Everyone knows that feeling of slowly walking into a silent church, temple, or place of worship with the strong scent of incense burning your nose. You breathe in, you breathe out. It’s peaceful. Just the scent of it is healing and comforting. That’s especially true if you grew up surrounded by these smells. As an adult, it brings you comfort during these turbulent times.
On a personal level, that’s what incense represents. Historically, incense can be traced back all the way to Ancient Egypt, where people used it as an offering to the gods and to ward off demons. Nothing much has changed to this day; humanity continues to use incense to cleanse a space from negativity and manifest good energy into it.
During the past few years, we’ve been seeing plenty of religious imagery trending in fashion, film, and music. Beauty and fragrance are no exception. Our realities are being inundated with horrifying news—we’re seeking anything to comfort us. Even the latest fashion trend of ballet sneakers, I’d argue, calls back to this. We’re looking to go back to a time when we were children, going to ballet class.
We don’t just want to light our incense at home. We want to wear them on our bodies and carry that comforting, warm scent everywhere we go—from the office straight to date night. As someone who writes about beauty and fragrance, I’m always learning about “what’s next” in the industry. I’m predicting it now, the fragrance signature note of 2026 will be incense. From fresh and woody to gourmand and spicy, we’ll be seeing this scent take over.
So, jump on the bandwagon early, and keep scrolling to shop our favorite incense fragrances on the market right now.
