Process of Purchasing

I want to share the process of grading and what I actually go through from the process of going to Oman and bringing the resins back on the shelf, at the store ready for you to Free Your Senses.

Getting to Salalah the cheapest way is to fly from London to Muscat, which is roughly an 8 hour flight. Once I get to Muscat I take an internal flight down south to Salalah which takes an hour to fly the 1200km distance. In Salalah I check in with my family and friends and the works starts the very next morning.

I call my local merchant who takes me into the mountains to a store house. The drive is beautiful and relaxing as I can see for miles mountains dissapering behind mountains. Once at the store house I choose the various sacks of frankincense on offer. The sacks can be from low to high quality and this all reflects on the grades which are already in the bags. I buy whatever I can, and then make my way down to the city. Back in the city I'll go and visit some of my other suppliers of frankincense in the local souk and see what they have on offer. The choosing of frankincense takes a couple of days and by the time I have purchased and have the sacks ready in my possession can take upto a week. This is due to the way of life and timings of business in Salalah , which is very relaxed and slow compared to London.

Once I have my frankincense I go on my mission to purchase the rest of the products, such as our boswellia sacra oil, perfumes and incense burners. All our items are carefully selected by the right companies and people. For the burners on my last trip I had to travel for around 3 hours through scenic mountains to a place called Nizwa, where all the Omani heritage arts and crafts are made. I love the adventures and long distances to travel as I know how special they are and how you would love them to be displayed in your homes burning our luxurious frankincense.

Once all the stock is purchased it's time to chillax in what I called the most peaceful place in the world, away from all the hustle and bustle of London. I make the most of my time as I know once I'm back in London the real work starts.

Back in London and after my shipment is cleared by customs , who love it when my delivery arrives as it makes the warehouse smell of frankincense, I collect and prepare myself for the grading process.

The grading process which takes place in our well positioned warehouse in relation to the sun movements. First I take one of the 40kg sacks and empty it onto the floor, so all the resins are spread out. I set my baskets up , one for each grade we have. Making sure that the weather is perfect for the grading , with the right amount of sunlight, as too much can make all the resins look the same colour. I start to sift through a mountain of frankincense separating them piece by piece. Each sack can be different from another. Some sacks are easier to clean whilst others can be extremely difficult.