The Balm of Memory: A Journey Through China’s fragrance heritage
In a world that spins ever faster, where our senses are constantly overwhelmed, leaning into the rich history of scent can feel like stepping into a secret garden. Just as modern dilemmas urge us toward intention, the ancient practice of using perfume balms, aromatic pastes rooted in Chinese history, offers a deep, restorative pause.
A Fragrant Legacy: Ancient Beginnings
In China, the story of aromatic compounds goes back millennia. The Shang Dynasty paints scenes of fragrant woods and ceremonial incense woven into daily and spiritual life.
But around the Tang through Ming dynasties, a blossoming of scent culture emerged: aromatic pastes, scented sachets, and balm-like unguents spread their presence across clothing, manuscripts, and temple quarters.
These balms, or xiang gao (香膏), combined aromatic woods — such as sandalwood and aloeswood — with herbal essences. Beyond pleasant fragrance, they were viewed as living expressions of wellness. Confucian scholars, poets, and aristocrats prized their calm-enhancing properties, believing that scent could resonate with emotion and spirit — creating a harmony between body and mind.
Scent as a Pathway to Balance
In Chinese thought, balms were more than adornment, they were medicine, ritual, and elegance all in one. The act of applying an aromatic paste mirrored a quiet ritual, a tactile invitation to slow down, breathe, and reconnect with one’s center amid the day’s noise. They appointed each gesture, the rub of the balm, the inhale of its fragrance, as an intentional breath.
The materials themselves were often sourced from trade routes like the Silk Road — fragrant oils such as jasmine, rosewater, and spices like clove or patchouli, evoking both distant lands and domestic traditions. These aromatic blends were refined with a sense of sensory artistry, cultivating emotional clarity and inner ease.
A Resonant Touch of the Present
Today, we may not reach for a centuries-old paste in our morning routine, but the impulse remains the same: to create small rituals that re-anchor us. Perfume balms offer just that, a tactile, mindful act that reconnects us with ancestral wisdom in the simplest way.
If you’d like to bring this lineage into modern life, consider scent profiles that echo those treasured in Taoist and imperial traditions, like jasmine or wintersweet. These enduring floral notes bridge past and present, echoing the gentle power of scent that has long inspired clarity and serenity.
At INCENZO, we treasure the ancient wisdom that is still applicable in today’s life. Following the traditional way of making perfume balms in Chinese culture, we tried to start with our existing scents and expand beyond.
If you want to start with a familiar floral scent, try out wintersweet or jasmine dew, which is the same scent in Refresh and Immerse. If you’re in an adventurous mindset, check out Yuzu (sweet pomelo) or Guava, both of which are representative scents of summer.
What might it feel like to carry a trace of history on your skin, soft and intentional, amid the rush of today? Perhaps that’s where real calm is waiting.