MDPH Fleur De Vie White Lotus Premium Incense Sticks

 


After reviewing the rather ordinary perfumed Fleur De Vie Dream Sage, I thought I would dig out the other Fleur De Vie incense that I bought from the German website Aqasha.com. First thing I noticed when I picked up the packet is that it's a different size, shape, and design. So not the same range as the Dream Sage. On opening the packet I'm pleasantly surprised to find that instead of machine made perfumed incense I have some hand rolled masala incense. Oooh. This is a little more promising.  

The sticks look OK. A charcoal masala paste has been hand rolled onto plain machine cut bamboo splints. The paste is dry and crumbly. It has been covered in an attractive white powder - partly to stop the freshly made damp sticks from gluing together as they dry, but mostly, I suspect, for the appearance. The powder is richly applied and quite fluffy. It does look good. And it does signal masala. There is a lotus aroma on the stick, rich, fresh and volatile - evaporating the fragrance in the manner of a liquid scent. Lotus is the national flower of India due to its significant status among several cultures and spiritual beliefs in ancient Indian traditions - it is regarded as an auspicious flower, largely due to the beauty of the petals and the heady sweetness of the scent, and that it rises above the dirty water where it is found. Most lotus perfumes are not made from the lotus plant itself, but from other plants, such as hyacinth, which have similar scents, or simply from chemical formulations. The organic compound 1,4-Dimethoxybenzene (sweet floral scent) is the primary constituent in the lotus plant that produces the characteristic lotus scent, and that would be used in most lotus perfumes. Also present in the lotus scent are eucalyptol or eucalyptus oil (woody, camphor, minty, fresh scent), terpinen-4-ol or tea tree oil (camphor scent), and linalool (floral, spicy, woody scent). Anyway, it's a sickly sweet aroma which has the sense of decay about it. Some citrus. Yeah. I like it. 

The stick burns in a steady fashion, releasing smoke and aroma in a consistent manner to gently but firmly influence the room with a lotus type scent. The aroma is more successful than I thought it would be, retaining sufficient top notes to keep the scent bright, sharp and interesting. As the Fleur De Vie brand is made for the Dutch distributor Eastern-Trading Ltd by the MDPH (Mysore Deep Perfumery House) company, who also make the Zed Black brand, I was wondering if Zed Black (which I am curious about after all the promotion) would turn out to be a flop. But this incense, while not lifting me up, is not quite the bargain basement indifferent nothing that the Dream Sage had been. It's OK. Not great, but perfectly acceptable. 


Date: June 2023   Score:  33 

***

MDPH

Best floral incense

MDPH Fleur De Vie Dream Sage Premium Incense Sticks

 

Got this and one other Fleur De Vie pack while buying some Berk Holy Smokes incense on the German website Aqasha.com. There are cheaper places in Europe to get them - most are 2 euros or less, such as PilgrimsBazaar  on eBay,  

There isn't an incense company called Fleur De Vie - it's a trading name used by the Dutch distributor Eastern-Trading Ltd.  The sticks are made by the large and successful  DHPH (Mysore Deep Perfumery House) company founded and run by the Agrawal family. DHPH  own the Zed Black incense brand, which has been promoting itself a lot recently (most of my blog's spam can be accounted for by sellers of Zed  Black).  

These are pretty straightforward machine made perfumed incense sticks. Despite the name and the picture, this has little to do with sage. Indeed, it smells nothing like sage. This is a bog standard rose scent. Run of the mill, vaguely pleasant rose incense. The scent is sweeter and more pleasant on the stick. Some of the top note gets burned off on the burn, and too much of the cruder base note comes through. 

This feels very corporate and commercial. Little care or skill has gone into this, other than ways of making incense sticks quicker and cheaper. Well, the way the stick burns, this looks to be a charcoal free incense, so is better for the environment. Points for that. But, on the whole, this is close to bargain basement incense. Nothing to see here. Move along.....


Date: June 2023   Score: 20 

***

MDPH

 What's The Best Incense In The World?

Myrrh

  

The Commiphora myrrha tree, from which the myrrh resin is extracted

Myrrh is a traditional incense. It is a resin extracted from the commiphora myrrha tree - there are differences in the scent depending on where it is harvested. It is a dry, woody, bitter, warm, deep, brown, balsamic, resinous scent, and is generally used in combination with the sweeter frankincense rather than on its own, so the sweetness and bitterness balance out and harmonise each other - like using bitter hops to offset the sweetness of malt in beer. 

It can be made into an essential oil. These are not expensive. I have one from FreshSkin which is leathery, sweet, musky, woody, oily, some turps, some citric notes, pleasant bitter notes like tree bark, faint licorice. Because myrrh isn't a single scent, rather a blend of characteristics, it is difficult to synthesise, though there is myrrhone, made by Firmenich. 

