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| Second review - scroll down for earlier |
Attractive, indeed fairly compelling, scent on the stick. Quite perfumed, but also with rough touches, curiously seductive off-notes, and a general underlying sense of nature. I do like this. Wood, basil, and pungent men's cologne - a fascinating accord. The paste has sprinkles in it, like herbs and salt crystals. Interesting.
The scent on the burn is warm and fuzzy, and takes a little while to settle into clarity. It's woody and herby, quite relaxing. I'm not getting from it as much as I did when I reviewed it in 2018, but I do find it an overall attractive and interesting fragrance which is a little sharper and different from the usual Goloka. Over time floral notes drift by, touched by hints of dark fruit.
This is part of a series that was originally known as Organica, but is now sold as Natural - presumably due to legal pressure in the West for products labelled as "organic" to be certified as such - an expensive process.
Date: June 2025 Score: 34
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| First review |
Another beautiful incense from Goloka. As far as masala incense goes, I could burn
Goloka and
Satya incense all day long and never get tired. They both do a wide and constantly expanding and shifting range of proper-job masala incense, so there always seems something new to explore. The standard is consistently high, and the prices are always decently low - which can't be said of all masala incense. On our way back from holidaying in Somerset we dropped into Glastonbury, and wandered around the shops. Some masala incense there can go very high - over £10 a packet, while Satya masala incense is available for around £1.25 - £1.50. One shop concentrated on unbranded masala incense that had clearly been bought loose by the kilo from India, and were selling them off in small sealed plastic packets. Not only does the buyer not know the provenance (as with incense by, say,
Happy Hari and
Gokula, where I have encountered incense
from the same producer), but using plastic bags when we know so much these days about how that harms the environment seems to me to be unwise. Goloka incense is always packaged in an environmentally friendly way. It looks good, feels good, and doesn't destroy our planet. And 100% of the profit goes back into good causes like providing meals to poor children.
This Sri Tulsi starts off vanilla sweet and then becomes herby, though still remaining sweet and fresh. It's a mint or basil aroma. Tulsi or tulasi is the Indian name for
Holy Basil, which is commonly used in India for religious and therapeutic purposes. Basil has a
long folk tradition in many cultures around the world, with a variety of therapeutic or magical uses (
this product claims that cancer patients should use it - and
according to science that may be helpful).
As the scent develops some fruity aromas emerge - mostly dark like blackcurrant and plum, and then hints of liquorice, aniseed and clove, along with some lemon. It is a cleansing and refreshing scent, yet also calming, welcoming and restful. It's not a scent that makes me go Oooh, but it is one that I enjoy and also feel has positive therapeutic value. While I'm not a big fan of therapeutic incense such as Tibetan or Himalayan incense, for example
Dr. Yonten’s Tibetan Healing Incense, or of
Spiritual/Ritual Incense in which the primary aim is to invoke a charm rather than produce a pleasant fragrance, this incense shows that therapeutic incense can be done very pleasantly.
I like it.
Date: Aug 2018 Score: 35
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