The incense of the Franks - so called because Charlemagne established the European trade in it from the middle east.

It has many forms, serrata, beyo, maydhi, houdjray, thurifera, to name a few, all of which are slightly different simply because of their growing conditions and the prevailing climate. Most comes from Ethiopia and Kenya nowdays but it grows all over the Middle East, East Africa, and even in India.

I wanted to make a soap, rich in the fragrance but using just one variety didn't seem enough by itself, I wanted all the rich variation to be prevalent and decided upon the use of carterii and serrata frankincenses as those that provide the resinous richness I was searching for.

I now have customers who use their as yet unused bars to scent their linen and bedding storage before using the bar in the bathroom. Its apparently very effective even if not the original intention