HEM Precious Mogra (Jasmine)

Poorly and thinly rolled charcoal paste onto variable and often flimsy yellow sticks. and them perfume dipped. The sticks are poor quality, but the scent is quite acceptable: a fairly typical floral synthetic scent, but quite pleasant, and with a decent strength and an attractive lingering fragrance. Bought as part of a deal on Amazon, which works out at 50p a packet, postage included. these are cheap enough.

I'm not a fan of HEM, and these are not quality incense sticks, but they do the job, and I find the scent attractive enough to buy again at this price. I do like jasmine incense.

Date: July 2014   Score: 31

***

HEM Corporation

Best jasmine incense

Metro Rose

99p from TheVillageMarket, who had to phone me twice because they had problems with the order. Given that I have found Metro incense at other online stores at prices 50p, 55p, and 60p, I'll not be using them again. The sticks are decently rolled using charcoal paste on firm sticks -  not cheaply made but not top quality either. The scent is pleasantly floral, though quite light - the paste is not sparsely applied, but is not generous either, and it seems that a modest amount of perfume has been used. The scent is nice, but in an effort to keep costs down the scent is not very strong. The scent lifts a room, and gently fragrances it with a summery floral bloom, giving a clean, bright, happy feel.  Nice.

Score: 31

***

Incense by Country

Best rose incense

Metro Agarbatti Company of Pakistan

Metro Agarbatti Company of Pakistan

The Metro Agarbatti Company of Karachi, Pakistan, use an image of a white and ginger cat as their trademark, and call it the Cat Brand. The company was formed in 1970, and they are the largest incense company in Pakistan, with 95% of the market. They are working hard to improve their export trade, and have been achieving some success with the Metro Milan.

Reviews

Metro Three in one
June 2014 - Score: 30↑*

Three in one is a mixed pack which contains the fragrances Chariot, Jasmine and Sandal. The scents  come from synthetic perfumes, and clearly so, but are much more appealing than many natural scents, such as Nepal incense, and way more attractive than the cheaply perfume dipped incenses marketed by UK based distribution companies such as Ancient Wisdom.

Metro Rose
July 2014 - Score: 31*

The scent, pleasantly floral, though quite light, lifts a room, and gently fragrances it with a summery floral bloom, giving a clean, bright, happy feel.  Nice.

Metro Woods
Aug 2014 - Score: 20*

The scent when burning is best suited to the toilet area. It is a little cold, chemical, and blends in well with toilet cleaning products. This is not an incense to be used in other areas of the house, other than perhaps to cover up cat sick. 

Metro Lavender (P)
Feb 2024 - Score: 23↑

A little bit too chemical smelling for my taste. Smells like toilet cleaner. Not good.

Scents reviewed: 4 
Top score: 30
Bottom score: 20 
Average: 25  

Conclusion: Generally highly perfumed synthetic everyday room fresheners. Not awful, but not an incense house of interest, other than being located in Pakistan. 

***

The Best Incense Makers

Incense by Country

 What's The Best Incense In The World?

Mahendra Bhajan

Attractively packed in a six sided box, these are very pleasant hand-rolled and perfume dipped sticks from Mahendra Perfumery Works of Bangalore, who also make the Belco range of sticks. Available from 99p to 1.26p online, they are cheaply made, with the sticks varying in thickness, and the charcoal paste poorly rolled, but the perfume is very attractive. The promotional blurb is:

"Bhajan incense sticks were inspired by the bhakti (devotion) of the 16th Century Indian poetess Mirabai, who wrote thousands of poems and songs in praise of the "naughty boy" Krishna. (Bhajan means a song or musical composition for prayer or worship). Bhajan incense is very popular with the Krishna devotees of Bengal and Orissa, and is carried to Shree Brindavan Dham, (Krishna’s village of 5000 little temples) throughout the year, but especially in the Autumn, in the Kartik month. The fragrance is a powerful, fresh green woody aroma with lavender overtone."

I find the fragrance to be floral, with a gently heady scent of jasmine heightened with a hint of roses, and supported by a base of sandalwood.  It creates an exotic yet soothing atmosphere, softly romantic, and mildly erotic. It's a very welcoming scent, and can be used for when quests arrive.

Date: July 2014   Score: 33 [This score is over five years old so may not be reliable]

***

Mahendra Betco - Best of