Does anyone have a preference?

I used to like to burn incense very regularly, but in my present apartment that's not really practical, so I've turned to making my own scented room spray with essential oils. I still sage to clear the energy, it's just with a mist now instead of smoke.

I'm enjoying room spray at this point. I get sick of the smoke, so I've come to love my gardenia room spray.

I love incense. I tend to prefer natural, earthy scents (sandalwood, sweetgrass, lemongrass, sage, cedar) and burn them whenever I can... I even have a selection of incense to burn at the bar where I work during my shifts.

But my hubby can't take the smoke, it makes his throat burn. So I bought an alcohol lamp, the kind with the stone burner (it uses a catalytic conversion to disperse the scent into the air)... A very well-known brand is Lampe Berger, but I bought a knock off, much cheaper and simply made, which I like a lot. I have a very good friend who makes a whole line of exceptional quality aromatherapy products, and she makes several for me... one or two for just the scent, and several that serve dual purposes for certain health issues (one for my migraines, another for my hubby's sinus problems, another for my insomnia). I mix the oils in the right proportions with 91% alcohol ($.97 at the Walmart for the alcohol, and the most expensive essential oil blends I buy is the migraine stuff at $9.50 a half ounce, which makes enough for two quantities which burn for 8 - 10 hours... If I bought the stuff already mixed, I get really nasty perfumey scents, and its $14.50 or more a bottle) and burn them all the time.

They disperse through the house better than room sprays, and the aromatherapy oils are amazingly effective. And they smell so incredibly good!

And since there is no open flame, they are pretty safe... The stone extinguishes as soon as there is no more fuel to burn, so if it fell, it might burn a hole in the carpet, but I'm not worried about it burning the house down. Four ounces of fuel burns for 8 - 10 hours. One of the things I like best about it is that I can burn pure alcohol with no scent added, and it works as an odor neutralizer. I didn't believe it 'til I tried it, but it works. *shrugs* I don't do it often, since I like the scents, but at least I know I have that option.

I love incense but over the years I have developed a sensitivity to smoke. I will burn it in another room nearby, and I love patchouli, frankincense, cinnamon or strawberry. Nag Champa makes me ill. I also will use some essential oils around the house, more than I burn incense. The essential oils also get used as perfume, as most perfumes bother my sinuses or give me a headache but the oils I have no problem with! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I haven't really used room sprays...for me it's either essential oils in an oil burner, or natural incense--I tend to like the Japanese kinds. I can't stand most of the fake incense you can buy in the States, the "dipped" kind with the punk in them and the fakey scents like "spring rain." I'm hooked on some of the Baieido and other Japanese incenses--the Nepalese ones aren't so much my thing though I haven't tried many.

I use both. I make a room spray with essential oils in a tiny bit of perfumer's alcohol, then dilute it with floral hydrosol. I also make kyphi style perfume/incense and hand-rolled cones with sandalwood and aloeswood powder. They have a much subtler scent than the dipped fragrance oils sticks. I kind of like the smoke of incense ~ it's tangible in a way that spraying the air isn't. On the other hand, I have almost smoked myself out of the house a time or two burning several kinds at once. Lessons learned . . .

P

I use incense quite alot and I liek to but ones from a wiccan store here in town. The cheap ones from the stores dont put out the same smell the bit more pricey ones are very nice and leave the hoem smelling not of smoke but of a very faint lingering aroma of the scent

I get my incense at the Ren Faire each year.

Has anyone used those fancy fragrance heater thingies?

I have a pal whi has one and it is NICE!
I am thinking about getting one....does anyone use one or know about them?
They work with essential oils...

sorry all...I was being lazy......didnt read it all.....Lampe Berger...just saw the earlier post!!

Forgive me....

I use neither. I open the windows and let the lovely fresh air in, or bring some beautiful roses in from my garden and they certainly send a nice aroma through the house. I guess though you can only do that if there is no smog around.

