Incense in The Wind: Stamford Joss Styx Chakra Ajna Third Eye

Third review - scroll down for earlier

I love this incense. It's a real shame that the UK based Aargee/Stamford import company broke up, and some of the incense lines have been lost. Stamford still continue, and Ephra World in Germany offer a good selection of Stamford incense, but this Chakra range appears to no longer be available. At least by Stamford. Aargee/Stamford used several Indian incense houses, including Satya and Goloka (though I don't think this is by either of them), so this might still be made; however, as it is a themed incense part of a Chakra set, it might have been a special commission rather than a simple rebadge. Or, there may well be an incense right now selling a Chakra set with an Ajna Third Eye fragrance based on rosemary and juniper.

The sticks are 8 inches long with 6 1/2 inches of hand-rolled soft black paste with a thin coating of brown powder. The sticks have an attractive fragrance, mildly sweet and floral with herbal and gentle warm spice notes. Some wood. Some cologne. While sweet, it is not rich; while highly scented, it is not overbearing. There is a dryish, sombre quality to the scent, so it walks a fine line between sweet and dry. I am enjoying that balance. There's plenty to explore here - some hints of white chocolate, faint rosemary, pine, Christmas, and something deliciously savoury that is tantalisingly just of of reach.

It lights and burns as you'd hope and expect. Producing a steady column of smoke that never becomes intrusive. The fragrance spreads gently but firmly around the room, and leaves a pleasant and cleansing aroma lingering for some hours - just as you'd want from a quality masala. The stick burns for approx 50 minutes. I first reviewed this 10 years ago, and it still smells gorgeous today, though perhaps not as heady as it appears to have been back in 2013. The scent from the stick is repeated in the burn - playful, elusive, highly fragrant, sweet, spicy, slightly prickly. This presents as a quality masala (whatever a masala actually is!) with woolly pricks of halmaddi. I'd love to come across who actually made this, and find out if they still make it today.

Date: Nov 2023 Score: 45

Second review

I grabbed a box of Anja today to sweeten the house for a guest arriving, and it reminded me how pleasant and sweet the Chakra series is, but also how smoky and in your face they can be. I had two burning at the same time, and although they were in different rooms, the house was thick with smoke, and there was a very heavy presence of sweet incense. I had forgotten my own caution on using too much. These sticks are best burned well in advance of visitors. It is better to allow the memory of the fragrance to inform a room than for an actively burning stick to dominate it; these sticks will inform a room quite delightfully for at least a day after burning.

There is a magnificent floral, honey, camphor, and patchouli scent on the stick, which is present also on burning. The box informs us that the fragrance contains a "special mix of Rosemary and Juniper", though I'm not quite getting that. There is a suggestion of the warm wool and seductive sweetness of halmaddi (along with the prickly sensation I get when halmaddi is burned), and there are distinct floral notes, and the whole is underpinned by musk and pierced by the medicinal sharpness of camphor, but for me there is not quite rosemary or juniper. This is very much in the camp of the traditional Indian incenses such as The Mothers and Satya, that is incenses which are special, and demand attention. They can be a little too much too take, but when blended carefully, can provide an uplifting experience. I like these Chakra, and burning this stick again this evening I'm reminded that I bought all seven of the series, but never got around to reviewing them, even though all the boxes have been opened and half the contents have been used!

Date: April 2016 Score: 42

First review

This is gorgeous stuff. Rich, heady, sweet, evocative. The aroma penetrates and lasts, without being overwhelming - though I wouldn't recommend burning too many at the same time. I think two at the same time, in even a large room, is quite enough. The aroma envelops the area and lasts for a long time - at least 24 hours, and up to 48. This is top quality - hand rolled from good quality masala ingredients onto a charcoal base - the appearance is a moist sandy brown with the black of the charcoal just showing through occasionally in the faint translucence of the finishing powder. There's no suggestion of being dipped in synthetic perfumes. The aroma on burning is frankincense, patchouli and camphor with notes of violets and musk. It is a warm, mystical, seductive and opulent aroma. Lovely.

Chakra is a series of seven scents from Stamford, which they use for sticks, cones, essential oils, granules and fragrances. Chakra are the areas in the body that are centres of life force or energy. Ajna is one of the primary seven chakra, and is represented by the colour blue, which is the colour of the box. There is a diagram of the seven primary chakra on the box, and a little bit of blurb about keeping your chakra in balance.

Prices for the sticks vary, I bought a pack of 15 for £1.49 from Incense-essentials.co.uk of Norfolk, which appears to be the cheapest source. [2023: Incense-essentials appears to have closed]

Date: August 2013 Score: 42

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