Stamford Earth Angel Incense Sticks

Decent quality incense. Frankincense aroma. Very pleasant. Made in India for Aargee's Stamford incense brand. Bought from an Amazon trader for £1.20 including postage. There are other aromas in the Angel range, generally in the £1.20 to £1.80 price range. I prefer to pay around £1.50 for 15 decent incense sticks than £1.50 for 75 poor quality ones. I am attracted to the concept of the range: decent hex boxes, all pink, and all on an angel theme, and if the others are of the same aroma quality, then they are worth seeking out.

Date: June 2014   Score: 32

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Frankincense

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Perfume-Dipped Incense

BML Aromatize Incense Stick

Another British distribution company getting in on the cheap dipped and coloured incense market. These sticks are cheaply and poorly made in China for BML (Benrose Marketing Ltd). As is typical of these cheap perfume dipped incense products, there is little charm or character - the sticks come in unattractive cheap packets, with basic popular scent names: Vanilla, Lavender, Rose, Jasmine and Sandalwood, each dyed an appropriate colour, and each producing an aroma of the base organic material rather than the named scent.

Bought for £2.99, including postage, off an Amazon trader. Pretty pointless.

Date: June 2014   Score: 20

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PMS International Incense Sticks Assorted Aromas

Unbranded pack picked up from a local market stall for £1.20. These are imported by PMS International, a large UK importer and distributor of a range of goods, founded in 1970. This is in the current trend for colourful sticks which are cheaply dipped in perfume which soon fades, leaving just the basic aroma of the materials used to make the blank (unperfumed) stick. These have the herby dried cow pat aroma I associate with Tibetan and Thailand incense, though may also be present in some Indian incense cones if used for cheap perfume dipping.

There are six different scents - each packed into the increasingly commonly seen square box holding six to ten sticks; in this case it's eight sticks - all thinly though tightly handrolled onto a plain bamboo stick. The colouring may be a dye or may be a coloured powder. The perfume on the sticks is sweet but very light. The faint scent may be due to budget restraint or simply that the perfume has faded. I find it not uncommon in many of the perfume dipped incense which are not branded by an Indian company, that the perfume can fade, leaving just the herby aroma of the base material.

The scents are Lemon, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Rose, Jasmine, and Lavender. Each one does have a mild suggestion of the named scent, such as the Lemon does occasionally have the faint whiff of a lemon-drop sweet, but essentially each stick has the herby aroma of the base material, and there is little to differentiate them other than by the colour of the stick.

Perfume: June 2014    Score: 20

***

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Perfume-Dipped Incense

Windhorse Mixed Incense Sticks

Short (15cm) incense sticks made in Thailand, dipped in perfume and dyes. They look lovely, and are packaged with a feather; the aroma from the pack is sugar sweet, rather like many UK dipped and coloured incense. Imported by Windhorse, an "ethically traded giftware" company: trade only, which was formed in 1980 originally as a market stall in Cambridge. Bought off Amazon for £2.99 including postage. There's about 80 in a pack - 65g. Normally an incense stick weighs about 1g - sometimes more; as these are a little shorter, you get more than 65 for 65g. When burned the scent is typical of Nepal incense: burning grass and dried cow pats. Quite earthy and organic. But not really my thing. I prefer my scents to be a little more refined, interesting and attractive. As the burning scent is in complete contrast to the appearance and pack scent, there is an uncomfortable dissonance.

Date: June 2014   Score: 21

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50 Raw Incense Cones eBay

Pack of 50 unscented cones from socks-and-more on eBay. £1.49 for 50, including postage. Though unscented, the cones have the base aroma of the ingredients and smell like Nepal incense - a natural herby aroma. As these work out the same price as the coloured and dipped one, there isn't really much advantage to buying the unscented variety - bot hend up smelling the same when burned, though the scented ones look more colourful, and have a more attractive aroma in the bag. The scent can wear off quickly, and doesn't always make itself felt over the base ingredients even when fresh, but sometimes the perfume does make itself felt and can be quite pleasant - offering some variety.

