HONESTY

Did you know that incense is unregulated within the US, and as such is usually made with low-quality, cheap, and even outright toxic ingredients, not actually intended to be burned?

Mx. Lydia wasn’t keen on that, and so set out to craft their own incense with natural ingredients and an honest look at what’s inside. We always make your ingredient lists easy to find and have carefully tested every blend.

QUALITY

Only high quality, raw, natural resins and herbs are used in our incense, and local beeswax or bayberry wax in our candles. Unlike the dipped incense you’ll usually find, our incense pass through skilled hands. View “why does your incense cost more than dipped incense” in the FAQ for more info!

LOVE FOR THE PAST

We use a variety of antique tools throughout the process to make our craft more special, give new life to still perfectly usable tools, and and pay homage to the past. We are a proponant of reduce, reuse, recycle, and try to avoid superfluous mass produced items by instead adopting antiques that still have life in ‘em.

Our candle-making is also rooted in this curiosity of how things were done in by-gone days- think of it as living archeology with a hint of witchcraft.

Natural incense is completely different from dipped.

Due to most incense being cut with toxic-upon-combusting ingredients like formaldehyde-infused wood and DPG, dipped incense is notorious for causing headaches and coughing fits.

With how much careful research has gone into our hand rolled incense, we only picked the safest ingredients to create a significantly healthier and more enjoyable experience.

If you think you hate incense because of the intense fragrance or annoying smoke, give natural incense a try- you’ll likely find it doesn’t act as an irritant!

Another notable difference is that a natural incense’s true fragrance won’t be detectable until its lit! To light, you also need to hold a flame to it for several seconds for it to catch.

Our incense and dipped candles are a perfect match if you simply want to enjoy a pleasant aroma in your personal space or want to clear out some other lingering odors. But for those spiritually-inclined, our incense and candles (as with everything in our mercantile) was created thoughtfully, with connection to Lydia’s own personal spiritualism.

All four incense blends were carefully blended to invoke the image of some familiars found in European magic (hare, salamander, goat, and crow) and the four seasons. You may have also noticed on each label a common symbol of a witch’s altar accompanies the familiar. (cauldron, knife, candle, and bell)

Within the studio, there’s some hard rules in place during every step of production: Made only in micro batches and with a clear, relaxed mind to maintain positive energy throughout. The process of making our incense and candles is a spiritual practice in itself, and we hope it can be a part of yours as well!

INCENSE

We work our incense from the ground up. Our ingredients arrive in a mix of pre-powdered and in a completely unprocessed form, so the first step is for Mx. Lydia to hand-powder the aromatic resins and herbs.

From there, all powders are measured out into an antique wash basin and thoroughly mixed dry, sifted, then mixed again.

Our own studio-brewed amber ale is cut into the dry powder and kneaded by hand until it forms a dough.

From there, it is rolled onto thin wood sticks or pressed into our own custom made cone mold, then set aside for curing.

All sticks and cones are stored inside our hand made mini curing safe, modeled off pie safes from the 17th to 19th centuries. In here, they’re allowed to dry slowly with the scent of the aromatics mellowing together over a period of a month.

CANDLES

Beeswax and/or bayberry wax (both natural waxes) is heated and natural hemp wick is hung on a homemade chandler hanger. The wick is dipped into the wax, then cold water, back and forth until the desired thickness is reached.

Antique scissors & knives are used to flatten the bottoms and from here, the finished candles are placed in a candle box to cure for a few months time. Like soap and incense, allowing candles to age a bit before use makes them better!

For both incense & candles

Do not burn around pets or children.
Always make sure there is adequate airflow when burning- crack a window and make sure the space isn’t too enclosed.
Never leave a burning flame unattended.
Never leave a burning candle or incense on or around combustible items such as fabrics and chemicals.

“hand dipped” is often used to give the illusion of being high quality to consumers, yet its anything but in most cases.

HAND DIPPED

Unscented ‘punk’ sticks are left to soak in fragrance oil then dried. This is why so much incense you find is a punch to the nose and has odd scents like ‘raspberry cheesecake’.

Many synthetic fragrance oils are perfectly safe to burn and some people even use essential oils. However, with incense being unregulated, a lot of cost-cutting measures tend to be employed.

Not everyone uses burn-safe fragrances, punk sticks are often made from sawdust scrap from mill yards which may contain formaldehyde, and these types of incense tend to be very cheap because the fragrance oil is usually cut with an oil known as DPG- which according to its chemical safety sheet, isn’t intended to be burned!

This type of incense is notorious for causing headaches and its no wonder why- your body is reacting to an irritant that’s not fit for burning.

HAND ROLLED

Our incense is made completely from scratch, using our own carefully tested blend of natural aromatics to make the incense dough. A lot of research has gone into these, and we only picked ingredients that are naturally aromatic and considered safe to burn. We don’t add fillers, synthetics, or work from a pre-made base.

You can learn more about how our incense is made in the handmade process drop down.

The most commonly found incense in the US- such as found head shops and ren fairs- is dipped, created with cheap materials, and made to get a quick, easy monetary return.

The incense we create is nothing like that.

Without a doubt, Coyoteprince Studio’s natural incense is leagues above any old hand dipped incense. Buying raw, high quality resins and herbs, powdering some in-studio, blending the dry ingredients by hand, then hand rolling the dough into the finished piece comes with a much higher upfront cost than buying some blanks and throwing them into some aroma oil, cut further with cheap oil.

As with everything in our mercantile- lot of work, care, and love goes into this. You’re paying for fine ingredients, skilled hands, and a careful eye!

Currently, there are no plans for this- mainly due to my own lack of interest and the studio storage space already being strained.

SMELL

Natural incense is much more gentle than the punch of dipped incense. It also smells a bit different in-package- the true scent won’t come out until you light it!

LIGHTING

Natural incense is also harder to light than dipped incense due to the makeup of the dough. Hold your lighter to it for several seconds and it will eventually catch.

If your incense was left out somewhere with excess moisture, be sure to place it somewhere dry for a week or two before attempting to burn.

Though natural incense is significantly healthier, we don’t advise this. Pet (and children’s) lungs are much more sensitive than a human adult’s.

People who are asthmatic may find natural incense to not be irritating, but it depends on the severity of their condition. You can buy samples of our incense to test. If any irritation occurs, stop use immediately.