New at Serene Scents · From Nippon Kodo, Japan
elemense is Nippon Kodo's contemporary incense, shaped by more than 440 years of Japanese perfumery and composed by the house's master perfumers. Seven fragrances, one for each of the Five Elements and a balancing pair of yin and yang, now in New Zealand through Serene Scents.
Light a stick and give it half an hour. A deep base note holds steady while brighter notes rise, meet and fade above it, so the room never smells quite the same from one moment to the next. Which element is yours?
15 products
Find your element
Each scent takes its theme from one line of the Ten Virtues of Incense. Here's what each one smells like and when you might reach for it.
Cultivates love for others by allowing one to appreciate plants and flowers.
Muguet · Oakmoss · Amber · Sandalwood
Opens floral with lily of the valley, moves through moss into a sweet amber and settles on sandalwood. The softest of the five.
Purifies the spirit and body by ridding negative thoughts.
Hinoki · Cedarwood · Sandalwood · Agarwood
Starts bright and clean with Japanese hinoki cypress, warms into sandalwood and agarwood, then fades cool. A good choice for clearing the air at the start of a day.
Heals loneliness and brings peace of mind from the warmth of the ash.
Vanilla · Tobacco · Patchouli · Sandalwood
Sweet and warm with a thread of smoke, deepening into rich sandalwood. The cosiest of the range, made for winter evenings.
Sets intentions as strong and everlasting as a rock.
Pink pepper · Everlasting · Cistus · Agarwood
Bright pink pepper turns green and herbal, then agarwood comes through with a strong, lasting finish.
Awakens determination as tough as iron and clarity as pristine as spring water.
Bergamot · Violet · Cedarwood · Agarwood
Citrusy bergamot first, then soft violet, then cedarwood layered over agarwood. Fresh enough for a home office.
The balancing pair · yin and yang
The quiet of gentle rain and the stillness of open air.
Sumi ink · Moss · Vetiver · Agarwood
Inky, green and calm, like rain on moss. Reach for it when you want to slow down.
The energy of sunlight and mountain wind running toward the sea.
Akashiso · Gardenia · Cinnamon · Sandalwood
Red shiso and gardenia lifted by cinnamon over sandalwood. Bright and uplifting.
The Kō Juttoku is a classical Chinese verse that lists ten benefits of incense, each in four characters. It became known in Japan during the Muromachi period and is linked with the Zen monk Ikkyū Sōjun.
Nippon Kodo drew one line from the verse for each elemense scent.
In the ancient Chinese Five Elements theory, everything in the universe is made of wood, fire, earth, metal and water, and the five keep flowing into and influencing one another.
The discovery set brings all five together, ten sticks of each.
elemense was designed to be watched as well as smelled: the smoke rising and taking a shape, the stick standing straight or at an angle, the line the ash leaves as it falls.
That's why the holders, a brass acorn carved in a Tokyo workshop and a black porcelain burner from Hasami in Nagasaki, are part of the collection.
How to burn it
Nippon Kodo's advice is to enjoy elemense from a little distance. The scent opens up as it travels across the room.
elemense is made by Nippon Kodo, a Japanese fragrance house with more than 440 years of history. Serene Scents imports it and ships it from Auckland.
The five element scents (suou, kiyobi, nukubai, sekishin and tetsukon) come in boxes of 40 or 10 sticks. ei-u and kon-fu come in boxes of 40. The discovery set has 10 sticks of each of the five element scents.
About 30 minutes, for every scent and box size. A 40-stick box gives you roughly 20 hours of burning, a 10-stick box about 5 hours, and the discovery set (50 sticks) about 25 hours.
If you're not sure, start with the discovery set, or a 10-stick box of the element that appeals to you. Prefer something calming? Try ei-u. Something brighter? Try kon-fu or tetsukon.
The 40-stick boxes include an incense stand. The 10-stick boxes and the discovery set don't, so pair them with the acorn brass holder or the porcelain burner.
The main ingredients in Nippon Kodo's incense are Machilus thunbergii (the bark of the tabu tree) and fragrances. elemense also uses charcoal, and its fragrances are crafted by Nippon Kodo's master perfumers.
We pack orders by hand and dispatch them from Auckland every Monday. After dispatch, NZ Post CourierPost usually delivers overnight to Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty, and within 1–4 days to the rest of New Zealand.
