Stamford Joss Styx Chakra Svadhistana Sacral

Second review - scroll down for earlier

This is the last of the six fragrances in the Chakra range. All the Aargee Stamford branded Chakras have now had up-to-date reviews. I don't know who made them, and it's likely that they were specially commissioned, but I'd love to find out, so I could buy them again if they are avaialble under a different brand name. 

The scent on this stick is a little more volatile than on the other Chakras, and is more fruity and sweeter. Pineapple, floral tending toward jasmine, with herby notes. The scent on the burn is darker, more musky, less sweet, less fruity. This could be the result of the liquid scents, the oils or whatever has been used, burning off the high notes too quickly.  Looking down at my previous review, and I note I was not as enthusiastic regarding this Chakra as I was with the others, and I made comments regarding the volatility on the stick, and that the scent on the burn not being as pleasant as on the stick. My reaction now is fairly similar. I think this is the weaker of the Chakras.  

The blub says this incense uses "a special mix of Jasmine and Sandalwood". Yes, both of those scents are present - though I hadn't really focused on the sandalwood until I read that blurb. 

Date: Dec 2023    Score: 32

First review

The Chakra range uses a traditional approach to incense making. The incense is a fine masala mix of resins rolled onto a bamboo stick with a charcoal paste rather than the charcoal pasted stick being dipped into a perfume. That's not to say that perfume dipping is always inferior - some modern incense makers use some high quality scents, and the results are sublime; nor is it to say that using a masala is by itself an indicator of quality - many inferior and foul smelling incense sticks are made from a masala. Sticks made in Tibet are always masala, and the quality of those varies widely. I think these sticks have also been dipped as there is a volatile chemical based aroma on the stick. This is not uncommon. Indeed, it tends to be only the cheaper sticks that are simply perfume dipped over a basic charcoal paste - the better quality perfume dipped are dipped onto a masala rather than just the charcoal paste. The aroma on the stick is - in addition to the volatile chemical notes - gently citric, with orange jelly and bergamot notes, with musky deeper notes, and some sherbet. When burned the scent is subtle and pleasant, though the chemicals do make themselves known, so there are sharp intrusive notes and sometimes a hint of burning wool or hair.

I enjoyed two other scents in the Chakra range back in 2013, which is why I bought the rest of the range to try.  But I have been burning them recently and have taken a while to come round to reviewing them as each time I burn them I enjoy the scents, but are put off by some of the harshness I experience. I wondered for a while if there was some  halmaddi in the masala, as that can produce a negative reaction in me, but I think it is more to do with the  volatile scent or essential oil that the sticks have been dipped in. 


Date: Dec 2015  Score: 30

***

Vintage Incense
(Incense no longer available)

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