Incense in The Wind: March 2015

Tuesday, 31 March 2015

Sage Spirit Medicine Wheel Nature Spirits Cedar

Second review - scroll down for earlier

I still like this incense, though often when I return to it I like it a little less than the time before. And then, occasionally, I like it a little more. I think the fragrance is good, but my problem is that it is too faint, and can be dominated by the core burning material. I would be interested in exploring more of the Sage Spirit range.

Date: March 2017 Score: 30

First review

Hot and woody. Not as subtle and attractive as the Blue Corn Flower which is part of the same Nature Spirits series by Sage Spirit. It is very nice, it has warm sandalwood with oily and and fresh spicy pine notes from the cedar. The aroma is natural and awakening, yet sensual at the same time. Initially I wasn't sure, feeling that the main aroma was similar to the base aroma of cheap incense, where all you smell is the burning sandalwood paste, or the Nepal incense where it's simply burnt herbs and sandalwood, but this is different. This is somewhat better. It is a warm, evocative, sensual, and spicy scent - clean and fresh. Like the Blue Corn Flower, the scent is subtle, and so the good points can be missed. But this is quality. I like it. £2.64 for a pack of 11 from holisticshop.co.uk

Date: March 2015 Score: 36

***

Sage Spirit

Incense Ratings
Top of the Dhoops!

Incense Around the World

Top Ten Perfume-Dipped
Incense Sticks

A cedarwood sampling

Sage Spirit

Sage Spirit are a company founded in 1995 by a Native American tribe, the Jicarilla Apache, who live on the Jicarilla reservation in New Mexico, not far from the border with Colorado. Burning sage smudge sticks is part of Native American rituals, and the company make and sell traditional sage smudges, but have also branched out into making Asian style incense sticks.

Reviews

* = Review over 5 years old so may not be reliable

Blue Corn Flower
March 2015* - Score: 38↓=

Cedar
Mar 2017* - Score: 30↓

Introspection Bear
Jan 2016 - Score: 20

Wolf Teaching
Dec 2015 - Score: 20

Buffalo Abundance
Jan 2016 - Score: 16

Scents reviewed: 5
Highest score: 38
Lowest score: 16
Average: 26

Conclusion: I really enjoyed Sage Spirit when I first burned them, and the Blue Corn Flower was one of my top rated scents for a while. But my enthusiasm died down on repeat burns. And some of the scents, especially the Totem Spirit ones, were very weak, so didn't make an impression. I'm keeping an open mind, and would like to sample them again, though only if the price is reasonable - such as if they were sold here in the UK.

***

The Best Incense Makers

Incense by Country

Friday, 27 March 2015

Joie Lily of the Valley

Warm, woody, burning herbs. Cheap, but not that attractive. It's OK, but this is not an incense I'll buy again. The smell is mainly of burning herbs, with some sharp acrid notes in there. There are warm floral notes with touches of vanilla, and occasionally some pleasant warm musk and sandalwood notes come to the fore very pleasantly, so all is not lost, but this is not consistent. These sticks are at the lower end of the scale for your cheap standard Indian incense. If the warm musk notes could hold their own, I'd like these a lot more.

Score: 22

***

Best of Gopal Joie incense

Best floral incense

Joie White Rose

Fairly standard incense. Not offensive, but not interesting or attractive either. Cheap enough, but not a scent to excite; useful mainly to cover up unwanted smells, though can also be used as a cheap everyday scent at any time of the day. Flexible enough to be used anywhere. Not lively, so perhaps more of a late afternoon, evening scent, or living room/bedroom. Handrolled charcoal paste onto undyed sticks then perfume dipped. It's a warm slightly musky scent, notes of sandalwood. Quite soft. Not getting much floral or rose aroma from it, the high notes are mainly citric, slightly orange water, though some warm petal aromas do come through now and again.

Score: 24

***

Best of Gopal Joie incense

Best rose incense

Wednesday, 25 March 2015

Best of Gopal Joie incense

Joie is the brand of Gopal Magic Moments, a branch of the Gopal Group, which sells tobacco, chemicals, industrial perfume, etc, and was formed in 1942. They have incense factories in Delhi, Bangalore and Baddi, and have recently introduced a conveyor belt system. They list the ingredients they use, which are all natural.

