Making Frankincense and Myrrh Resin Incense

2 min to read
Andrea Butje
06/07/2021

Walking through the spice markets in Dubai, I saw baskets and bins full to overflowing with exotic, chunky resins—including Frankincense and Myrrh resins.

I love Frankincense and Myrrh essential oils and resins. When I visit places like the outdoor markets in Dubai, the raw resins are a perfect part of the atmosphere—it's a bustling marketplace, rich with the exotic scents of spices heaped in baskets, vibrant colors around every corner, and loud merchants selling jewelry and wraps and rugs. 

The aroma of burning Frankincense and Myrrh resins is exotic, familiar, and peaceful at once. It's like creating a quiet corner in the middle of the busy marketplace (or a busy day or busy mind!).

Here's a blend you can make to create that ambiance in your own home:

Frankincense and Myrrh Resin Incense

  • 1 oz (28 gm) Frankincense resin (Boswellia carterii)

  • 1 oz (28 gm) Myrrh resin (Commiphora myrrha)

You can get your resins from Aromatics International:

Click here for Frankincense
Click here for Myrrh

Measure your resins with a kitchen scale, and combine them in the bowl you'd like to keep them in. This can be something decorative or something more suitable for storage.

Would you like to add personal touches to this recipe? You can get creative! Try ½ oz (14 gm) dried Lavender flowers for a more floral incense, or ½ oz (14 gm) Palo Santo chips to add a hint of sweet warmth.

If you've never burned loose resin incense, don't worry—it's easy and fun!

I like to burn loose incense on bamboo charcoal tabs. Pick up a charcoal tab with a pair of tweezers, and hold a flame to the tab. It may take a short while to light because bamboo charcoal is all-natural and doesn't contain lighter fluid. When you can blow gently on the charcoal and see the edges of where your flame touched glow red, you'll know it's lit. (And if it turns out that it wasn't lit, you can always pick it back up with the tweezers and relight it.)

Set your charcoal tab in a ceramic incense burner. (It can be made of another material as long as it's heat-safe.) Then just sprinkle some of your resin chunks over the charcoal. Any piece of resin touching the charcoal will burn. (Sometimes I use two pieces of charcoal at once, as even the larger size is a little small.)

Enjoy!

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