Tragically, I finished my balsamic crystal incense! I went to one of the best incense places I know but it's an Indian shop and they did't have it. I am sure I can find it somewhere in Paris but my time is very limited right now so I took advantage of this setback to explore different kinds of incense.
I experimented with different techniques to manipulate the material and...well, I think I failed! I will try again.
Here is a recap of what I tries. It will be useful to try approaching these types of incense later on.
First attempt:
Crystal incense technique. Boiling water, stir and let it cool to room temperature.
Nothing. Or, almost nothing. The Dragon Blood might be a wonderful dye. (I will test it out)
Step 1. prepare the bowls, label incense types
Step 2. Add boiling water
Step 3. 24hours later. Unsuccessful.
(Except for the Dragon's Blood dye)
Incense kind: Mhyrr
Second Attempt: Bain Marie. Highly unsuccessful. Nothing happens. Nice smell!
Third Attempt: Simmering Water. Hopeful start. Unsuccessful results. When the water cooled down the incense had just got stuck to the pan (now I need a new pan)
Fourth Attempt: Coconut Oil. EPIC FAIL (I burnt everything!)
Fifth Attempt: simmerimg water again, but with Copal resin.
A little more promising. This resin doesn't fully melt in water but it becomes soft which could allow manipulation.
I managed to merge all crystals in one large incense dough, and then tried to press it into a thin layer.
I didn't have the right tools, I think I need to get a press.
But the texture is quite promising!
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