Palo santo is a fragrant wood from the bursera graveloens tree, which is in the same family as the trees which produce frankincense and myrrh. With other tree incense, it is the resin which is burned, with palo santo, it is the wood itself.
I've not explored much palo santo - I have some wood samples I've not yet reviewed, and I have recently reviewed some Aromatika palo santo cones, and I wasn't impressed, but I wasn't impressed with that range of Aromatika cones.
I've also not been impressed with this Satya Palo Santo, but, as with the Aromatika, I think that is more to do with the range than the scent itself. These Satya "Earth" incenses from Balkrishna, the Setty brother who owns the Satya factory in Bangalore, are environmentally friendly, but don't burn well, and present more like perfumed incense than masala.
These cones smell of cheap wood filler rather than proper incense. There is nothing masala like about these cones at all. They come across like cheap perfume-dipped cones in which the perfume has already evaporated. Occasionally there is a waft of perfume where, apparently some of the perfume or oil has not yet evaporated, or has at least been absorbed. I suspect that these cones were made as blanks, or "punks" as some Americans call them (unfragranced cones ready to absorb perfume), and then dipped in an essential oil made from palo santo, but the environmentally friendly material doesn't absorb as well as the traditional material.
O well. These are no good for the house. And, because they are quite smoky and verging on unpleasant, not that much use in the bathroom either. These are going to be used in the outhouse where we feed the cats, to be burned to keep the flies away in the summer.
The cones came from SacredEssence, which claims to be "Europe's Largest Shaman Alternative Shop", which is an attractive and compelling claim! They are available at 99p a packet, which is currently the standard price for Satya products in most UK shops.
Date: April 2021 Score: 18
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| Satya (Shrinivas Sugandhalaya) |
Satya's Palo Santo sticks are very nice and worth trying. I've generally avoided most dhoop cones because of environmental issues. The cheap stuff, being toxic and too smoky for my taste, is not worth the bother. I do wonder about the burning of incense, in general. It can't be good for our health as I see the fallout of the dust from the sticks all over my desk and shelves where I burn sticks. It's rather messy. I rarely have this problem from Japanese sticks as they are less smoky and not as tall with less fallout in the surrounding area. But I would miss those delicious fragrances of Nag Champa and the woods such as Sandal and Aloes.
ReplyDeleteThere have been several studies on the health issues. The conclusion is that incense smoke is toxic. Nowhere near as toxic as smoking tobacco, but still something to be aware of. It is generally recommended not to burn too much in an enclosed space, and not to directly inhale the smoke.
DeleteTo get a real sense of the toxicity of incense, try the back flow cones. They look stunning, but because the heavier smoke falls down instead of being burned into the atmosphere, you see (and smell) the residue of black tar after a while. Just consider that normally that black tar would be in your lungs if you inhaled the smoke!