134 lines
7.4 KiB
Markdown
134 lines
7.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "Incense Review: Hippy Hug, Lavender Française, and White Sage Mage by The World Makes Scents"
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description: "Reviewing Hippy Hug, Lavender Française, and White Sage Mage from The World Makes Scents"
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date: 2026-04-26
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tags:
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- Incense
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- Incense Review
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synopsis: "Reviewing Hippy Hug, Lavender Française, and White Sage Mage from The World Makes Scents."
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imageURL: /img/TWMS2026/the-world-makes-scents-incense.webp
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imageAlt: "A closeup of The World Makes Scents' new incense packaging with a few loose cones."
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mastodon_id: "116474428801255815"
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---
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In the interest of transparency: as readers may recall, I
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[paid Dave a visit](/blog/visiting-chicago-incense-maker-dave-of-the-world-makes-scents/)
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at the company's workshop in 2024. Since then, I've been back several times and
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we remain friends, trading ingredients, incense, and knowledge. I also received
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this incense for free. Despite this, as always, I will do my best to be
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objective.
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[](/img/TWMS2026/the-world-makes-scents-incense.webp)
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## Hippy Hug Sticks
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First of all I'd like to point out that TWMS has updated their packaging. It's
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vibrant, colorful, and fun. The illustration on the *Hippy Hug* packaging is,
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however, clearly AI generated, which [I have some feelings about](ai/), but the
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overall effect is playful and creative, which I find refreshing.
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The 12 thick sticks are wrapped in colorful paper inside TWMS' trademark
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jewelry box—an improvement on the synthetic batting material which would
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sometimes cling to the sticks. I'm struck right away, as I was with each
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variety in today's selection, by the strength of fragrance from the unlit
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incense. With *Hippy Hug*, I get a lovely hit of clove and patchouli. The sticks
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are about 4mm in diameter, and dark brown, with a rather coarse texture.
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They're also solid, with little give and no crumbling or breakage in the
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package.
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On lighting smoky, patchouli, and sweet vanillic notes emerge. Clove follows as
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the initial burst of smoke recedes into a surprisingly gentle stream from the
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large stick. If you're familiar with sweet patchoui fragrances, such as
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*Patchouli* from Shoyeido's *Overtones* collection, *Hippy* *Hug* doesn't quite
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match this profile. While the sweetness is clear, this stick somehow leans dry,
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leaving room for the clove to mingle with what I assume is a wood binder
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(binders no longer appear to be listed on the ingredients) to make a
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spicy/smoky effect.
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The patchouli seems to have been used judiciously: just enough to make the
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composition work. There is undoubtedly a 'campfire' aspect to this stick,
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but it comes across as more woodsmoke than that riproaring, herbaceous
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burning-vegetation note that you get when you overdose anything leafy. In
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addition to patchouli, sandalwood, benzoin, and clove, the ingredients also
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note the inclusion of frankincense. When I look for it, I think I may be able
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to identify something of a resin-note in the fragrance, but it's certainly not
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jumping out at me. The sandalwood is also a background player here.
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I'd really been looking forward to trying this latest take on patchouli from
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TWMS since I learned that the team was revising and upgrading some of their old
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single-note formulas. I wasn't disappointed. As perhaps reflected by the name
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change, while still a patchouli fragrance, the new iteration has evolved from a
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single-note stick into an honest-to-god composition, and I'm here for it.
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## Lavender Française
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The fragrance of the unlit cones is lovely; a juicy lavender note with a hint
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of Australian sandalwood. This is a markedly less complex fragrance than *Hippy
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Hug,* but what it lacks in complexity is makes up for in clarity. It's
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impressively lavender-forward while somehow avoiding much of the harshness that can
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come from lavender flowers. A pleasant benzoin sweetness underscores the floral
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note. I don't notice much of a sandalwood fragrance in the burn.
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Like any wood-based cone, you won't want to sit right next to this incense, but
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then again you don't need to. Even in my large office, with relatively little
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airflow, the fragrance traverses the distance from the incense table to the
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computer desk with little trouble. Giving this cone some room to breathe nets a
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relatively clean, room-filling fragrance. There does seem to be a wood binder
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note that somewhat muddies the waters, but it's not terribly obtrusive.
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The fragrance naturally becomes a little rough around the edges as the diameter
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increases near the base of the cone, and the formerly modest smoke production
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ramps up quite seriously. That said, the formula seems to handle the change in
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diameter well. As the ember travels down the cone, the lavender begins to
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exchange its juicy, fruity character for a more herbal, camphoraceous scent.
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The fragrance also becomes more smoky, as is to be expected. In contrast to
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some of the cheap wood-and-synthetic-fragrance based cones I've tried, the
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effect here is more that of an evolving fragrance than a devolving one. I think
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I'd still prefer a stick, but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy this
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experience.
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## White Sage Mage
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The fragrance of the unlit cones is a pleasant sage note. I don't get any
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sandalwood this time for whatever reason. The fragrance immediately after
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lighting is sage forward, herbaceous, and a touch smoky, although significantly
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less so than burning a sage bundle. I never could understand why people insist
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on burning sage bundles for fragrance. The result of such a large amount of
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herbs burning at once is, for me, overwhelmingly rough and unpleasant. I much
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prefer this format: carefully processed sage included in a combustible incense
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as part of a well considered formula. It's cleaner, and as sage happens to be a
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very potent herb, it still offers more than enough of a sage fragrance. In
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fact, like *Lavender Française*, the star botanical almost entirely comprises
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the fragrance here.
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The inclusion of a little lavender in these cones is a nice addition—the floral
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note lifts the fragrance from poultry-seasoning territory (always a risk with
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sage). The ingredients also note the inclusion of frankincense, but I couldn't
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pick it out; I suspect it may have been included to regulate the burn
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temperature somewhat. Again, the fragrance has no trouble filling the room.
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This cone is also subject to the pitfalls of the format, but it handles them
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fairly well.
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## Conclusion
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After experiencing this selection, I remain impressed at the quality of
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fragrance that The World Makes Scents is able to produce with carefully
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processed whole botanicals. As one of the very few incense brands on the market
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that you can be sure uses no synthetics or concentrates, it remains my go-to
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recommendation for people seeking an entirely natural combustible incense in
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the U.S.A.
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While the brand's cones are, in my opinion, some of the better examples of the
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format, I still do recommend that people nab a
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[censer](https://shoyeido.com/products/incense-holder-bowl), some
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[ash](https://shoyeido.com/products/accessory-miyakohai-ash), and buy sticks
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where possible.[^1]
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[^1]: Unfortunately, when I made my order almost all of the sticks
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were out of stock on the [website](https://theworldmakesscents.com/), and I am
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trying to wean myself off of Amazon
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[for](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Amazon)
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[ethical](https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/retailers/ten-reasons-avoid-amazon)
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[reasons](https://socialjusticebooks.org/about/why-boycott-amazon/).
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