If I opened the window very much at all during the Seattle winter, not only would a lot of cold air come in, but so would a lot of rain and damp...lol...

I just got a lovely custom incense made at a Ren Faire in San Francisco. I was down for a visit. The lovely woman chatted with me about what scents I like and then crafted it entirely from herbs, and it doesn't need charcoal to burn either! It's very earthy, with hints of ginger and cloves.

Room spray all the way!! Incense give me huge headaches and just leaves a weird smell...

I really love the Incense, it gives me that feel good feeling, but I really can't take too much of the smoke. The smoke starts to irritate my eyes and throat after a while. May be I should give these sprays a try, never used one.

-----------------------------------------
"It is what it is"

I love incense and oils as I worry about the chemicals in sprays,
I like incnese sticks for more earthy smells and go for buners for citrus.
Atthe moment im enjoying all my christmas candels as well but I hate all the smoke when they get blown out!

Hello i'm new

I love incense I only use natural though....most incense is syntheic.
I found this website a month agoBellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!

I loving using incense too, it seems to last a lot longer than room spray. But, like someone earlier said, it does seem to bother people. Growing up, my parents always thought I was smoking pot, when all I was doing was burning incense! lol I did find an in between though... Wax tarts! Has anyone tried these? You can usually find them at any candle stores, or online. A lot of people make them now, too. They are nice, but they only really smell at the beginning. After you burn them a couple of times, they seem to lose their fragrance. But it something different to try.

Incense makes me sneeze and leaves a really musty smell in the room once it has finished burning. I like the wax tarts, and I also like scented oil candles. You can get them with varying oil levels so that they either melt completely (like the tarts) or stay in candle form.

ya I agree that most incense does make you sneeze and stinks up the place....but thats with synthetic incense.
Natural incense is so much different than the cheap stuff. I love the fact that your making a connection with nature and it healing aromas.
Of course if your allergic to to say pine well than it will bother you.

peace

P.S what are wax tarts sounds interesting

I also use essential oil in a spray bottle to mist in the bathroom and meditation roomand even as a body mist. As a body mist try essential oil of clary sage with a touch of patchouly and vetyver.
You will have heads turning!Very uplifting.
For bathroom I use lemon and in wonter eucalyptus. And calming orange in the meditation room.
Flamenca

I like Nag Champa but the smoke does get to be a little too much. I now use those reed diffusers but I would love to learn to make my oil scents to put in the bottle. I do kind of worry about what is in that stuff.

I use scented candles. Hence my signature, lol
I've tried incense and I'm really sensitive to the smoke, I get allergy like symptoms. Though I was just in venice beach and there were quite a few I encountered that were nice!

We use a lot of "cottage reeds" to avoid the smoke and the residue from sprays. But we also love to sparingly use a nice room spray when there is a large unwanted smell...

I like both!!!
Incense's are good when Im smokin';}and whenever I clean I always like to have a certain scent for like the bedrooms and hallway,then the bathroom, and then one for the kitchen.

I love both but with our new house the man who came here for the alarm system told us to be careful with incenses and candles because the system is very sensitive to smoke and could go on so I'm not sure if I should burn incense or not here, I don't want the alarm to go on because of a stick or cone of incense .

Room sprays.. I found them more friendly and refreshing one.

I like to use essential oils to freshen room. Simply place several drops in a spray bottle and spritz the room. My new favorites now are vanilla and sandalwood.

I rather have incense since it comes naturally.

I actually enjoy candles, but if I don't have a candle then I'd pick room spray. I had one of those air wicks that spray every so often but that can be startling when you're not expecting it. I like fresh and light scented room sprays like bamboo or a fresh citrus scent.

I like to burn sandalwood sticks!

I find recently that I'm trying to light candles more to get rid of them. We have a large collection of candles which we never use because we have cats and it's not safe to leave the candles unattended. So we never use them. I'm trying to make a deliberate effort to use them while in my office to clear out the clutter :).