How to Identify and Care for Agarwood Bracelets

Agarwood bracelets are bracelets made from agarwood wood. Agarwood bracelets fall into two categories: one is decorative bracelets, and the other is Buddhist prayer beads. Agarwood bracelets have a faint, barely-there scent that is refreshing and delightful, and they are very popular. Let's take a look at how to identify and care for agarwood bracelets!

The Benefits and Effects of Agarwood Bracelets

As a commonly used traditional Chinese medicinal material, agarwood has the effects of promoting the flow of qi and relieving pain, warming the middle and stopping vomiting, and helping the kidneys grasp qi and calm wheezing. It has a very good therapeutic effect on conditions such as chest and abdominal distension and pain, stomach cold with vomiting and hiccups, and kidney deficiency with reversed qi and acute wheezing. Wearing agarwood bracelets allows the pleasant fragrance of agarwood to permeate the body, which can refresh the mind and has a certain fitness benefit. Agarwood can also make the skin smooth and comfortable. In daily life, agarwood is often regarded as a symbol of warding off evil and misfortune, gathering wealth and bringing prosperity, and turning one's luck around.

How to Identify Agarwood Bracelets

1. Look: Observe the shape. Because genuine agarwood comes from nature, the grain pattern of every bead will be different, and since natural agarwood is rare, most of it is handmade, so it is impossible to guarantee that every bead is exactly the same size. Imitation agarwood, because it is machine-processed, generally has beads that are all perfectly round.

2. Smell: Smell the fragrance. The scent of agarwood bracelets is natural and not pungent, with a mellow, leisurely feel. Fake agarwood, because artificial fragrances or other chemical substances have been added, gives off a pungent sensation when the aroma enters the nose, and the fragrance is very unnatural. If you place agarwood by your pillow when you sleep at night and the scent comes in bursts, it may be fake; the scent of real agarwood is generally a continuous, unbroken fragrance. When smelling agarwood, do not get too close. Hold it a hand's distance from your nose; if you can still smell it, move it farther away and smell again. Good agarwood has a relatively large scent range.

3. Color: Observe the color. The darker the color of agarwood, the better. Different types of agarwood have different colors, but whether it is black, yellow, or Tibetan red, the darker the color the better, and the lighter it is the worse it is. However, to identify fake agarwood, note that many fakes are now made with very dark colors.

4. Color fading: See whether it fades. Artificial agarwood will fade after being worn for a long time and will stain your wrist, because some fake agarwood is made by applying dye. The color of genuine agarwood is natural. Although it will also fade after being worn for a long time, it will not stain your arm. You can rub it firmly a few times to see whether any dye gets on your hand.

5. Texture: Feel the texture of the agarwood. Good agarwood feels oily and cool to the touch, while artificial agarwood does not have this feeling.

6. Weight: The weight of agarwood. Good agarwood, because of its high oil content, will be heavier, and you can feel it by weighing it in your hand.

7. Sinking in water: Whether it sinks in water. Most good agarwood generally sinks in water, but many artificial agarwood pieces now also sink in water, so whether it sinks in water cannot be used as a standard. Generally, agarwood that sinks in water is very expensive. If you buy agarwood that sinks in water for a few hundred yuan, then you have definitely been cheated.

8. Price: Identification by price. As the quantity of agarwood decreases, the price keeps rising. Black agarwood bracelets sold for only a few hundred yuan are definitely fake, but a high price does not necessarily mean good quality. You should combine the above identification points to comprehensively judge whether an agarwood bracelet is good or bad.

How to Care for Agarwood Bracelets

1. Keep away from chemicals: In theory, agarwood bracelets are not afraid of water, but it is still best to touch water as little as possible. Agarwood cannot coexist with chemical products. Washing powder, shampoo, body wash, and so on in daily life all contain chemical ingredients to a greater or lesser extent, and they will corrode agarwood bracelets, making their scent fade and causing them to lose their original benefits. To prevent agarwood bracelets from being corroded, you must take them off when bathing and washing clothes.

2. Never expose them to high temperatures or strong sunlight: Agarwood bracelets cannot withstand high temperatures, nor can they withstand strong sunlight. Strong light will cause agarwood bracelets to deteriorate, so be sure to avoid letting agarwood bracelets come into contact with high temperatures, strong light, and so on, to avoid causing the bracelets to crack. When wearing agarwood bracelets, it is best not to expose them to temperatures above 40°C; if you are not wearing agarwood bracelets, you should store them in a sealed bag and keep them in a cool place.

3. Keep them sealed as much as possible: If you want the scent of agarwood bracelets to last longer, you should place them under your pillow at night when you sleep or seal them in a sealed bag, and when you take them out in the morning they will be very strongly and pleasantly scented. Agarwood bracelets release more fragrance through body heat, so they should often be worn on the body. Only after putting them on will body heat fully release their fragrance, and this experience can only be had by those who wear them.

4. Above all, avoid direct damage: The most important point in caring for agarwood bracelets is to avoid causing the most direct damage to them. For example, in daily life you should pay attention to avoiding collisions between agarwood bracelets and certain hard objects, prevent agarwood bracelets from being dropped directly on the ground, and try to avoid agarwood bracelets being scratched by people, and so on. All of these will seriously affect the appearance of agarwood bracelets.

5. Maintain good personal hygiene: According to Buddhist and metaphysical theories, agarwood bracelets have a certain spirituality and have the miraculous effect of driving away evil and eliminating wrongdoing, so people who wear agarwood bracelets must pay attention to maintaining personal hygiene. When not wearing agarwood bracelets, do not leave them lying around anywhere; it is best to use a dedicated jewelry box to store agarwood bracelets.