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| Fourth review - scroll down for earlier |
Nice fresh pack, but pretty much the same design over the years. I kinda like the design - it's simple, it's classic; but it's also a bit meh. It's the same design for every scent, just a different colour, with sometimes a small image by the name. This Lavender has a lavender coloured flower as the small image, though it looks more like a violet than a lavender. I think the little stickers on the back are a bit cheap and tacky. They look randomly placed, though each scent has the stickers in the same place. I'm curious about the Hindu text used on the pack. It's the same four lines repeated over again. I've just had a quick look at Goloka's website to see if they say anything about it, and I note that they have a new website, that - while there are still some of the script packets - most packets now have individual designs, and - with the exception of at least Nature's Nest - that the Nature's Collection series appears to have been withdrawn. Nature's Collection packs can still be bought - on Amazon, on eBay, and on other sites, but it's not clear (given the lack of attention Goloka's two websites are being given) if the series is still being made.
A very soft, moist, crumbly paste has been hand-rolled onto a purple coloured bamboo splint, and then coated in a fragrant brown powder. Goloka use coconut shell charcoal as the combustible material in the paste, as coconut charcoal is more environmentally friendly. Stuff like that is important to me. Well, it's important to all of us, even if we're not aware of it. The scent on the stick is fresh, moist lavender. Essential oil lavender rather than the flower itself. A little sharp and volatile, but also pleasantly sweet and creamy, like hand lotion.
A very soft, moist, crumbly paste has been hand-rolled onto a purple coloured bamboo splint, and then coated in a fragrant brown powder. Goloka use coconut shell charcoal as the combustible material in the paste, as coconut charcoal is more environmentally friendly. Stuff like that is important to me. Well, it's important to all of us, even if we're not aware of it. The scent on the stick is fresh, moist lavender. Essential oil lavender rather than the flower itself. A little sharp and volatile, but also pleasantly sweet and creamy, like hand lotion.
The burn is very gentle. More gentle than I recall. I move the incense holder to a place where the scent will drift in my direction. I get the woods now, and a fruity sweetness, a bit like jam. It's a powdery scent. Warm, seductive, floral, a little elusive. Very engaging. I still love this. I think this is a classic. Not spot on as a lavender scent, and it doesn't feel like nature, it feels more like a lavender scent, or - rather - more like a lavender tinged floral scent blended with creamy sandalwood. But it's good stuff. It feels kinda modern and bright, yet with a firm grip on tradition. Yes, I still love this. It's special.
Date: March 2025 Score: 46
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| Third review |
I go into the kitchen to do some cooking. I like to have a bit of incense burning as I cook, and I grab a pack at random. It's Goloka's Lavender, and it reminds me just how good Goloka are. I haven't burned Goloka for a while, I've been trying out a variety of companies new to me, like Shroff, Prabhuji's Gifts, Cottage Industries, BluePearl, etc, and there hasn't been much space and time for old favourites. But burning this reminded me of just why I like Goloka. So I sit down to do an update review.
The stick is a fragrant moist charcoal paste hand-rolled onto a machine cut and purple dyed bamboo splint, and then rolled into a finishing wood powder. The scent on the stick is sweet, floral, fresh, outdoorsy, and definitely lavender. Quite adorable.
The burn is a little hot. There is a moderate amount of paste on the splint, but perhaps a little more would benefit the overall experience. However, it's a small quibble, because the scent is divine. Woody, floral, distinctly lavender, though less sweet on the burn, more woodsy and musky and delving into the deeper lavender notes. There's creamy sandalwood to support the floral. Oh gosh, this is what incense is all about. Great stuff. Moved back up to where it belongs.
The burn is a little hot. There is a moderate amount of paste on the splint, but perhaps a little more would benefit the overall experience. However, it's a small quibble, because the scent is divine. Woody, floral, distinctly lavender, though less sweet on the burn, more woodsy and musky and delving into the deeper lavender notes. There's creamy sandalwood to support the floral. Oh gosh, this is what incense is all about. Great stuff. Moved back up to where it belongs.
Date: Feb 2022 Score: 45
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| Second review |
Sweet and jammy with some burnt notes like overcooked sugar. This starts off burning a bit hot and not working well, and I'm not liking it, but then it gets past that, and settles down into the gentle and subtle notes I remarked on when I reviewed it last year. There's so much going on - there's a bit of spice, a bit of wood, some fruit, some honey, some herbs..... To be fair, there's not much in the way of lavender, and it does tend to wander around a bit. I will come back to this later as I have ordered a fresh batch of the whole series of Golaka's Nature from this seller on Amazon UK, and I intend to review the entire series a little later in the year. For now, though, I am lowering the score on this. Not dropping it out of my Heavenly Incense collection, but certainly down to the bottom of that set.
Date: July 2018 Score: 40
Date: July 2018 Score: 40
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| First review |
This is beautiful - sandalwood, citrus, warm wool, violets, lavender, fresh herbs. It's like walking through Provence on a late summer evening. This is herby yet sweet, like jam or candy. It's cleansing, relaxing, peaceful and soulful. I could burn this any time as it is such a gorgeous and flexible scent. It's lively enough for the morning, fresh and cleansing enough to liven up the house at any time when its feeling jaded, sophisticated enough to welcome guests, has that exotic Mediterranean feel to waft you away in the evening or when you are feeling meditative or just melancholy, and it has a hint of sexuality to liven up your night life.