They produce fairly standard cheap incense sticks as well as wet dhoops. The ingredients they use may all be natural, but the scents are artificial, created out of processing the natural ingredients. The scents are unimaginative - White Rose, Lily of the Valley, Orange, etc. The package decoration is uninspired and poor quality (a blurred image of a bunch of white roses for example). The scents are weak, and will often reveal more of the base burning material than the intended perfume.
So far I have found little of interest in this company's products. They are similar to HEM.

Reviews

Joie Sea Breeze
Score: 31

Joie Peach
Score: 25

Joie White Rose
Score: 24

Joie Green Apple
Score: 23

Joie Lily of the Valley
Score: 22

Joie Orange
Score: 21

Joie Jasmine
Score: 20

Joie Lily
Score: 9

Gopal Joie Deluxe Dhoop
Score: 10

***

The Best Incense Makers

Joie Orange

Fairly basic sticks in standard hex box. Hand-rolled with varying thickness from sandalwood and jiggit paste onto undyed sticks and then rolled into a masala of crushed ingredients and possibly dipped in scent. The aroma is rather basic. Fairly grassy and herby with some wood notes. Not unpleasant, but not very refined. Within that basic scent there are some high notes of fake orange. Not fresh or zesty, but like a bottle of orange oil. It's OK, but as the main scent is basic burning herbs, this is more for covering up bad scents rather than introducing new pleasant ones. There are occasional hot spots of sharp acidity, This was 62p for a pack of 20 sticks, part of a £5 for 8 packs deal from devon-doll on e-Bay.

Joie is the brand of Gopal Magic Moments, a branch of the Gopal Group, which sells tobacco, chemicals, industrial perfume, etc, and was formed in 1942. They have incense factories in Delhi, Bangalore and Baddi, and have recently introduced a conveyor belt system. They list the ingredients they use, which are all natural.

Score: 21

***

Fruit Fragrances
That'll Make You Drool

Best of Gopal Joie incense

Saturday, 14 March 2015

Frankincense

Frankincense is an aromatic resin from the boswellia tree. It is one of the most famous and oldest fragrances known to man, and was one of the three gifts supposedly given to Jesus on his birth.

The resin can be bought and burned directly on charcoal. It is a beautiful, sensual and evocative scent. It is also used in making incense. Sometimes it is a direct ingredient - added ground up as a masala, other times it is made into an essential oil. Sometimes the scent is created artificially.

It is frequently blended with myrrh.

* Film on the history of Frankincense.

Reviews

Aromatika Ace Scents
Frankincense & Myrrh (PM)
May 2015 - Score: 40=*

Satya (BNG) Frankincense (M)
July 2019 - Score: 39*

IDN Saif Trading Frankincense Sticks (M)
Feb 2025 - Score: 36

HEM Frankincense-Myrrh (P)

Oct 2023 - Score: 36↑↓

Stamford Earth Angel (P)
June 2014 - Score: 36*

Jeomra’s Hojari (M)
Feb 2025 - Score: 35

SAC FrankIncense Myrrh (M)

July 2017 - Score: 33*

HEM Frankincense Incense Cones (P)
Dec 2020 - Score: 33=

"Amber" Frankincense from Yemen (R)
Feb 2025 - Score: 32

Cenacle Qualitätsweihrauch Weihrauch fein
(Quality Incense Frankincense) (R)
Dec 2020 - Score: 30

Tulasi Frankincense (P)

Mar 2015 - Score: 30*

Aromandise - Les Encens du Monde
Haute Tradition Imperial Frankincense (M)
Mar 2025 - Score: 28

Spiritual Sky (SIPA) Frankincense (P)

May 2013 - Score: 28

Dawn of Time Frankincense & Myrrh (P)
June 2013 - Score: 28

Auroshika Frankincense
April 2014 - Score: 25

* Stamford Exotic Collection ( Frankincense & Myrrh)
Score: 23
* Spiritual Sky (Emporium Frankincense)
Score: 20
* The Scenter Tree Resin Frankincense
Score: 19