Fragrantica have a good article on Myrrh.

Reviews

Satya (BNG - post 2018) Myrrh (M)
Sept 2021 - Score: 42↑ 

HEM Myrrh Masala Incense
March 2022 - Score: 39

HEM Myrrh Incense Cones 
Jan 2019 - Score: 31

Tribal Soul Myrrh (M)

Oct 2024 - Score: 30=↑  

Hari Darshan Myrrh Incense Cones (P)
March 2022 - Score: 30

Nandita Organic Myrrh Masala Incense (PM)
Feb 2024 - Score: 29↓

Nippon Kodo Morning Star Myrrh
Sept 2021 - Score: 28

Kings of Incense King of Myrrh
Feb 2022 - Score: 26↓

The Scenter Tree Resin Myrrh
Sept 2021 - Score: 25

Number of scents: 9
Top score: 42
Low score: 25
Average top five: 35
Total score: 31

***

Different Scents

Nandita Organic Myrrh Premium Masala Incense

  

Second review - scroll down for earlier

I pulled this one out randomly because I've been reviewing a bunch of budget room freshener synthetic perfumed incense, and I wanted a change of pace. I'd forgotten I'd reviewed it only last January. 

It's a machine extruded incense. 8 inch machine-cut bamboo splint with 6 1/2 inches of paste. There is a very light dusting of very fine brown melnoorva powder. There's a candy sweet fragrance on the stick. A little jammy. Some pleasant perfume - mildly floral with touches of juicy fruit, inclining toward tangerine. A light wood at the base.  When lit there's no sign of black smoke. It produces a slightly thin grey smoke. It's not a steady burn, it huffs and puffs a tiny bit. The fragrance is pleasant without really saying much. It behaves more as a perfumed incense than a proper masala. Fragrance is now chalky. It's a little dry. Faint notes of camphor. Some pepper. It kind of approximates myrrh, without the delights. It's more like a poor quality myrrh than a synthetic myrrh. It's OK, but it's not doing much for me. 

I've now looked at my earlier review, and I see that I made the conclusion that these sticks are hand-rolled. I think they are machine-extruded, though the sticks have been hand rolled in the melnoorva afterwards, which gives the appearance of hand-rolled twists.  I also notice that I felt the bamboo was hand-cut, while these are clearly machine-cut: they are very rounded. Ho hum. 

It's a faintly pleasant, though - for me - somewhat dry and neutral scent that is not quite rich or sweet or interesting enough to hold my attention, but is mildly acceptable and harmless. 


Date: Feb 2024   Score: 29 

First review

I like Nandita incense. They do decent proper job masala with an aim to be eco-friendly. And there is something quiet and under stated about them. The packaging is always neat and tasteful. They don't tend to do showy incense, they make fairly simple but attractive incense with quality natural ingredients. The scents are traditional in nature, unassuming, and very attractive. Not harsh, not assertive, not too sweet nor too woody. Just right. 

Nandita are distributed to Western markets by importers such as WonderIncense in the UK and WonderImports in Australia. The packets are made up for the Western market. 

These are very neatly hand rolled sticks - so neat and professional that they give the uniform appearance of a machine made stick. The masala paste is dry and crumbly, and when fresh was applied to plain hand cut bamboo splints. There is a modest amount of tree bark powder applied to stop the sticks from gluing together as the paste dried. The scent on the stick is pleasant, slightly sharp, and volatile, and though myrrh can be somewhat spicy and radiant this feels more like the evaporation of a liquid scent such as a perfume or essential oil. It is a musty, woody, manly scent. It feels quite natural. A little dusty and woolly. I like it, though I'm not lifted or excited by it. It's warm, manly, natural, woody, pleasant, but fairly neutral. 

The burn is quite steady and uniform, producing a moderate amount of smoke which firmly but gently informs the room. The scent on the burn is similar to the scent on the stick - it is woody, serious, manly, gentle, pleasant.  A little dry for my taste, and not doing enough to hold my attention.  Overall a perfectly acceptable decent/everyday masala incense, but not one that does  much for me. 

Date: Jan 2023  Score: 33 

Nandita of Mumbai

Myrrh

Ranga Rao Cycle Brand Lia Rainbow

 

This is part of  the Cycle Brand Lia range. Very similar to the Samtrupti which I've just reviewed, so most of the information there applies here, except this is a floral incense ("Vibrant & Active" - "Captures natural green & earthy scents") rather than the fruity incense of the Samtrupti, and there's no free soap strips. 

