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Bois d'Hiver incense evokes a snow-laden forest of ancient conifer trees. Picture in mind the towering pillars of a forest cathedral, made entirely of giant redcedars, Douglas fir trees and Hemlock Spruce, their evergreen branches laden with impeccably white snow. 

Bois d'Hiver incense was created especially for Yule - the Winter Solstice. To celebrate the spirits of the forest and anticipate the return of the sun with fragrant smoke from resins and foraged botanicals carefully blended and shaped into thin sticks that produce a fine wisp of smoke, redolent of precious resins (frankincense, myrrh, sandarac, and wild harvested piñon resin and spruce pitch by my friends in Canada and the USA), mingled with and forest-foraged needles and saps from spruce, balsam fir, and juniper berries, and many other fragrant spices, and brightened by clary sage from my garden and bright grapefruit blossoms from my orchard. It is anchored in cedarwood, sandalwood, and a pinch of agarwood and snowy Borneol camphor.

Bois d'hived Yule (Winter Solstice) Incense cones come in a box containing paper-wrapped bundle of 18 incense sticks. 

To burn the incense sticks: Place the lit stick (light the tip and then blow out the flame) on a bowl full of ash (preferably rice ash). This will enable the stick to burn without any bits left off. If you have a designated incense dish with a hole you may also use that. It will leave a tiny bit of incense unused though.

Botanical incense pastilles designed for each one of the seven ancient planets. 

This series of these resin-based, monastery-style incense pastilles is the result of close to 20 years of researching the botanical symbolism and alchemical traditions of each planet, and creating the best depiction of these planetary energies. These unique incense pastilles can now be acquired as a "medicine for the soul" pillbox for each day of the week and its ruling planet. A few pastilles of each, totalling 10g in this easily portable weekly pill box you can take anywhere for your daily rituals and meditations. 

SUN
Healing energy of warmth, light and vitality. 
Sweet and warm blend of frankincense, rose, cinnamon, saffron and chamomile. 
Burn on Sundays or in the morning, to bring in light to your day. 

Arabian-inspired luxury incense form of our Song of Songs perfume: These are sandalwood and oud chips (infected Aquillaria species), that are infused by Song of Songs perfume, and blended with the finest Yemeni myrrh which was infused with fresh hyacinth flowers from Ayala's perfumed garden in a unique resin-enfleurage technique.

Bakhoor incense can be burnt on charcoal to release fragrant smoke meant for perfuming one's robes, hair and even stationary. But it is best to enjoy this precious incense using an incense heater, which is not only longer lived, but also will show the multilayered nuances of both the perfume and the precious wood that was soaked with it. 

"Me, the Rose of Sharon, the Lilly of the valley..." (Canticles 2;1) The Song of Songs (AKA The Song of Solomon, or Canticles) is an erotic love poem, that sensually reveals in quite detail the rich aromatic culture of the Biblical Middle East. This passionate perfume consists of all the Biblical plants and aromatics that were used to cleanse, purify and seduce in that magnificent poem.

Top notes: Saffron, Hyacinth

Heart notes: Rose, Spikenard

Base notes: Frankincense, Myrrh, Agarwood, Labdanum, Sandalwood

Fragrance Families: Opulent Ambery, Incense

Sunset Beach is a little piece of heaven tucked away in the midst of bustling boat-False Creek and busy traffic on the bridges that cross it. It is that happy place where time stops and the only thing that matter is the tides, currents and basking in the gentle evening sun. You can spend the day there or just bring a hectic workday to a serene close with a beachside walk or a leisurely picnic. Fragrant Harlequin glorybower and Robinia embellish its borders, and in midsummer you'll find musky wild blackberries and hot-pink everlasting peas along the shoreline. And if you're particularly lucky, you'll find yourself swimming alongside a playful harbour seal. Sunset Beach can be anywhere... Mine just happened to be in Vancouver. I invite you to uncork a bottle of this daydream and experience a truly creamy sandalwood perfume complemented by handmade tinctures of pandan leaf and milky oolong tea, coconut massoia bark and dreamy champaca.  

Sunset Beach is the second perfume in "Perfume for a Place" series, dedicated to Ayala's favourite places in Vancouver. 

Top Notes: Pandan Leaf, Milky Oolong Tea Tincture, Cedarwood
Heart notes: Champaca, Coffee, Nutmeg, Ylang Ylang, Orris Butter 
Base notes: Indian Sandalwood, Hawaii Sandalwood, Chocolate, Coconut, Massoia Bark

Fragrance Families: Woody, Floral-Ambery

Sweetgrass & Tobacco Incense cones are a powerful herbal medicine, inspired by the Indigenous People's smudging ceremony. Tobacco is a protective plant that connects us to our ancestor's spirit; and sweetgrass, believed to be the hair of Mother Earth, invites sweetness and goodness into our space.

Here I used wildcrafted sweetgrass from Canada, and tobaco grown in my teacher's garden to create a potent smudging cones for both protection and sweetness. Together I feel they create a very balanced and balancing energy.

These are hand-rolled in the traditional technique, made from finely ground sweetgrass and tobacco leaves, and bound with natural gums or wood bark. No saltpetre or charcoal used in these cones.

No saltpetre or charcoal used in these cones. Cones are generally faster burning than a thick joss stick (range of burning time may be from 7-15min, and produce more smoke. They are more convenient to burn while traveling and outdoors, and they stand on their own base, and therefore don't really require special equipment or vessels.  

Burning instruction: Prepare a heat-proof vessel, on a sturdy surface away from flammables and out of reach of children and animals. To prevent scorch marks, it is recommended that you layer some sand, earth or ash on the vessel.  Place the cone and light the tip of it, and allow the flame to extinguish. Because these are handmade cones, each has a different burning times. 

Fresh, spicy and musky, this fragrance is truly representing the spirit of the sign of Aries: the first-born of the zodiac, daring, brave and passionate. It is the essence of Spring, the beginning of life and vitality. May this perfume enhance the courage to fulfill all your ambitions!

Top notes: Blood Orange, Lime, Black Pepper
Heart notes: Rose Geranium, Cinnamon, Zantoxylum
Base notes: Tobacco, Opoponax, Balsams, Cloves, Vetiver

Fragrance Family: Animalic, Opulent Spicy