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1 week ago
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E! illustration/PHLUR
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.
PHLUR Vanilla Smoke Body & Hair Mist
This isn't your typical vanilla scent. Phlur's Vanilla Smoke body mist promises to leave a smoky, sweet smell behind with its notes of incense, birch, balsam, cacao blanc, amber, and cashmere vanilla.
Editor's Pick
Heretic Smudge
This brand is beloved for its interesting niche smells, using plant-based ingredients. Heretic's Smudge is anything but boring with notes of juniper, labdanum, frankincense, and tonka bean. You'll feel like it's cleansing your energy.
Lush Breath of God Perfume
Inspired by the perfumer's tip to Tibet, Lush's Breath of God is a fruity and citrusy rendition of an incense scent. It features notes of grapefruit, neroli, incense, cedar, sandalwood, and cedarwood.
Maison Margiela Replica Fantasies Celestial Whispers Eau de Parfum
The Replica Fantasies Celestial Whispers isn't replicating anything tangible. In fact, the goal was to embody the feeling of being protected by the divine. It represents that with its notes of incense essence, aldehydes, iris accord, myrrh essence, Madagascar bourbon vanilla infusion, musks, and Virginia cedarwood.
Diptyque Eau Duelle Eau de Parfum
This intense Diptyque fragrance is a spicy and sweet second-skin scent that is best described by one reviewer as "slightly dark in the way that a cloud blocks the sun momentarily." It features notes of vanilla, pink peppercorn, and cypriol with a base of incense.
How We Choose
The E! Insider Shop editors and writers search the internet to find the best products out there. We interview expert sources, comb through customer reviews, and use our own personal experiences to make shopping easier for our readers.
As an editorial team, we independently create content and determine coverage based on research, reporting and what we think our readers would like to read about. The goal of our content is to provide a service and inform readers who are on the hunt for the latest products to help make their life better. Items are sold by retailer, not E!. Pricing and availability are accurate as of publish time.
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