Ashwood & Incense Fragrance Oil Review

We are always looking for new and unusual fragrance oils. We love incense and already stock a few, two of which were created for us. When we asked for another one we were given Ashwood & Incense to test. Here we aim to describe the scent in our own words but you can buy a wax melt to test here:

Here are the fragrance notes:

Top notes of lime, pink pepper, blackcurrant, rosemary and eucalyptus. Mid notes of jasmine, dried apricot, warm incense, ginger and pine needle resting on base notes of ashwood, leather, olibanum (frankincense), tonka and musk

We added 8g of fragrance oil to soy wax and melted 7.5g of the wax melt in a large open plan room. It takes a little while after the wax has melted for the fragrance notes to start coming off. This is because the top notes are not as light as many of our fragrance oils, they’re much heavier. We couldn’t pick out the lime on its own but it freshens and balances the other notes perfectly. The pink pepper notes are warm, slightly spicy and woody. The blackcurrant is subtly fruity and compliments the rosemary and eucalyptus which are more prominent. We couldn’t detect the jasmine or the apricot but there is a slight fruity note. The incense is less smokey than you would get with incense sticks but the fragrance oil definitely has incense notes. The ginger is subtle against the lovely pine needle notes. As the melt is warming the scent is quite botanical with hints of smoke. This fragrance oil  reminds us of black cardamom or the smokey lapsang souchong tea. Once the base notes begin to come off the fragrance oil changes character a little. The scent now becomes more woody, smooth aged leather notes and frankincense which now smells slightly earthy, musty and herby. 

It took this fragrance a some time after lighting to fill the second floor but it didn’t take long before it became very prominent. I love the smell but it was far too strong at 8%. I had to blow it out and open some windows. This is the most powerful scent we stock. We suggest making this fragrance up in wax melts at 5 or 6% rather than our usual suggestion of 8% fragrance oil. 

I would describe this as a very calming, spiritual, meditation type of incense fragrance, the type of incense which is often used in churches. Ashwood was often burnt as a Yule log just before Christmas. This fragrance oil evokes memories of Christmas and Churches. It took us back to St. Alexander Nevski Cathedral on Sofia where we were struck by the huge space and the fragrance of this old building. 

Our other spiritual / wellness fragrance oils can be found here

If you are looking for soft / ambery fragrance oils these can be found here 

We wrote a little about incense and its history on our facebook group here

You can buy the fragrance oil here

And buy wax melt samples here

You can use this fragrance oil to make reed diffusers and room sprays in accordance with IFRA 50. See the document for other uses.

All of our fragrance oils are; vegan, cruelty free, lilial free, Phthalate free, Paraben free, silicone free, PEG free, Acrylate free, free of Nitro and Polycyclic Musk. 

If you have tried this fragrance oil please pop a review on the website listing for the fragrance oil.