How Mothers India Incense is Made
, by Sam Hurley, 4 min reading time
It has been known since the dawn of man that when natural substances such as flowers, bark, wood, roots, seeds, and herbs are burned, they emit a rich variety of different and often very beautiful fragrances. Over the course of time, a systematic search of nature was carried out and bountiful aromatic treasures were found concealed within the delicate petals of a jasmine blossom, a tiny ambrette seed, a resinous droplet of sap from the spicewood tree, and countless others of nature’s unsuspected hiding places.
The use of incense was common to many ancient cultures – usually as a part of religious worship or as a luxury of the rich. Often it consisted of little more than the sweetly scented sap of a particular tree which was burned over coals – such as the frankincense and myrrh of Biblical renown.
The Mother’s Fragrance incense sticks are hand-rolled according to the age-old masala method (no dipping in chemical solvents) from the finest nature-friendly ingredients including sandalwood and other scented wood powders, fragrant leaves, bark, root and gum resins, floral and other essential oils.
The real secret to this technique lay in the "spices" which were added to bring out the full-bodied richness of each scent. Orris root was added to impart sweetness. Saffron, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, sage, sweetbriar and thyme provided an enchanting variety of accents. Ambrette seeds gave a musk-like fragrance, and so on.
Wood powders formed the base and bulk of the dough. For deep rich fragrances like musk and amber, precious sandalwood powder was added. For delicate floral fragrances like jasmine and lotus, charred coconut husk was used, because it burns almost without any scent of its own.
To these powders were added the distilled essence of rose, jasmine, champaca, or lotus blossoms. The resinous extract of various tree gums such as benzoin, labdanum or olibanum were added as natural fixatives to preserve the scent.
Like most ancient traditions, this sacred art gradually faded with the coming of our modern age of science, secularism and materialism. Incense became another product to be manufactured as cheaply as possible and marketed as a commercial commodity, devoid of inner feeling or higher value.
The old masala method of specially blending a different mixture of scented powders for each fragrance was replaced by a far easier and less expensive technique called dipping, in which unscented sawdust or charcoal sticks are dipped into a solution of scented oil diluted with a chemical solvent and synthetic fixative.
Even in India the ancient art has changed into an industry. The old masala formulas were forgotten. Dipping and dilution with solvents became the standard technology. More and lower priced synthetics replaced natural ingredients.
Our quest was begun to revive a lost art, not just to imitate what was done of old, but to recast it to suit the tastes of our times. After a prolonged search and countless experiments, we have rediscovered the masala method and the secrets of nature's spices.
The Mother's Fragrances is made in the spirit of that ancient tradition by the age-old masala method--no dipping--to produce soft, light and subtle fragrances which emit only a little smoke, making them highly suitable for burning indoors.
We invite you to try all of our floral and woody fragrances.
Mother’s Fragrances are More than “Fair”
Our products are not only fairer because we meet all the criteria of Fair Trade: They meet all the criteria of Honesty.
Fair to Nature: Since 1977, our Floral Incense has only been made with Natural Oils, rolled with Sustainable Bamboo from Assam (the fastest growing grass in the world, at 1 cm per hour), with charcoal from sustainable coconut bark, with environmentally friendly butter paper and hand marbled and handmade paper made from recycled cotton and shipped with 3 million sticks per Sea Container at a time.
Honest to the Producer: More than 200 (mainly women) have permanent work (due to the handmade nature of our products) with good pay, including medical insurance, retirement, and loan options.
Fair to the Consumer: We offer fair products with the best price/quality ratio, due to the lack of brokering and the use of fair margins (this gives the consumer at least twice as much value for money in comparison to the other products). Moreover we are the only brand that delivers incense guaranteed without chemical additives such as phthalates & musk compounds (which can disrupt our health and in particular, our hormone balance).
Honest to the World: 5% of our Gross Profit, goes to the development projects in the broadest sense of the word.
Our incense creates the most beautiful atmosphere: Relaxing, supportive, comforting, bringing happiness, and happiness with beauty & memories.
Mother’s Fragrances – The Honest Choice and Just the Real Thing
Blog posts
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, by Sam Hurley Mothers Natural Essential Oils
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, by Sam Hurley What You Need To Know About Incense
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, by Sam Hurley Mothers Incense India - A Brief History
