O gosh I love this! Straight from the packet there's such a sweet, yummy aroma. White chocolate, vanilla, and musk. O yes baby! As it burns there's a natural feel to the scents - it's fairly close to burning the real thing. My top scents are burning pure resins like amber and frankincense, and this gets close to that at times, though offers something a little different. There's an interesting note of sweat that is both compelling and nauseating - it's quite heady and musky and fascinating.
The sticks are hand rolled with gums and charcoal and a masala mix of fragrant ingredients onto a green dyed bamboo stick. There is a volatile note to the scent on the stick, slightly petrol and slightly floral, suggestive of a distilled flower essence solvent that the stick has been dipped into. This floral essence note is reminiscent of Persian incenses I have tried, but it is also reminiscent of some cheap masculine perfumes. There is a crude propulsiveness to it - and a hint of greasy hair cream. There are woody notes to this as well, some pointing toward agarwood (a common ingredient in Persian oud), though there is no agarwood mentioned in the ingredients.
There is a lot to like about this incense. The range of scents is intriguing - some pleasant, some less than pleasant, but that mix is part of the compelling nature. It's like Lambic or real cider or a really ripe cheese. In those aromas there are barnyard and rotting notes that should be revolting, but mixed as they are with appealing smells, a depth and richness is created that appealing scents just on their own simply don't have.
Is it one of my top favourite scents? Hmmm. When I first pulled one out of the packet I thought it would be, but as I am burning the sticks I'm thinking that the greasy notes are just a little too strong. On a personal note I would have liked more sweetness, more candy, or at least a bit of sharpness to cut through the oily rancid butter feel. I would have liked a bit more wood, and a little less floral, and I would have liked the floral to be a little more direct with a little less of the solvent. But these are quibbles of someone who is totally into this little incense, and just keeps burning it for the sheer fun of it! So, yes, right at this moment I'm having a bundle of fun with my Nepal Musk, which I bought for £5.50 for 10g (about 10 sticks) from Sound Travels. They can also be bought direct from Pure-Incense (who are a British Company), or from one of their stockists in various outlets around the world. I am going to explore this distributor a little further, and will be ordering some more.
Date: July 2017 Score: 46
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Would love to hear you feed back on some more of pure incense offerings.
ReplyDeleteGreat review!
Yes. I am slowly working my way through the scattered incense boxes on my desk, and when I have cleared those away, I will have a rummage to see what other Pure incense I have in my collection. I did really like this one!
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