What is a good gift for a mother-in-law or father-in-law?

The Looshi Forest Edit is a good gift for a mother-in-law or father-in-law, because its three scents make a day in the forest: a bright morning hillside, rain-soaked woods and the warm gold of dusk, so it suits nearly any home and either in-law. Looshi is artisanal incense made with real ingredients and rolled by hand by women artisans in Bangalore, with grounding scents from across the world.

Why the Forest Edit suits an in-law

The Forest Edit suits an in-law because it's three full boxes of 20 hand rolled sticks that belong together, so it feels like a real present and covers more than one taste at once.

Vivacity is fresh and awake: clean herbs and the green twig of the orange tree, grounded by dry cedarwood, so the room smells like a morning walk on a cedar trail. Rewild is earthy and quiet, wet earth and old trees wrapped in vetiver and redwood, and the room becomes a forest after rain. Calm is warm and enveloping, labdanum, vanilla and amber that feel like a dim room at the end of the day.

Looshi's own advice for a gift is to start with the Forest Edit, its three best scents in one set. Every stick is made with wild honey, natural resins and aromatic woods, and there's no synthetic fragrance in any of them.

Which gift for which in-law

The right set depends on the home your in-law keeps, so match the gift to how they live rather than to their age or their place in the family.

If your in-law	Give	Why
Hosts dinners and loves company	The Social Duo	Euphoria and Allure, for gatherings that call for bright, celebratory energy or a warm intimacy
Keeps a warm, cozy home	Calm Incense Set	A box of Calm, labdanum, vanilla and amber, with a ring to hold it
Likes woody scents	The Forest Edit	Cedar, vetiver and redwood: a cedar trail and a forest after rain
Has her own place, like a sister-in-law	The Apartment Edit	Calm and Rewild, for days that call for warm and cozy or deep and earthy
Keeps a bright, lively home	The Bloom Edit	Euphoria and Vivacity, one scent for warmth and joy, one for crisp, clean energy

For in-laws who share a home and already have everything, The Complete Set is the bigger gesture: every scent, one box of each, eight boxes in all. The house can smell of teakwood with a citrus twist one evening and frankincense cooled by sea air the next, and The Complete Set page lists all eight.

A father-in-law who leans woody has more picks in the gift guide for dad and its woody scents, and a couple who seem to own it all are covered in what to give someone who has everything.

Giving it well

Give the incense with something to hold it, because every stick has to be secured while it burns, and skip incense for an in-law who's very sensitive to home fragrances.

The Calm Incense Set already includes a ring to hold the stick. With any other set, add a holder such as the hand-thrown, round Ring of Serenity, or the stick can stand upright in something heatproof. Keep a plate or heatproof surface under it either way, because ash can fall or drift past any holder.

A line on the card helps a first-timer: burn it in an open, well-ventilated room, in a corner, and let the scent come to you.

Incense is the wrong gift for someone very sensitive to home fragrances, or for someone who wants a scent as faint as a reed diffuser's. If you're not sure how your mother-in-law feels about scent in the house, ask your partner before you order.

If you're unsure what they like

If you can't guess your in-law's taste, learn the scents yourself first, because the gift itself should still be a full set.

The Discovery Set is eight scents, choose four, two sticks of each, so you can light every one twice at home. You choose the four at checkout, which makes it your way to smell Calm or Rewild before you pick a set to wrap, never the present itself. The set you wrap is then one you've already smelled.

When you know which home you're shopping for, every edit, duo and set is in Looshi's bundles.

Frequently asked questions

Is incense a good gift for a mother-in-law?

Incense is a good gift for a mother-in-law who likes her home to smell good when someone walks in, because it's something she'll light and enjoy rather than put in a drawer. Choose a full set made with wild honey, natural resins and aromatic woods. It's the wrong gift if she's very sensitive to home fragrances.

What do I give a father-in-law who likes woody scents?

Give a father-in-law who likes woody scents The Forest Edit, three boxes of hand rolled incense. Vivacity smells like a morning walk on a cedar trail, Rewild like a forest after rain, with vetiver and redwood, and Calm is warm amber and vanilla for the end of the day. The Forest Edit is the set to wrap when you know he likes woods.

Can one gift work for both in-laws?

One gift works for both in-laws when it's a set they'll share at home. The Complete Set holds every scent, one box of each, so each of them can find a favorite, whether that's the earthy, quiet Rewild or Allure, which smells of rose but the warm kind. The Forest Edit is the smaller shared pick, with three scents.

Do they need an incense holder?

Your in-laws need something to hold the stick, because a burning stick should always be secured. A holder works, or the stick can stand upright in something heatproof with a plate underneath to catch the ash. The Calm Incense Set comes with a ring to hold it, so it's ready to light the day it's opened.

What if my in-law has never burned incense?

An in-law who has never burned incense does well with The Forest Edit, because its three scents, fresh, earthy and warm, let them find what they like by lighting each one. Suggest an open, well-ventilated room, the stick secured in a holder in a corner, and letting the scent come to them.