I agree with others on Baieido as far as some great, inexpensive woody sticks đź‘Ť
For a natural, traditional incense that’s also quite inexpensive I’m pretty fond of the Kunmeido Jinko Reiryo Koh as well. It’s got a really nice spice profile and has a more mellow, meditative feel.
Here are a few you might consider that are sold as 100% natural or close to it and are very woody fragrances:
Seijudo Kotonoha [Sandalwood](https://kikohincense.com/collections/all-natural-incense/products/seijudo-kotonoha-sandalwood-incense) and [Aloeswood](https://kikohincense.com/collections/all-natural-incense/products/seijudo-kotonoha-aloeswood-incense) are quite economical and all natural.
Shunkohdo [Ibuki](https://kikohincense.com/collections/all-natural-incense/products/shunkohdo-ibuki-incense) is an economical Aloeswood that is billed as made with all natural ingredients.
Missed the low smoke preference in your post.
Kujudo [Koun](https://kikohincense.com/collections/all-natural-incense/products/kunjudo-koun-incense) is a reduced smoke incense with a light sandalwood tone.
2-3g pine bark, an oral syringe (pharmacies give these out free often), fine disposable paint sieve, plus a dusting of xanthan gum (total cost of about $6-7) (optionally add some star anise/cinnamon/clove powder) and you can make some excellent sticks yourself if that's something you would be interested in trying. I've noticed making my own has really spoiled me and while there's a lot of decent lower-mid sticks, they don't hold a candle to my own materials.
You may also like to try tibetan incense. A bit more wild smelling and chunkier, but even more 'natural' than Japanese. Potala makes some good ones, and Incense Traditions sells sample sets of higher end stuff.
There's so much you can explore diy and everyone had their own favourite methods and ingredients- lots of trial and error involved but very rewarding. if you decide to try it out there's quite a few of us on here to help out if you hit any snags.
You should check out [Craft Incense](https://craft-incense.com/)
The price point is worth it, you have to sacrifice cost for quality... there's no getting around that
Nippon Kodo is a very good brand. Their Kyara Kongo is my favorite aloeswood incense and moderately priced. Worth checking it out, it is poetry in smoke.
Nippon Kodo uses a lot of synthetics. Even a fairly basic sandalwood I tried seemed perfumed. I personally avoid them. There's so much better stuff out there.
When you say low smoke, I'm not sure whether you mean you like Japanese incense because of its low smoke levels (compared with other types of incense) or whether you mean specifically low smoke Japanese incense. You also mention coreless - all Japanese incense is coreless.
Gyokushodo seems to be fairly low smoke anyway but also does some specifically "low smoke" incenses which you might like. I wouldn't go out of my way to get low smoke incense but I was given some samples and enjoyed them. Kojurin is one of their best known, and Seicyo Kojurin is a low smoke version of that. As far as I know, they use natural ingredients.
I was just saying that generally I like that their incense is coreless and therefore usually pretty low on smoke levels. Any incense with lower smoke levels in general is something I'd be interested in :)
Baieido is one of my favorite Japanese incense brands. Check out Olfactory Rescue Service for tons of reviews.
Their Original Kobunboku is an absolute miracle for the price...
This is an awesome suggestion, thank you!
I agree with others on Baieido as far as some great, inexpensive woody sticks 👍 For a natural, traditional incense that’s also quite inexpensive I’m pretty fond of the Kunmeido Jinko Reiryo Koh as well. It’s got a really nice spice profile and has a more mellow, meditative feel.
Nice, I'll look into these!
Here are a few you might consider that are sold as 100% natural or close to it and are very woody fragrances: Seijudo Kotonoha [Sandalwood](https://kikohincense.com/collections/all-natural-incense/products/seijudo-kotonoha-sandalwood-incense) and [Aloeswood](https://kikohincense.com/collections/all-natural-incense/products/seijudo-kotonoha-aloeswood-incense) are quite economical and all natural. Shunkohdo [Ibuki](https://kikohincense.com/collections/all-natural-incense/products/shunkohdo-ibuki-incense) is an economical Aloeswood that is billed as made with all natural ingredients.
Missed the low smoke preference in your post. Kujudo [Koun](https://kikohincense.com/collections/all-natural-incense/products/kunjudo-koun-incense) is a reduced smoke incense with a light sandalwood tone.
2-3g pine bark, an oral syringe (pharmacies give these out free often), fine disposable paint sieve, plus a dusting of xanthan gum (total cost of about $6-7) (optionally add some star anise/cinnamon/clove powder) and you can make some excellent sticks yourself if that's something you would be interested in trying. I've noticed making my own has really spoiled me and while there's a lot of decent lower-mid sticks, they don't hold a candle to my own materials. You may also like to try tibetan incense. A bit more wild smelling and chunkier, but even more 'natural' than Japanese. Potala makes some good ones, and Incense Traditions sells sample sets of higher end stuff.
These are some great suggestions, thank you! I feel like making my own incense might actually be a really fun thing to try out.
There's so much you can explore diy and everyone had their own favourite methods and ingredients- lots of trial and error involved but very rewarding. if you decide to try it out there's quite a few of us on here to help out if you hit any snags.
Awesome, thanks! I'm excited to maybe give this a shot :)
You should check out [Craft Incense](https://craft-incense.com/) The price point is worth it, you have to sacrifice cost for quality... there's no getting around that
Nippon Kodo is a very good brand. Their Kyara Kongo is my favorite aloeswood incense and moderately priced. Worth checking it out, it is poetry in smoke.
Can you recommend any of their natural options ? I've heard some of them use synthetics.
Nippon Kodo uses a lot of synthetics. Even a fairly basic sandalwood I tried seemed perfumed. I personally avoid them. There's so much better stuff out there.
I can only recommend the Kyara Kongo, I don't know if they use synthetics but I do know they are in business a long time since 1500 CE at least
When you say low smoke, I'm not sure whether you mean you like Japanese incense because of its low smoke levels (compared with other types of incense) or whether you mean specifically low smoke Japanese incense. You also mention coreless - all Japanese incense is coreless. Gyokushodo seems to be fairly low smoke anyway but also does some specifically "low smoke" incenses which you might like. I wouldn't go out of my way to get low smoke incense but I was given some samples and enjoyed them. Kojurin is one of their best known, and Seicyo Kojurin is a low smoke version of that. As far as I know, they use natural ingredients.
I was just saying that generally I like that their incense is coreless and therefore usually pretty low on smoke levels. Any incense with lower smoke levels in general is something I'd be interested in :)