What is a good gift for dad, and which Looshi scent is woody?

A good gift for dad is Looshi The Forest Edit, a day in the forest in three scents, two of them woody; the woody picks are Create for teakwood with a citrus twist, Vivacity for a cedar trail, Clarify for sandalwood and Rewild for redwood. Looshi is artisanal incense, rolled by hand by women artisans in Bangalore with real ingredients and no synthetic fragrance, in grounding scents from across the world.

Which one to give your dad

The Forest Edit is the pick for most dads, because one gift gives him three full boxes of 20 hand rolled sticks: Vivacity, Rewild and Calm. For a gift, Looshi's advice is to start with The Forest Edit, the three best scents in one set.

If your dad	Give	Why
Has everything, or says he wants nothing	The Forest Edit	A day in the forest in three scents
Has his own quiet place	The Sanctuary Duo	Frankincense cooled by sea air, and wet earth
Is always making something	Create	Teakwood with a citrus twist
Loves his mornings	Vivacity	A dry cedar trail in the morning
Loves a creamy, woody smell	Clarify	Sandalwood, edged with saffron

The Forest Edit suits a dad who has everything, or says he wants nothing, because he lights its scents one at a time, in any order. Vivacity is fresh and awake, Rewild is earthy and quiet, and Calm is warm and enveloping.

For more on the person who already owns it all, see what to give someone who has everything.

For a dad with his own quiet place

A dad with his own quiet place, a chair by the window or a corner where he prays, gets The Forest Edit or Looshi The Sanctuary Duo.

The Sanctuary Duo's line is make room for a quiet place, and the set holds two boxes of 20 hand rolled sticks: Change and Rewild. Change is cool and bright: lily, frankincense and sea salt, a bright balsamic resin cooled by sea air. Rewild is earthy and quiet: vetiver, musk and redwood, and the room becomes a forest after rain. The Sanctuary Duo gives his quiet hour a scent of its own.

The Forest Edit fits the same dad when his quiet hour comes at dusk, because Calm is warm and enveloping: labdanum, vanilla and amber.

Whatever he does there is his own. Looshi is for anyone, of any faith or none: it is never incense for one religion, so a box suits Christmas or any other day.

For a creative dad or a morning dad

A creative dad or a dad who loves his mornings gets one matched box: Create for the maker, Vivacity for the early riser.

Create's line is make room for imagination, and it smells of smooth wood, brightened by mandarin. Teakwood is a rich, smooth wood, mandarin is bright, zesty citrus and iris is soft and powdery, so together they smell fresh and woody, never sharp. Create suits the dad with a workbench, a sketchbook or a guitar in the corner.

Vivacity is fresh and awake: lavender, petitgrain and cedar, clean herbs and the green twig of the orange tree, edged with dry wood. The room smells like a morning walk on a cedar trail. Vivacity suits the dad who's up before everyone else.

Which scent is woody?

The woody picks are Create, Vivacity, Clarify and Rewild, each a different wood.

Create is teakwood with a citrus twist, smooth and fresh. Vivacity is cedar, a dry wood edged with lavender. Clarify is sandalwood, brightened by jasmine, with a golden edge of saffron: clear and crisp, never heavy. Rewild is redwood grounded by vetiver and musk, like wet earth and old trees.

Calm and Change aren't woody: Calm is warm and enveloping, with labdanum, vanilla and amber, and Change is frankincense, cooled by sea air.

A dad who likes woody scents gets two in The Forest Edit, Vivacity and Rewild. If he leans warm as well as woody, see which scent to gift someone who likes warm or woody scents.

If you're not sure what he likes

If you can't tell what he'd like, the Looshi Discovery Set lets you smell the scents before you choose his full box. It's a sampler for you rather than a gift pick.

The Discovery Set holds four scents of your choice from eight, two sticks of each, so you can light every one twice. There's no gift version and you choose the four at checkout, so pick the woody four, Create, Vivacity, Clarify and Rewild, and try the Discovery Set before you give him a full box.

If you already know the dad you're buying for, start with The Forest Edit.

Frequently asked questions

How long does The Forest Edit last?

The Forest Edit lasts about 45 hours of burning, because it holds 60 sticks and each one burns for about 45 minutes. A dad who lights one stick an evening gets sixty evenings from it, one scent at a time, in any order.

What do you get a dad who has everything?

Give a dad who has everything The Forest Edit, three boxes of incense that smell like a day in the forest. He lights it and uses it up, so it never crowds a shelf, and its scents run from a bright morning to the warm gold of dusk.

Is incense a good Christmas gift for dad?

Incense is a good Christmas gift for a dad who likes a room that smells of wood, earth or resin. The Forest Edit is the set to give, and for a dad with his own quiet corner, the Sanctuary Duo pairs frankincense, cooled by sea air, with earthy Rewild.

Does dad need an incense holder too?

Dad needs something that holds the stick secure: a holder, or the stick upright in something heatproof with a plate below for the ash. The two holders made for the sticks, the round Ring Of Serenity and the Wave Of Senses, are food-grade ceramic, and which suits him is a matter of taste.