It's a cheap as chips, well made, everyday perfumed-charcoal incense. It costs 50 Rupees (approx 50p) in India. I got mine from Aavyaa for 98 Rupees (approx 98p) and a good deal on the international shipping - which is currently free for purchases over 5k Rupees (approx £50); for lesser orders there is a sliding scale. The highest charge is 999 Rupees for purchases of 1000 Rupees or less. For domestic (Indian) customers there is no shipping charge. 

Like the fruity Samtrupti, this is a pleasant everyday perfumed incense, though I'm not finding it as bright, colourful, and fun. The floral notes are muddy and feel a little stale. It's like finding some old, slightly mouldy flowers on the ground in a cemetery, or on the compost heap in your garden. It's damp, earthy, somewhat musty, musky, woody. Now, there's much in that description which would normally interest me. It sort of has the macabre attraction of the damp coffin of one of Dracula's wives.  And I should like it more than I do. I may need to come back to this. I think that coming to it straight after the bright, fruity Samtrupti has not done it any favours. I tend, on the whole, not to spend much time reviewing simple perfumed-charcoal incense, though I will come back to this one in a day or two to see what happens. 

Date: June 2023   Score: 25   

***

Ranga Rao 

Best floral incense

Ranga Rao Cycle Brand Lia Samtrupti

 

A huge pack of machine-made perfumed-charcoal fruit scented sticks by Ranga Rao under their Cycle Brand logo in the Lia range. This is a budget pack of over 60 sticks sold with a complementary pack of soap strips, which is like an old fashioned matchbook, the sort they used to give out free in pubs, clubs, and hotels. You tear off a small soap impregnated piece of paper which you can use to wash your hands when there's no soap available. Handy idea. The pack sells for 50 Rupees in India (approx 50p); I got mine from Aavyaa, who charge twice as much, though offer discounts and free shipping to compensate. I paid 98 Rupees (approx 98p) for 100gms, which here in the UK is very cheap. 

There is no pretence about these sticks. They are plain and simple everyday perfumed incense, intended to freshen and brighten up a room. As a straightforward perfumed incense the quality is good - well made, decent perfume, not too assertive, fresh and fruity, cheap as chips. Think Moksh, HEM, etc. There's nothing exciting here. Nothing to write home about. I think these will go grand in the outhouse where we feed the cats. Keep the place fresh smelling, and help keep away the flies. Or use in the garden to add little bright spots of fruit. 

Lia is a Hindu term for divine playfulness, while Samtrupti means pleasure. So the impression given is that these sticks are intended to be light and playful. And that they are. Very likeable, fresh, and playful. 

Date: June 2023   Score: 28   

***

Ranga Rao 

Fruit Fragrances
That'll Make You Drool

SamsaSpoon Homemade Swiss Stone Pine

 

I have returned to Swiss Stone Pine (it took a little longer than expected, because I put it somewhere "safe", and only recently found it again). This is an astonishingly profound incense. I've had various homemade incenses over the past few years, and nothing has come anywhere near as close as this for sheer pleasure. It helps, of course, that this is my sort of scent - woody and spicy. It has a solid feel of church incense, a big whacking hit of frankincense and myrrh, and I'm always going to love that. And for such a tiny wee stick (so thin that I think I ought to call social services because this stick is clearly anorexic) it packs a big dollop of scent. It's warm, playful, sensual, sexy, and oh so wholesome. I waft the smoke in my face and feel absolutely no impurities at all (yeah, yeah, inhaling incense smoke is physically harmful, but this feels so natural, like inhaling cannabis as opposed to inhaling car fumes). I love this to bits, and burning it again now (down to my last stick) I can see no reason not to give it top spot. My only complaint would be that there's not enough of it, and it's gone all too soon. And, of course, that it's not commercially available (yet?).  Awesome stuff. 


Date: Oct 2023   Score: 50  

Another homemade incense from SamsaSpoon of Rauchfahne.  I've reviewed her Frankincense & Cardamom, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and now I'm trying her Swiss Stone Pine. 

This is a very profound incense. And though the scent is delicate and balanced, there is an intensity to it I was not expecting, both from the size of the sticks (tiny, and Oh so fragile!) and from what I understand of Irene's taste in incense, which tends to the delicate and subtle. There is a lot packed in these sticks, and the scents are happy to explore and spread around the room, making themselves at home. There's a genuine fresh citric scent, oily and exciting and redolent with atmosphere - this is orange groves on a hot evening in Cyprus, sticky pine resin in a camp fire, and flint stones clashed together to form sparks in the rain. 

