Marie Qui Defait Les Noeuds (Mary, Untier of Knots) is a painting (Wallfahrtsbild or Gnadenbild) by Johann Georg Melchior Schmidtner of one of the devotions of Mary. It is one of a series of Christian themed incense by Aromatika under the Vedic brand, aimed mainly at France but also distributed in the UK. The Sacre Coeur I have already reviewed (well, reacted to - not much of a review actually!), and that was, well, divine.
The sticks appear to be a decent quality charcoal paste applied by machine, and then hand coated in a fine fragrant masala dust along with essential oils. The scent is weighty but not strong. There's a lot going on, but nothing really clear emerges. A bit of cat pee, some rose petal, onion skin, charcoal... Meh. It's not offensive at all, but it doesn't transcend either. It's just, well, there. It exists, but it doesn't shine. OK to burn as background incense perhaps, but I'm not really getting this.
Date: Sept 2019 Score: 29
Beautiful orange, vanilla, rose, and parma violet aromas on the stick - the aromas have the feel of essential oils. There's also something powdery and sweet like sherbet. And underneath, something woody, touching on cedar, with a hint of halmaddi. I like it. I'm not entirely sure if the charcoal paste has been machine or hand applied, though on balance, unlike in 2019, I am inclining to hand rolled - not that it makes any real difference to the quality of the scent, but some people like the romance and tradition of hand-rolling.
The scent on the burn is warm and woody; darker, deeper, warmer, and more subtle than the scent on the stick. It often happens, especially when there are perfumes or fragrant oils involved, that the scent on the burn has less impact, is less sweet, less sharp, less defined, less acidic, more woody and warm, etc. I think this is to do with the way that the top notes of oils and perfumes burn off quickly, so the heavier, woody notes are more noticeable. The scent here gently and pleasantly informs the room, creating a calming environment. The stick burns slowly and evenly.
I'm liking this a lot more than I did back in 2019, and I'm pleased I returned to this, as I think I was rather too harsh and way too dismissive back then. I understand what my 2019 self is saying, and I empathise fully with the notion that the scent on the burn is weighty but not strong, and that nothing clear emerges. I get that. I get that entirely. And that will hold down my score again today, but I think that in 2019, I missed the beauty of the scent on the stick (which is a pleasure in itself, and should not be ignored - I appreciate all aspects of an incense, from the packaging, the appearance of the stick, the scent on the stick, and the experience of the burn; all these things contribute, for me, part of the overall experience, and it's good to pause and note them rather than just going for the blind glory hole of the burn), and I also think I missed the overall earthy sensuality of the burn.
While I am used to differences between scents on the stick and the burn, the difference here is quite remarkable. The scent on the stick is sweet, joyful, uplifting, exciting, direct, child-like. The scent on the burn is sombre, earthy, sensual, mature, calming, and subtle. There is some rose and wood in both, but otherwise the scents are quite different. Interesting.
On the whole I like this. I certainly like it more than I did back in 2019. Though, to be fair, as in 2019, the impact on the burn is rather too gentle to make a significant impression, and the scent journey is not interesting enough to invite me to return. I'm simply not intrigued or pleasured enough.
Date: Nov 2022 Score: 35
