Which incense should I buy to make my home feel like somewhere?

Pick the place you want your home to feel like, then light the incense built around it: Looshi Rewild for a forest after rain, Calm for a warm, lantern-lit riad at dusk, Vivacity for a dry cedar trail in the morning, and Change for frankincense cooled by sea air. Looshi makes artisanal incense, rolled by hand with real ingredients, with grounding scents from across the world. The Forest Edit holds three of them; the Discovery Set lets you try four.

Start with the place, then the smell

Choosing incense by place works because each stick is made to give one experience: a grounding scent, drawn from places and moments across the world. Name the place you want and you've already narrowed the choice.

The smell is how you check it. Read each scent by its notes and by how it feels in the room, since that's what you live with once it's lit. A room with a grounding scent feels different, and it changes how you move through it.

If you'd rather start from the smells you already like, read which incense to buy first.

Scents that carry a place

Four scents carry a place in their smell, so each one brings somewhere you'd rather be into your home. Name what your place smells like first, wet soil, warm resin, dry wood or sea air, and the match is easy.

Rewild is earthy and quiet: vetiver, musk and redwood smell together of wet earth and old trees, so the room smells like a forest after rain. Choose Rewild if you want your home to feel like the outdoors, and read more in which incense smells like a forest after rain.

Calm is warm and enveloping: dark labdanum softened by vanilla, with the low glow of amber, so the room smells like a lantern-lit riad at dusk. It also comes as a box of Calm with a ring to hold it.

Vivacity is fresh and awake: clean, herbal lavender lifted by petitgrain, the green twig of the orange tree, and grounded by cedar, so the room smells like a dry cedar trail in the morning.

Change is cool and bright, never heavy: balsamic frankincense with a citrus edge and delicate green lily, cooled by sea air.

Scents told by smell alone

Create and Clarify are chosen by their notes, so they're the two to try when you know the smell you want more than the place.

Create is fresh and woody, never sharp: smooth teakwood brightened by zesty mandarin, with a soft, powdery trace of iris, for someone who likes wood with a citrus twist.

Clarify is clear and crisp, never heavy: creamy sandalwood with a golden edge of saffron, brightened by fresh white jasmine, for someone who likes a smooth wood with a flower in it.

If a signature scent matters more to you than a place, pick by the notes you'd want a guest to notice when they walk in.

Where to start

Where you start depends on how well you already know incense: the full experience in one box if you do, a few scents to try if you don't.

If you know incense and want the full experience, The Forest Edit is a day in the forest in three scents: three boxes of 20 hand-rolled sticks, one each of Vivacity, Rewild and Calm, to light one at a time, in any order.

If you're new to incense, start with the Discovery Set and pick any four of the eight scents, so you can smell each one at home first.

This incense isn't the right pick if you're very sensitive to home fragrances, or if you want a scent as faint as a reed diffuser's.

When you've narrowed it to two, the guide to choosing your scent helps you settle on one.

Frequently asked questions

Which incense makes a room feel warm and cozy?

Looshi Calm makes a room feel warm and cozy, because labdanum, a dark, warm resin, is softened by vanilla and given a low glow by amber. The three notes smell warm and enveloping together, never sweet like a bakery, so the room feels like a lantern-lit riad at dusk.

What is the best incense for home?

The best incense for home is the one whose smell matches how you want the room to feel: earthy for the outdoors, warm resin for a cozy evening, clean herbs and cedar for a fresh morning. Looshi's sticks are hand-rolled with no synthetic fragrance, and the scent is in the paste they're rolled from, never in a coating or a dip.

Can I try several scents before buying a full box?

You can try four scents before buying a full box with the Looshi Discovery Set. You choose four of the eight scents and get two sticks of each, so you can light every one twice and know which smell you want at home.

Where in the home should I burn incense?

Burn incense in an open, well-ventilated room, in a corner, and let the scent come to you. Always secure the stick in a holder, or upright in something heatproof with a plate underneath to catch the ash. Around pets, keep them out of the immediate area, and don't burn incense around birds.