Ink & Angelica

Near-black beads with a low shine, ground and rolled by hand. No metal, no stone, no inlay — one material the whole way round.

The formula

Agarwood · Sandalwood · Patchouli · Angelica Sinensis

Angelica sinensis — dang gui — is a root sliced across the grain and dried, pale and fibrous, with a sweet edge closer to celery than to anything woody. It is the note that separates this blend from every other one we make. Patchouli sits underneath it, dry and faintly sweet once it warms.

Where the name comes from

The resting-flesh pill.

The name comes out of the Unofficial Biography of Zhao Feiyan, a Tang-dynasty romance about the Han court. Not a history — a story, and one people liked well enough to keep retelling for a thousand years. In it the pill belongs to Zhao Hede, consort to Emperor Cheng, and it is the kind of detail a writer invents to show how far a court will go.

We have borrowed the name for the blend. We have not borrowed the claim.

The bracelet

20cm · 10mm beads · 14.5g

Made by the blended-incense method. Botanicals are selected, hand-ground to powder, sieved, weighed, bound, and rolled into beads one at a time.

Wear it

Late. After the work is done.

About the scent

This is not a perfume.

No alcohol, no spray, no projection. The oils live in the beads and wake with the warmth of your skin. Someone across the room will not smell it — that is the point. It is a scent for the person wearing it.

It is strongest in the first weeks and softens over the months that follow. Keep it dry; moisture is the one thing that shortens its life. If the scent quietens, warm the beads between your palms for a moment.

Shipping

Made and shipped from our workshop. Arrives in 7–15 days.
Free shipping on every order, no minimum.