Happy Urban Dirt

Do you know the frankincense plant? We are talking about Plectranthus madagascariensis or Plectranthus “coleoides” Marginatus, one of the plants that if you like the smell of incense, you will definitely love having in your home. But did you know that in addition to its decorative function, incense has other uses?

We want to talk to you about these uses and how you can employ them in your daily life. Read on to see that some plants have many more uses than just decoration.

What You Should Know About the Frankincense Plant

Before we move on to explaining the uses of frankincense, it would be good if you had some basic knowledge about frankincense, especially its main characteristics.

Frankincense comes from Africa, Australia and India. Visually you will have a diminutive herbaceous plant that does not usually grow much, at least in height, as you can expect it to grow in width. As for the leaves, they are much more striking. They are green, irregularly shaped and with a white or cream edge. In fact, this is what gives it more visibility.

It is these leaves that give off a very pleasant scent for those who like incense, although we already say not to expect a powerful scentbecause it won’t be like that. Only when it burns can you smell it.

Finally, it is worth knowing that one is the incense plant we are talking about, and the other is Boswellia, which is actually the plant from which the resin is extracted, which is used to make incense. These are two different plants.

The employ of incense

Now that you have a better understanding of the frankincense plant, you can now have it in your collection. OR maybe you were thinking about buying this and you didn’t know that it can have many more uses than we think.

Either way, we’ll talk about all of them below.

mosquito repellent

Did you know that the incense plant can be very effective in keeping mosquitoes from coming to you. You need to put it on your doors and windows because when the mosquitoes come and smell the scent, they will turn away.

You can also do one thing. Forks take a few incense sticks and put them in a jar. You add a little water and alcohol and leave to macerate for a few days. The water and alcohol will extract some of the essence of these frankincense leaves and you can apply them to your skin. If the alcohol is too powerful for you, employ just water or oil (although in this case it will be more greasy).

aromatherapy

Remember what we said about how you can burn incense and get a much stronger scent? Well, you know it is also used in aromatherapy.

In fact, one of the effects you can get is relaxation and calming your nerves, which is why many people employ this method after a demanding day’s work.

Even in physiotherapy clinics, some people may employ it to relax patients. and be able to perform treatments with less resistance and muscle tension.

So you can employ it every day to relax and disconnect from your problems a bit. Some even recommend it for treating depression, anxiety and crisis problems.

Medicine

Another employ for frankincense is undoubtedly medicinal. Both in its native areas and in many other places, frankincense is used to treat a wide variety of ailments. For example, To name a few, we have liver disease, bronchitis, colds and flu, to cleanse the blood…

It is also useful for skin care and bites, as well as for menstrual pain or mastitis, and generally for wounds and burns.

In some cases, it is recommended as an alternative (and common) treatment for epilepsy, as well as to improve the immune system.

Even It can support you sleep much better.

Therefore, sometimes, especially in herbal stores, we can find products containing this ingredient (or those that consist entirely of it).

culinary employ

We continue discussing its uses, because as you can see, it has quite a few. In this case, we’re talking about food. And that’s it, You can chew it and relieve toothacheor strengthen gums and tooth enamel.

It is also used to treat bad breath. Therefore, it is usually sold in the form of chewing gum.

Esoterism

Another activity in which incense may be present is on an esoteric level, in the spells and rituals that can be performed.

Incense is said to bring good luck. Therefore, sometimes it is worth burning it around the house to soak up the scent, which helps attract good vibrations and keep the bad ones away from the house.

Cleaning

You may not know that, in addition to emitting a characteristic scent, incense is also used to purify the air. Aromatizes the environment, Yes, but also thanks to its antiseptic properties it makes the air you breathe healthier.

Decor

There is no doubt that incense also has decorative uses. When the plant is very well cared for, it is very leafy, with long branches, leaves and everything that attracts the eye to it.

If we add to this that it has a very pleasant incense smell and that you may like it, especially when you touch it or touch it, you will like its smell.

In fact, if it’s too gigantic and you need to cut it and you don’t want any more incense sticks (since that’s how it reproduces) or you don’t have anyone to give it to, you can burn it and in this way get a much stronger incense scent.

Do you know these uses for incense? Do you know of any others that we missed? We read you!