Personalized Incense

Can't find incense sticks with your favorite scent? Make your own! It's really easy and you can use whatever fragrance you want. Here's how:

1. Gather your supplies. You will need raw incense sticks or cones (which we sell at Otion-- 100 sticks for $6), fragrance oil, DPG (Dipropylene Glycol), container, plastic wrap or bag.

2. Start with your selected fragrance oils. In a container large enough to hold your sticks, add your fragrance oil and DPG and mix well. (We prefer a shallow baking pan or casserole dish). The amount of DPG and fragrance oil will vary, see "How Much DPG/FO?" below.

3. Insert sticks into container and roll to cover well. Place a plastic bag or plastic wrap over the container and seal. Sticks should be soaked anywhere from 1-3 days (we prefer 3), occasionally rolling the sticks in the liquid mixture to be certain all sticks are well covered.

4. Remove sticks to dry. The sticks can be dried a variety of ways. They can be placed in a vase which will hold the sticks and allow the excess liquid to drain to the bottom. Another method is to place sand in the bottom of a container and insert the bottom of the sticks into the sand.

How much DPG/FO?

It is recommended to start with 1/3 part fragrance oil to 2/3 part DPG. For 100 sticks, start with 4-6 tablespoons of liquid (total).

For those of you who would like to make your own incense from scratch using essential oils, herbs and resins, we recommend the Making Your Own Incense book by Tina Sams and Maryanne Schwartz.