Stick incense products are typically made with fragrance oils and punk sticks. All the components of incense are made from natural materials. For example, the sticks are known to be made from bamboo. The upper portion of the sticks are then coated with sawdust from machilus wood (they are highly absorbent and retains fragrance well).
In most cases, incense products are made from natural plant gums, honey, and ground herbs. In olden times, burning of berries, cedar, resins, and roots were considered to be incense. These natural ingredients are even used today in the making of incense.
The making of incense is not rocket science and is very easy to make. You will need bamboo sticks either of 7 inches or 10 inches in length. You will also need wood glue, charcoal powder, sawdust, sandalwood powder, and paint. Depending on the fragrance of incense you intend to make, you can choose from fragrance oils such as patchouli, mogra, jasmine, sandalwood, or rose.
Initially, you require top quality materials to make loose incense. The choice of resins, woods, spices and herbs is yours to choose from. For resins, you may choose from myrrh, hibiscus, amber or frankincense. For woods, you have agarwood, cedar, sandalwood or pine. As for spices and herbs, you may choose from sage, cinnamon, vanilla or ginger.
It is advisable to use at least one resin and wood while making incense.  After pulverizing these ingredients into a fine powder, you may add charcoal powder and a binding agent to it. You can also add a combustible substance that is also water soluble.
The binding agent allows the mixture to be formed into either sticks or cones. Slow addition of water to this blend allows the mixture to be firm yet pliable and gummy. Once the blend achieves the right consistency, it can be left to harden before it becomes the final product.