On the whole I like these, but feel the scented cones offer more variety.

Score: 23

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Incense cones

100 Loose Cones eBay Mega-Mix

A mix of Ancient Wisdom perfume dipped cones from eBay seller socks-and-more. 100 cones for £2.95 including postage (now £3.25). They come mixed in a bag. These are "blank" cones, made in Thailand or India, and then dipped in perfume and coloured. The scents are standard - patchouli, rose, sandalwood, nag champa, etc. These are cheap and cheerful. I've come to terms with such incense. The perfume may fade, but there's always the base cone, which has a herbal scent that in itself is not unattractive - indeed, is rather similar to the basic Nepal incense, which is simply herbs and grasses rolled together. The dipped perfume tends to be more noticeable in the bag and on the cone than when burnt, but if you're buying cheaply in unmarked bulk like this, you get what you expect, and you're not paying extra for unnecessary packaging. The colour will give some clue as to what the scent is supposed to be, but essentially, these are cones that you're going to use in the toilet, so what the scent actually is doesn't matter.

Cheap and cheerful cones for use in the bog.

Score; 19

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Incense cones 

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Ancient Wisdom 

Stamford Exotic Collection

Bought as part of a double special offer from buyallmeans shop on Amazon, where Stamford incense gift packs were reduced, and if four were bought together there was a further reduction, so I managed to get 24 different small boxes of between six and eight incense sticks for £10, including postage - that's around 170 sticks for £10. Bargain.

Stamford is the quality brand for the UK distribution company Aargee, who tend to use the Goloka and Shrinivas Sugandhalaya (Satya) incense companies, and have used Tulasi  -  (Sarathi International), for their Aromatherapy Collection; though there's no indication which incense company made these. The sticks are hand rolled. The incense paste is black on a dyed red bamboo stick. The packs are intensely perfumed - I have to keep them in the plastic bag they arrived in because the sweet, slightly cloying perfume dominates the room if they are left out.


Aloe Vera
The aroma on the stick is sweet, deep dark berry jam and cheap after-shave. Pleasant aroma on burning, with suggestions of ginger, and unisex perfume. Lingers pleasantly in the background, creating a calming and mildly sensual atmosphere. Good.

Score: 30


Sandalwood
The scent on taking out of the box is fruity sweet, like kids sweets, but also with aromas of black tea, bergamont and dried roses. When burned the scent doesn't feel natural - it has a synthetic tang to it, and doesn't remind me of sandalwood. It is hot, slightly harsh, with little of the aromas on the stick. It is fairly mild, and while it is a bit harsh, it's not an offensive aroma at all - it's quite neutral.

Score: 25


Frankincense & Myrrh
The aroma on the stick is perfumed, sweet, jammy, and very pleasant, though nothing like either frankincense or myrrh. When burned the scent is soapy, dry, and a little harsh, though does have more than a hint of both frankincense and myrrh. It's not an offensive aroma, but is a little weak, and not top quality.

Score: 23


Patchouli
There is a hint of patchouli on the stick - also sandalwood, lemon, and polish. There is a mild and modest perfume on burning, with hints of rose petal, strawberry jam, and lawn grass. It's OK, but doesn't really make an impression.

Score: 22


Amber
Heady perfume on the stick. Sweet, floral, citric. Mild scent on burning - slightly soapy with notes of vanilla and sherbet.

Score: 21


Lavender
Intensely perfumed on the stick - floral, sweet, jammy, citric, slightly herbal. A fairly lazy scent on burning. It makes little impression. A little bergamont, some slight lemony floral notes, and a bit of burning. Not offensive, but barely there.

Score: 20


There's not a significant difference between these aromas, nor, really, between this pack and the Aromatherapy Collection. There is a tendency in all of them to be highly perfumed on the stick, with sweet jammy notes, but to make little impression when burned. Best aroma, Aloe Vera; least effective, Lavender.

Date: June 2015  Average score for the collection: 23

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