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+title: "Learning to Love Myrrh: Myrrh & Rose Incense"
+description: "I finally figure out how to make myrrh work in a composition."
+date: 2024-08-05
+tags:
+  - Incense
+synopsis: "I finally figure out how to make myrrh work in a composition."
+imageURL: /img/pexels-david-roberts-940521-8323579.webp
+imageAlt: A beautiful light-pink dog rose, rosa canina.
+mastodon_id: ""
+---
+Myrrh can be a challenging note. I've seen the resins collected from various members of the Commiphora genus described as everything from loamy, bitter, and mushroomy, to reminiscent of cleaning fluid or a dental clinic; whatever impression you take from the fragrance of myrrh resin, there's no denying that it's unique; there is no mistaking myrrh. While I'm rarely a fan of myrrh alone, or as the predominant note in a sparse composition, I've always felt that there is something compelling about it. Despite its overall unpleasantness, I find heated myrrh resin to produce a dark, mysterious, and somehow sexy fragrance. When balanced well, such as in Mystic Jade from Shoyeido's Magnifiscents collection, it adds a wonderful, earthy warmth to a composition that's hard to beat.
+
+For some time I've struggled to incorporate myrrh into a stick that I can be proud of; it isn't a resin that you can just drop into a composition with the expectation that it'll work. My experiments with commiphora kua, opoponax, and wightii have all ended in disappointment… until recently.
+
+I've long had an inkling that myrrh would pair well with rose. It's challenging to incorporate flowers into combustible incense; some say it's close to impossible to do without winding up with an incense that smells of acrid burning plant material with, if you're lucky, a touch of whatever flower you've added. Certainly, I have found that often other methods of incorporating floral fragrances work best. Recently I have found, however, that if you start with very good material, and methodically try varying ratios in a series of trail-burning tests, you may wind up surprised by how close a fragrance you can achieve to the fragrance of fresh flowers while minimizing acrid notes. For instance, in my testing, I found that a combination of 30% Rosa Canina and 70% Santalum Spicatum, both very high quality powders given to me by [Dave of *The World Makes Scents*,](../visiting-chicago-incense-maker-dave-of-the-world-makes-scents/) smells absolutely wonderful.
+
+[![A beautiful light-pink dog rose, rosa canina.](/img/pexels-david-roberts-940521-8323579.webp "Rosa Canina in bloom, by [David Roberts on Pexels](https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-shot-of-a-dog-rose-in-bloom-8323579/)")](/img/pexels-david-roberts-940521-8323579.webp)
+
+
+With that knowledge, I composed a stick featuring myrrh, rose, and sandalwood. While the build isn't perfect, I'm already really enjoying the small batch of sticks that I made only a few days ago. The fragrance is gentle and powdery, with a hint of smoke, a soft rose note and that fruitiness that occurs when rose petals are heated. Benzoin lends a subtle sweetness alongside the sandalwood, while the myrrh adds it's unmistakable fragrance and a bittersweet molasses note. The whole ensemble is lifted and brought together by a smidgen of borneol camphor. The myrrh reduces the need for binders, so I've gone with a weak binder, acacia gum, which also helps to firm up and strengthen the extruded sticks once dried.
+
+## The Build
+Note that this is a test build that produces less than four grams of dough; you may want to double the amount.
+
+|Ingredient|Grams|% of Build|
+|-|-|-|
+|Myrrh Resin (Commiphora Kua) |0.2|5.6%|
+|Rose Petal  (Rosa Canina)|1|27.9%|
+|Sandalwood (Santalum Spicatum)|2|55.9%|
+|Benzoin Siam|0.14|3.9%|
+|Acacia Gum|0.2|5.6%|
+|Borneol Camphor|0.04|1.1%|
+
+## Thoughts
+
+I really like this stick, but I do think that it could stand some improvement. Some spices might round out the profile a little, maybe a little clove and cinnamon. It's not the *cleanest* fragrance in the world, likely due to both the myrrh and the high ratio of flowers, but I have been finding it incredibly moreish nonetheless. I hope someone will try to make this and let me know their thoughts!