A fascinating and very yummy scent. This is now one of my favourites.
Date: Feb 2017 Score: 45
A fascinating and very yummy scent. This is now one of my favourites.
Date: Feb 2017 Score: 45
Do you like lavender scents in general?
ReplyDeleteI have a bit of a weird relationship to lavender. I like the plant/the herb, I use it in some of my blends (both sticks and non-combustible incense) but I loathe most EOs and have I high change of not liking lavender incense.
I'm just burning the second half of the stick you sent me. To me, it smells rather generic. It's a powdery, not very distinctive lavender scent and I find a slight soapy note in it.
The short answer is that on the whole I like lavender, though it's not one of my go to scents.
DeleteI would tend to select lavender when buying a selection of incenses because Chrissie really likes lavender. She grew up in Provence. When we got married in Provence, she had Provence lavender in her bouquet, and we gave lavender incense cones as gifts to all the guests.
Broadly speaking, though, I am a) not a fan of mono-scents, b) not a fan of floral scents, and c) not a fan of scents that attempt to mimic nature. On the whole the scents that really thrill me will be unique blends - and it's not important to me if those blends are composed of natural or synthetic scents, as long as they work well in telling a story, and in getting me engaged and excited. My emotional preference will be that the scents that are used to create the blend are pure and natural, but what matters more is the final fragrance.
From my research into lavender, the impression I got is that most lavender scents will be natural. Lavender is a cheap and robust fragrance ingredient. If the ingredients are not lavender itself they will likely be another plant, such as lavandin or Dutch lavender. We have lavender in our front garden, and we harvest it each year. The scent is gorgeous, and it is easy to make up little bags, which will smell delightful for a long time. We also use it in cooking.
Incense can never match fresh lavender. But what it can do is replicate the scent in a convenient form, along with smoke, so the room becomes cleansed and vibrant. There are many uses for incense, but I don't think we should be asking more of it than it can do. It can't match nature.
This Goloka is the only lavender incense I have scored above "Decent". It is the only lavender incense I have come upon that has consistently delighted me each time I have burned it. It is not an imitation of nature (indeed, one of the things I like about it is that it doesn't simply attempt to mimic lavender, it has other fragrance ingredients in the mix which give it depth, richness, and uniqueness). I think if this were called "The Pope's Bedroom" or some such, so folks were not looking for the lavender, but were engaging with the total fragrance accord, I think that would open up the possibilities.
In essence, I think I like it not because it is lavender, but because it is a gorgeous scent. I feel that the nose who created this scent is knowledgeable, experienced, confident, and creative. They haven't just tipped lavender oil into the mix, they've brought in other oils to create a beautiful accord based around lavender.
To the above should be added that when it comes to Goloka I tend to be glass half full. I am emotionally pre-disposed to Goloka because they spear-headed the use of coconut charcoal, which helps the planet, and they are a non-profit organisation which helps women and children.
DeleteAnd in general I have enjoyed their incenses - right from when I started this blog. So they have lodged themselves in my heart as being a good organisation which produces incense I like. I tend to have positive thoughts and feelings whenever I light up a Goloka, which is of course going to influence my appreciation of the incense.
"She grew up in Provence. When we got married in Provence, she had Provence lavender in her bouquet, and we gave lavender incense cones as gifts to all the guests."
DeleteThat's lovely.
I remember someone gave me a small bouquet of lavender, a rose and some wild flowers on my wedding day. They must have picked it on the way to not show up empty-handed (it was the girlfriend of one of my husband's friends) but I really liked it. I think I dried and kept it until it fell apart.
We also have it in our garden and I love seeing all the bees and butterflies swarming it. That's why I rarely harvest the flowers. Luckily, I tend to prefer the scent of the green parts for incense making.
Yes, lavender must be one of the few (if not the only?) florals, which is likely to be natural in incense. It has a uniquely high yield in EO distillation.
I know you don't go for mono-scents in the most cases, but I'm surprised you say you're not a fan of floral scents as so many of the incenses you are excited about are heavily floral.
"Incense can never match fresh lavender. […] There are many uses for incense, but I don't think we should be asking more of it than it can do. It can't match nature."
Incense can rarely match fresh whatever. Ironically, if it does, it's likely synthetic or involves a high amount of skill and scent-lab trickery.
Burning incense made from ground plant materials is part of nature in my eyes. It's unrealistic to expect a burned herb to smell like a fresh, live one, but I can expect it to smell natural.
I'm with you on the limiting effect of naming incense after concrete plants or things. If I have an incense of a certain name, it does create an expectation that will influence my perception to some extent. If I get a xyz incense, I expect it to smell of xyz and I will see it as a flaw if it doesn't. That doesn't mean I will not enjoy or even love it, but the naming is kind of a promise and if it isn't kept, I'll feel betrayed. It's like ordering a brownie and being served tiramisu; it might be delightful, yet simply not what I've ordered.
I used to be exactly the same regarding being let down by scent names. But it has happened so much that I no longer expect an incense to smell like it's name. These days I'm largely indifferent to the name, except I prefer interesting names.
Delete