Tulasi are, like HEM, an everyday incense company which mostly make decent enough but unremarkable perfumed incense. They are very successful, and their incense crops up everywhere. In Jan 2016 I came across their Vidwan masala incense and was very impressed. It was the first time I had tried their masala incense, which tends not to be imported to the UK. However, as of Sept 2021, there are stocks of other Tulasi masala incense sticks available on eBay and at Popat Stores (75p for 15g).
This is quite a bright, cheerful floral stick. There's no awareness of patchouli, it is all light flower petals, fresh rose, some violets, a bit of honey. Really quite cheerful, but a bit of a move away from patchouli which is usually quite woody, sensual, dark, damp, musky. This is the opposite of what you would expect. The base notes are a little oily with some hints (not unpleasantly) of petrol and rubber, and then sandalwood hidden underneath, but gradually emerging. The aroma on the stick is quite striking in its volatility, with a distinct fruit tang mixed with the floral.
It's a jolly scent, if what you want is floral, but rather disappointing if you wanted patchouli! On the whole this is a likeable and attractive incense which would brighten up a room in the morning with its flood of flower petals. At 75p it's another Popat Stores bargain.
Date: Sept 2021 Score: 33
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I've got their Jasmine on my desk, which I think I will light up and review, now you've nudged me. I've been engaged in other things for a while, and it would be nice to spend a few moments doing some incense reviews..... ;-)
ReplyDeleteI regard Tulasi as an everyday incense company. Decent quality for what they do, and I don't mind having Tulasi in the house, but they are not something I would reach for when wanting to create a special mood, or when I want something special. The Vidwan is the only thing I've had from them which has impressed me. And I think this patchouli is a pleasant everyday scent. The "masala" Jasmine I burned yesterday didn't impress me at all, and it was damn close to being junk. I'm burning a Balaji Passon right now, which claims to be "natural", but like the Tulasi Jasmine is more like a perfumed stick. At what point does a natural (or masala) stick become a perfumed (or perfume-dipped) stick if they both use a liquid fragrance to carry the main scent?
ReplyDeleteFor me, a masala or natural incense is one in which the bulk of the scent comes from dried natural ingredients and resins. Some natural incense is then dipped in a fragrant liquid or oil. And some incense which claims to be masala or natural appears to base most of its scent on a fragrant liquid, just like a perfume-dipped stick. The difference then, it would seem, is in the quality of the fragrant liquid.
And I think that has always been the case. Some perfume-dipped scents I have found very appealing because the liquid scent has been well made and is very attractive. Some masala or natural sticks have used poorer quality ingredients, and so produce a poor quality scent.
I'm not one of those who dismiss perfumed incense just because of the use of a fragrant liquid because it seems to me to depend entirely on the quality of that liquid. And, in my experience, there is a much greater range and a much greater flexibility of aromas when utilising perfumes than when relying purely on natural dried ingredients, with or without the added use of an essential oil or two.
However, all that said, I find quality resins and fragrant woods, blended or not, to be among my favourite incenses. I find the use of oils and perfumes to often be dubious - leading, yes, to an instantly attractive and appealing scent on the stick and straight out of the packet, but often lacking or inconsistent when it comes to being burned.
I don't think I've ever bought from Indian Connection. Unless buying in bulk, their prices are not attractive, and they sell common stuff such as HEM and Satya and Tribal Soul which can get picked up easily and cheaply pretty much everywhere.
ReplyDeleteThere are online shops which are much more interesting. Popat Stores is one of my favourites. They always have interesting and unusual and good quality incenses you can't find elsewhere, and yet their prices are among the lowest. Often you can't buy cheaper, even if you could find the incense elsewhere, which often you can't!