sword+fern

Sword+Fern botanical incense is ethically harvested, whole plant, loose incense. The company produces three varieties of natural, wildcrafted, chemical-free, and clean-burning incense for everyday aromatherapy, magical, or spiritual use. These are hand-blended collection of the whole resin and plant incenses. The scents offered are: Your Light, which is made with lavender, desert sage, and mugwort; Speak of Me, made from frankincense, black copal, and Douglas fir; and Time Garden, made with patchouli leaf, copal, and western red cedar needles. Truly heady stuff.

Juniper Ridge

Juniper Ridge is the master of wildcrafted incense. The company offers up seven varieties of stick incense that are made with gathered and collected materials from the wilds of California. From Sweetgrass Campfire Incense, which smells like vanilla, fresh-cut grass, and cinnamon bread baking in the oven, to Douglas Fir Campfire Incense, which smells just like a mountain lodge fireplace and is perfect for the holiday season, Juniper Ridge uses only sustainably-sourced wildcrafted plants, tree sap, wood.

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Wildcrafted Incense Image via Juniper Ridge

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One thing is for sure this time of year: Whether the weather is hot and sunny, wet and dreary, or cool and crisp … we are ready for fall! Evoke the season no matter what it’s like outside with fresh, natural  perfumes and scents.

You may not be wearing your chunky sweaters and ankle boots just yet (darn it!) but this doesn’t mean you can’t add a bit of autumn to you style. What’s light, invokes a sense of fall, and appropriate for any weather?

Fall scents! And natural perfumes lend that crisp, seasonal feel without the artificial fragrance side effects. Feeling something warm and earthy? Kick your cozy socked (or bare) feet up and peruse our list of the best fall perfumes to get your hands on now.

The list includes both perfume oils and sprays. What’s the diff? Oils do not contain the alcohol that makes a perfume spray-able. Oils also tend to be longer lasting, have a longer shelf life and richer aroma, and are less likely to cause an allergic reaction, like headache or skin irritation.

How to choose? If you have ultra-sensitive skin, choose a perfume oil. If you prefer to spritz like crazy and like a lighter scent, go for a spray.

5 Fall Scents to Get Your Autumn Started

1. Honoré Des Prés Vamp A NY is classic style meets modern woman. Tuberose and rum unite to create a delightful spritz-able scent Spirit Demerson deems “everything I love about autumn in a fragrance”.

2. For those who love floral scents year round, Strange Invisible Epic Gardenia Perfume is the way to go. The intense flower is grounded with velvety spiciness in this spray perfume.

Vanilla and cacao in a woodsy fusion? Yes, please! This is what you get in Tsi-La Organics L’Absolu Vanille Eau De Parfum, a universal oil blend.

And now for something completely different. Osmia Organics Cedar Smoke Perfume Oil is tantalizingly unique. Less sitting-around-the-campfire, more walk-in-the-forest. Created in Colorado, this baby is mountain living at its best.

Rose lovers rejoice. Lurk Made TBPV1 Perfume Oil combines traditional tuberose with black pepper in this modern throwback perfume oil. Think classic elegance meets contemporary style.

*Disclaimer: Help support EcoSalon! Our site is dedicated to helping people live a conscious lifestyle. We’ve provided some affiliate links above in case you wish to purchase any of these products.

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Image of woman applying perfume via Shutterstock

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