apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We picked up a packet of the French-made paper strips at Watson Kennedy, and followed the instructions to tear out a strip, fold it into an accordion, then light and partially extinguish as one would a stick of incense. We like how it can be laid casually on its side (on a non-flammable surface, of course).

The result is a subtle, faintly exotic smell that manages to curiously cancel out the other smells in our kitchen without giving the impression of covering them up. The active ingredient is Benzoin, a resin sustainably harvested from trees in Laos and to which many curative properties are attributed for a host of ailments, from asthma to depression.

Other fun facts: Benzoin is also used in perfumes, such as Shalimar. The Papier d'Armenie booklets have been made in the same French workshop for over a century, and the production process for one batch takes six months.

Available at Amazon.

(Edited from a post originally published 10.03.07)