Which incense should I buy if I like earthy scents?

If you like earthy scents, start with Looshi Rewild, because its own page calls it an earthy fragrance and it smells like a forest after rain. Looshi is artisanal incense, rolled by hand with real ingredients, with grounding scents from across the world. Rewild is drawn from the woods: wet earth, old trees and the hush of a forest.

What earthy means in incense

Earthy in incense is a word for the smell of the outdoors, and Field Mag gives one clear example: it describes copal as a natural resin with an inherent woodsy, earthy aroma.

Earthy sits close to woody, but it's wetter. Woody is dry timber; earthy adds the damp ground and the green of a wood after rain.

So when you shop for earthy incense sticks, read how each scent's page describes its smell once it's lit. A page that talks of wet earth, forest or resin leans earthy, while one full of flowers, citrus or sugar points somewhere else. For the wider question of which incense suits you, the guide to which incense to buy starts from the beginning.

Rewild, the earthy one

Rewild is the scent whose own page calls it earthy and quiet, never smoky or sharp.

Light a stick and, in the page's words, the room becomes a forest after rain. The picture is wet earth, old trees and the hush of the woods, the outside finally in the room with you, so Rewild answers the earthy question with a forest rather than with smoke.

Rewild's three notes are vetiver, musk and redwood, and the page blends them into one scent: the forest after rain. You smell the whole, wet earth and old wood together.

If rain is the part of earthy you love most, this guide to incense that smells like a forest after rain goes deeper.

When you want earthy beside something warm

For earthy with a warm partner, pair Rewild with Looshi Calm, which is what the Apartment Edit and the Grounding Duo both do.

Each duo is two boxes of 20 hand rolled sticks, Rewild and Calm. The Apartment Edit's page says some days call for warm and cozy and others for deep and earthy, and the duo covers both moods. Calm is the warm side: labdanum, vanilla and amber, which its page likens to a dim, lantern-lit room at the end of the day.

If you know incense and want the full experience, the Forest Edit adds Looshi Vivacity to the pair. Vivacity is fresh and awake, with lavender, petitgrain and cedar, like a morning walk on a cedar trail, so Rewild stays the earthy one in the set.

New to incense? The Discovery Set lets you choose four of eight scents, two sticks of each, so you can light Rewild twice before a full box.

If earthy is only one of the smells you love, find the scent that fits the rest.

Frequently asked questions

What scents are earthy?

Earthy scents are the ones that smell like the ground and the woods: damp soil, bark, wood and resin. Field Mag gives copal, a natural resin, as one example, with an inherent woodsy, earthy aroma. Among incense sticks, Looshi Rewild is an earthy scent built from vetiver, musk and redwood, and it smells like a forest after rain.

What does earthy smell like?

Earthy smells like the outdoors after rain: wet soil, old trees and the cool, quiet air of a wood. The word covers damp ground, bark and resin, the green side of nature rather than its flowers or fruit. Rewild, an earthy incense stick, is described on its page as earthy and quiet, never smoky or sharp.

What is the best earthy incense?

For a forest after rain, the best earthy incense to start with is Rewild, because its own page calls it an earthy fragrance. Its vetiver, musk and redwood come together as one scent of wet earth and old trees, earthy and quiet. Light one and it's like standing in a deep forest just after rain.

Which earthy incense should I try first if I'm new to incense?

Try Rewild first, through the Discovery Set, which lets you pick four of eight scents with two sticks of each. That means you can light Rewild twice before buying a full box. Add Calm or Vivacity to your four, and you'll smell earthy beside warm and fresh, side by side.

Sources

• Field Mag