Ganesha Amber

Budget priced incense sticks imported by Cha Cha Dum Dum, an ethnic gifts company founded in Kensington in 1968. Cha Cha sell them wholesale for 20p a packet (30 sticks per packet), and they can be bought online from eBay or  incense-essentials  for around 60p a pack. The packs are flat, stiff paper, with rather crude but pleasant Indian designs. The packs are the same across the brand range, with the fragrance being identified by the shade of colour of the pack, and the name in a box near the bottom. The only writing is "Ganesha 30 Natural Incense Sticks" on the front and "Produced in India" on the back. The sticks are hand-rolled onto plain bamboo, and the incense paste is green. The stick has been perfumed dipped and smells soapy and faintly of amber, but in a soapy, artificial  sort of way. Not like real, gritty, exciting amber. 

It burns pleasantly. Soft, amber-toned perfume. It's a modest, moderate scent, quite relaxing and peaceful. There's a sense of the artificial about it, and as it's attempting to  imitate a basic natural scent, that seems rather silly. But it's a cheap incense, so one can't expect too much. Not an incense that I will be looking to buy again, but pleasant enough, and good value.

[2024 comment:] These old and originally very cheap, poor quality sticks are being sold on the RedBuddha website for £2.99 a packet. 


Date: Oct 2013   Score: 23

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Cha Cha Dum Dum

Amber

Ambica Fine Aroma Green Incense: Gold & Nice Touch

These incense sticks are made by Fine Aromas of the Ambica Group. They challenge the notion of what is an incense stick. They are highly processed - the idea being to reduce the inconvenience of the ash remains of the burned incense. The sticks are made from a material that remains firm when burned, so they are easier to dispose of, and no ash has to be collected. The sticks look like strips of felt - they are neat and tidy, and have an attractive pattern printed on them. They almost look too good to be burned - and perhaps that's the way they should be kept - as display items, because, unfortunately, on burning the smell is not that attractive. It smells like burning - plastic, wool, something vague and worrying: "what's burning?" 

The man responsible for the Green Incense

sticks, with a Nice Touch stick

The Ambica Group was formed as an incense company  in 1945, and has since expanded into hotels, wind power and other areas. The company and its incense factory are based in Eluru.

The Nice Touch sticks are red, and the perfume on the stick is floral and fruity - underlined with leather, and smells like a chemical room or car freshener. On burning I suppose the predominant note is burning hair mingled with cheap, stale old ladies rose perfume and red berry fruit. It doesn't work.

The Gold sticks are brown. The aroma on the stick is licorice and clove and lemon and toilet cleaner. There are citric notes on burning, though an ashy note soon comes in and predominates. It's a highly chemical and corrosive aroma - rather unpleasant and off-putting.

The idea behind this is good, and the appearance is very attractive, but sadly the scents do not work for me. The scents are not completely offensive, but they are unpleasant enough for me not to want to use them.


Date: Oct 2013   Score: 10

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 What's The Best Incense In The World?