Meet the Team

  • Harrison Houlton

    Role: owner

    Astrological Sign: Cancer

    Likes: fantasy, card games, fish

    Dislikes: walking slowly, modern country music, climate change

    Decades of having the phrase “yer a wizard ‘arry” shouted at him by friends, family and strangers has permanently altered his brain chemistry. Now he wants nothing more than to live in a tower and ponder crystal orbs.

    Photo Credit: Lauren McDonough at Lo’s Lens (loslens.com)

  • Coconut

    Role: brand ambassador, HR, customer service, quality assurance, marketing

    Astrological Sign: Sagittarius

    Likes: people, sunlight, egg yolk

    Dislikes: larger dogs, sudden movement, vacuum cleaners

    This spunky upstart from the Bay Area has shown a lot of prowess in her time with the apothecary. We expect to see her moved into an executive position within the next 5 years.

Why did you open the Midnight Apothecary?

I’ve enjoyed using incense for years as a way to relax and aid in my meditation and yoga sessions. But I’ve always been a little skeptical about it. Outside of incense enthusiasts, a majority of people will buy their incense from a a big box store where the cost is absurdly low. I’m talking like $5 for 100 sticks of incense. Now I’m no business expert, but I figured that commercial incense had to be made of low-quality materials if they made a profit on 5 cents per stick. My suspicions were further raised when burning most sticks of store bought incense would cause my asthma to flare up.

During the pandemic, I started to do research into this. The following information is summarized from Carl F. Neal’s book Incense Magick:

“Many brands of commercial incense are made of 3 major components: waste wood powder, a binder (usually glue) to form the powder into a stick shape, and synthetic fragrance oils. As incense is heavily used in many parts of the Eastern World, it is produced at an enormous scale and cost cutting methods are used to make them as cheaply as possible. One of these cost cutting measures is to dilute synthetic fragrance with “extenders” to make them last longer. The most commonly used extender is called Dipropelyne Glycerol (DPG), which has plenty of uses in common household cleaning supplies, but is NOT rated for safe use when burned. In fact, the MSDS (material data safety sheet) for DPG states that it releases poisonous gas when burned. Most common negative side effects associated with burning incense (headaches, trouble breathing, burning eyes), are likely related to the gases released from burning DPG".”

After learning this information, I set out with a few goals in mind:

  1. Learn to create an incense that is safer to burn by only using natural ingredients

  2. Create incense that has practical value to the spiritualist communities, as incense is essential in these practices

  3. Open a shop and educate others on the value of proper incense use to combat the flood of synthetic incense on the market

Thus, the Midnight Apothecary was created.

Core Values

  • Honesty, Transparency & Integrity - The goal of the Midnight Apothecary is to provide incense where the customer knows EXACTLY what they’re getting. That’s why every box of Midnight Apothecary has a complete list of ingredients right on the front label

  • Environmental Stewardship - Environmental protection is a cause that is very near and dear to my heart. That’s why the Midnight Apothecary strives to only use ethically sourced ingredients and refrain from using any poached materials. Additionally, Midnight Apothecary packaging uses no plastic and instead relies on eco-friendly paper materials!

  • Happiness & Fun - Part of the reason for creating the Midnight Apothecary was to give myself a creative outlet. My day job is rooted in corporate America, and I don’t get the freedom to express myself in that environment. I’m a huge fantasy nerd at heart and I love making people laugh. I want to create a brand where I don’t take myself too seriously and my clientele can take part in the fun!