What exactly is natural incense?
Natural incense is made from ingredients such as powdered woods, aromatic resins, herbs, flowers and other botanicals — rather than relying on synthetic perfumes to create a fragrance.
At Wild Hollow, we blend our ingredients from scratch, using their own natural aromas to create something interesting, beautiful and occasionally a little unexpected.
Unlike many commercially produced incense sticks, ours aren't blank sticks dipped into fragrance oils. The scent comes from the ingredients that actually make up the incense.
We believe in knowing what's in our incense, keeping things simple and letting the botanicals do what they do best.
What does handmade actually mean?
Handmade means exactly that — every Wild Hollow incense stick, cone and brick is made by hand, in small batches.
So, apologies in advance if your cones aren't identical twins or one stick is a little taller than its neighbour. We do our best, but apparently our hands didn't come with factory calibration.
A little variation in shape, texture and colour is all part of the charm. What matters to us is what goes into each piece, how it burns and, of course, how wonderful it smells.
Do you really make everything from scratch?
Yes! I start with woods, resins, flowers, herbs and other botanicals, then experiment with different combinations until something wonderful happens.
There's a trusty mortar and pestle, plenty of grinding, mixing, kneading, rolling and shaping — and a brand-new monster grinder sitting ready to take over some of the hard work.
Sometimes a blend comes together beautifully on the first attempt. Sometimes the incense has other ideas.
No pre-perfumed sticks or mysterious ready-made fragrance mixtures. Just natural ingredients, a fair bit of elbow grease and a kitchen table that probably wishes it had chosen a quieter life.
It's a wonderfully messy process, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
What payment methods do you accept?
We accept Visa and Mastercard through Stripe, as well as PayPal. All payments are securely processed through these trusted payment providers, so you can shop with confidence.
Who's behind Wild Hollow Living?
Wild Hollow Living is essentially me, a kitchen table and a rather patient husband who regularly finds himself recruited as the official incense burn tester.
I dream up the blends, experiment with ingredients, roll the sticks, shape the cones and occasionally wonder why something that worked beautifully yesterday has decided to misbehave today.
There's also a dog who supervises proceedings and a stray kitten who decided to join the family at possibly the worst time imaginable. Apparently, things weren't quite chaotic enough.
So, behind Wild Hollow is one incense maker, one long-suffering burn tester, two furry companions and absolutely no production line.
It's a small operation, but there's never a dull moment.
What's with the white table?
If you've noticed the same white table appearing in our photographs, there's a reason for that. It's our kitchen table, and it's also where much of Wild Hollow comes to life.
It's where botanicals are blended, incense is rolled, experiments are attempted and occasionally things don't go quite according to plan.
It's been dusted with sandalwood, sprinkled with rose petals and covered in more incense dough than we'd care to admit.
It's not a fancy production studio. It's a real kitchen table in a real home, where a small handmade business is finding its feet.
And yes, we do occasionally eat dinner at it.
