I'm not a huge fan of incense, but I've been known to burn and enjoy some in my time. Most types of incense smell horrible to me; Nag Champa is one of the few I can stand. I favor this one Japanese company's incense but they're too expensive for me. But I'd been wanting incense for a while now and since I had gift cards from EF, I thought I'd get the only incense set they carry: Earth Scents.

The set includes 40 sticks and 20 cones. It also comes with a little ceramic holder as opposed to the wooden one mentioned on the box. I wasn't bothered in the least by this; I was just glad it came with a holder period. The box has keywords that I guess are supposed to represent what the fragrances stand for: Peace, Confidence, Power, Energy, Faith, and Protection. I honestly can't smell much difference in the colored sticks and cones, only that some are stronger than the others. The colors are purple, green, pink and an orange-ish red.

None of them give off a scent that I would call earthy. In fact, they smell rather like perfumes. I don't really care for perfume or related scents, but thankfully these scents are not obnoxious; I can burn them without irritating my sinuses and getting a headache. Both the sticks and the cones have a burning time of about 10 minutes each, 15 at the absolute most. Personally, I find that to be a bit quick, but I figure any more time and the scents my start to annoy me.

I like the ceramic holder the least in this set. It measures in at a mere 2 1/2 X 1 1/2 inches. The sticks stand up straight in the hole and the ashes do not land on the holder. I have my own holder so this was not a big problem. Really, the big draw is the incense itself. The cones keep their shape as they burn out, but when I removed the ash I noticed that the core was still burning. The cone gave all appearances to being completely out until I discovered that core, and even it did not clue me in that it was burning until I messed with it. So, my advice is to inspect the remains very carefully before disposing of them. Also, the cones stain the ceramic and those stains cannot be removed. At least I couldn't remove the discoloration.

Despite my little quibbles, I think this is a nifty set. I'm sure it would make a nice gift for loved ones who enjoy incense, especially those who like perfume-like scents or, as in my case, yourself. At 40 sticks and 20 cones this set will last me for quite some time.