Incense In The Wind

Radiating Incense In The Wind - a painting by Hai Linh Le

Monday 25 January 2021

Aromatika African Musk Incense Cones




Quite a sweet scent on the cone - midway between floral and fruit - with some pine. Fairly volatile, so the scent appears to come from a liquid source than from the dry ingredients. The terms "natural" and "masala" indicate that the scents are derived from natural ingredients gathered together rather than from an artificial scent manufactured in a lab, but it does not preclude liquid scents such as essential oils. 

What's the difference between essential oils and perfumes? An essential oil is made by distilling the fragrant (or "essential") parts of a plant. The resulting liquid contains "volatile" chemical compounds that are readily released into the air, even at room temperature. These chemical compounds are those found naturally in the plant. Perfumes, for thousands of years, have been made from essential oils - either just one, or a blend of several - sometimes on their own, or mixed with other fragrant ingredients, such as powered flower petals. An essential oil, therefore, is a potential ingredient in perfume, usually blended with other fragrant ingredients, and usually mixed with water and/or alcohol. The less diluted, the more expensive the perfume. The scents which are most diluted are colognes;  eau de toilettes are less distilled than colognes; eau de parfums are even less distilled, then essential oils, which in their pure form are not distilled. 

So, if a perfume is made from an essential oil, which may be an ingredient in a natural or masala incense, why are some people who consider themselves incense connoisseurs so hostile and dismissive toward perfumed (or "perfume-dipped" as termed in the West) incense? That's because since the 1850s, when various chemists discovered that various aromatic compounds could be created from   Benzaldehyde, chemists have been involved in making perfume, and some people have a dislike or distrust of processes they don't understand or can't replicate themselves, while others would prefer, aesthetically and morally, that items, such as food and love making and scent, are as natural as possible. Others are happy to eat white bread and Pot Noodles, use lubricant, and burn HEM incense. Each to their own. 

Anyway. Back to the incense. It makes very little impression when being burned. It is a modest, run-of-the-mill incense. There is little impression of the musk initially, though after the top fruity, flowery notes (mildly citric, mildly lavender) have floated, some of the base notes do come through, but also so do some of the rough base notes of the core material - the sawdust, etc. 

On the whole this is lower end everyday stuff. it's not offensive, but it is far from top quality, and has little use beyond general air freshening. 


Date: Jan 2021   Score:  22
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1 comment:

  1. The KO Shop has over 200 retail customers/stores including the new age stores, crystal shops, wellness centers, organic & natural stores, whole foods stores, tobacco shops, resellers etc. In addition, for the distribution of Zed Black Incenses & Kangana Henna (MDPH*) in the Indian Grocery market, The KO Shop has tied-up with Freshco foods, who have a footprint over 400 Indian grocery stores across Australia.

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