Demystifying Incense Burners & Aroma Diffusers

 

Using wax melts, essential oils, or incense sticks are a popular way to refresh and enrich your living space. With many advantages to each, it’s about finding what suits you and your living style. But with so many options out there, it can be hard to know what to choose. 

AN INTRODUCTION TO WAX MELTS, ESSENTIAL OILS, AND INCENSE 

 

Available in varying sizes and shapes, wax melts are a great way to sample lots of different scents. Made from wax and infused with essential oils, they’re straightforward to use with a wax melt warmer or aroma lamp. It’s easy to change your scent too, once cooled wax melts solidify again and are simple to pop out. 

Recognised for therapeutic health benefits, fragrance oils are great for using with aroma diffusers. Therapeutic health benefits of essential oils include reducing anxiety, aiding sleep, and lifting your mood. The highly concentrated essential oil blends mean that only a few drops are needed per use, which means they’ll last a long time. 

 

Traditionally, incense is associated with yoga and meditation practices. It’s a great accompaniment to your own practice or for purifying your space. Beneficial for the mind and soul, incense can help reduce stress and anxiety and are the most straightforward to use as you only need to light them. Infused with essential oils, incense is usually available in a range of sticks or cones. 

Specially designed to work with a backflow burner, backflow cones are usually slightly bigger than a normal incense cone. They are designed to have a hole in the bottom of the cone to allow the smoke to flow down through the burner rather than up. 

 

Now that we have an understanding of the different types of fragrances, let’s have a look at the different warmers and diffusers available to release our scents. 

The most recognisable and affordable option for diffusing fragrance into your living space, the most simple wax melt warmers are operated using a tea light. The heat from the flame warms the wax melt and releases the aromas into your living space. 

The simple setup means that it’s easy and affordable for anyone to start diffusing scents into their living space. However, due to the flame, these can be unsafe to use around pets or children, and candles are often not permitted in rental accommodation. 

With a variety of designs available, these warmers are small and compact, perfect if you haven’t got much space. The flexibility of this type of burner allows you to try many different scents in a low-cost way.  

KEY FEATURES 

• Low cost 
• Heated by tea light flame 
• For use with Wax Melts

Aroma lamps are designed for use with both fragrance oils and wax melts. The bulb in the lamp gently heats the oil or wax to release aromas. Essential oils do not burn when heated, but evaporate, meaning that your space is flooded with the scent. 

The lamps, which are available in a variety of different styles, create an additional ambience to your living space. With no need for a candle, these lamps offer peace of mind, particularly with children or pets around. In the long run, this makes them cost-effective too, as you don’t need to keep a good stock of tealights, which can be burned through very quickly. The dishes are usually removable, making cleaning them out after use easy. 

KEY FEATURES 

• Electric powered 
• Usually with a removable dish 
• No flame 
• For use with Wax Melts or Fragrance Oils 

Electric aroma diffusers differ to aroma lamps because there is no need for a bulb. Ultrasonic aroma diffusers are easy to set up. Rather than warming the oil, the oil is blended with water. Ultrasonic vibrations create a fine vapour that is infused with fragrance. The oil is then broken down into droplets that float through the air. 

Reed diffusers, one of our most popular fragrance ranges, are a rudimentary set-up of an aroma diffuser. The sticks channel the scent into the air and fill your space with your chosen fragrance. 

KEY FEATURES 

• Usually electric powered 
• Works in a similar way to a Reed Diffuser 
• Scent dispersed with ultrasonic vibrations  
• No flame 
• For use with Fragrance Oils 

Incense is another popular way of bringing fragrance into your home. While there is no flame, a match or lighter is needed to light the incense. Once lit, the sticks burn to release fragrance. 

Usually, incense holders are very simple, featuring a tray to catch the ash and a hole to hold the incense stick. Burning incense can be messy, which means it doesn’t suit everyone. But for a wide variety of scents, it’s a great alternative to wax melts and essential oils. 

Like traditional wax melt warmers, incense burners can be discrete and compact, easy enough to pack up and travel with or to place in a corner of your room. Many of our sets of sticks and cones come with an incense holder, making it even easier to get started with incense. 

KEY FEATURES 

• Simple and affordable 
• Lighter/match needed to burn incense 
• Many sets of sticks/cones include a holder 
• No flame
• For use with Incense Sticks 

Backflow burners are designed for use with particular incense cones. Unlike incense, the smoke from the incense doesn’t flow upwards but is designed to flow down. This creates a stunning spectacle, with the smoke floating down a waterfall or mountainside.

If you enjoy burning incense, then this is a great way to add some extra drama and atmosphere to your living space. Just make sure you choose the correct cones to go with your burner, not all cones are designed to work with backflow burners. 

KEY FEATURES 

• Often statement pieces that create atmosphere 
• Lighter/match needed to burn incense
• No flame  
• For use with Backflow Cones

Shop our full range of Aroma Lamps here.  

Shop our full range of Incense & Burners here.