The sticks are possibly the smallest I've encountered. Fragile, light things that break ever so easily. If there is a scent on the sticks, I've not detected it. They are very neutral. But this is not a bad thing. All too often I come upon incense which is made more for the scent on the stick than for the scent on the burn. And liquid scents - from essential oils to synthetic perfumes, work well on the stick, releasing their scent on contact with the air, without the need for burning. So an incense maker who wants to impress, can dip their incense stick in a volatile perfume which will burst out at the consumer as soon as it is exposed to the air. But when the incense is burned, the volatile perfume is consumed quickly, leaving nothing in the air but the base flammable material. The best incenses release their best scents when they are lit. And this Swiss Stone Pine is one of those incenses.  


 

The ingredients

And when it is burned, the only scents in the air are the fragrant ingredients. The flammable ingredients and binders are not spoiling the show. This is a perfectly judged formulation. It burns at the right speed, and releases just the fragrant scents. Brilliant. 

And the fragrant scents are so mighty, they are positively overwhelming. To be smothered by such delicate scents is quite a joy. I loved this. 

Date: June 2023   Score: 48

I'm putting this in Purgatory for at least a month, then giving it another burn. If it impresses again, it goes in my World Class Top Drawer. 

 What's The Best Incense In The World?

Gokula Meditation Natural Ayurvedic Incense Dammar

 

This is a Dammar incense in Gokula's Meditation range - a set of  Natural Ayurvedic Incense. Dammar gum is a tree resin (like Frankincense), which is extracted from various rainforest trees. This is, as far as I'm aware, the first time I have burned a dammar incense. In the Malayan language, dammar means light, and Thomas Kinkele says that dammar is a light incense in which the "bright fresh/fine to citrus fragrance works like a ray of light" to clarify confused mental states, and to "bring the gift of clairvoyance". 

The sticks are crudely but generously hand rolled on plain bamboo splints. The paste is dry and powdery. The scent on the stick is light and gentle with clean, citric notes and touches of petrol and rubber which add interest. 

They burn at a steady rate, giving off a warm, organic scent, quite earthy, woody, herby. It's fairly dry, almost raspy, and reminds me of Tibetan incense. It's OK, but not really my thing. I prefer my incense to be richer, sweeter, and/or more interesting. 

I don't know where Mark from Gokula sources this Ayurvedic incense; there are plenty of places in the UK and USA and other countries which sell unbranded or home-branded natural Ayurvedic incense, though not many sell Dammar gum ayurvedic incense, and none at the price that Mark sells this.  

It's a decent incense, but not really my thing. If you like Japanese or Tibetan incense, then this may be more up your street. 

Date: June 2023   Score: 26 

***

Gokula-incense

Misbah's Natural Loban Candy Agarbathi Benzoin

 

I've just been burning Koya's Sambrini, and thoroughly enjoying it, so when I glanced down at a box next to my desk and saw this pack of Misbah's Natural Loban on the top, it was clearly calling to me, so I had to set it up. 

Misbah are a new incense company to me, and I've not yet reviewed any, though I have been burning and both enjoying and puzzling over Misbah's Bakhoor for a little while now.  I'll write more about Misbah later. 

Anyway, this is a thick, dry dhoop. The company claim that it is "Chemical Free. Non Toxic". Even so, thick dhoops like this do produce a mighty abundance of smoke, and are very overwhelming, so are best not burned indoors - certainly not unless you're going to open doors and windows. For those who like subtle and delicate incenses, this is really, really not for you. Thick dhoops are always very much in your face. Big, earthy, pungent, monsters. 

Now, I like huge, natural, overwhelming incense, but this is too much for me. This is an incense that is really, really best burned outdoors. Or, if you're going to do a thorough cleansing of the house, then light a couple of these monsters and go out for the day.  The house will be cleansed of all bad vibes, stale scents, flies, fleas, rats, rotten turnips, sleeping dragons, poor intentions, ill-gotten gains, and partners or lodgers who have overstayed their welcome. 

The dhoop gives the appearance of a Tibetan incense - dark, dry, thick paste with flecks of organic material - what appears to be straw and rat droppings. It is mildly sticky to the touch. The dhoops come with their own stand - a solid bamboo stick which goes through a small metal cap sealing off the end.  The scent on the dhoop is healthy, medicinal, fruit, band-aid, mineral, apple, vanilla. Decent, but no more than that. It's pleasant, but not exciting. 

The scent on the burn is more of an experience than a scent- it is quite invasive. Sharp, chalky, churchy, smoky. I have placed it at the far end of the room and have all the doors and windows open. I don't dislike the scent, but it is hard to take indoors. So, I'm now going to put it outside.... 

Phew.....

Date: June 2023   Score:  21 

***

Misbah's Fragrance

Benzoin / Loban / Sambrani

Koya's Maya Supreme Sambrani Premium Incense Sticks

 

Sambrani is the Indian name for the tree resin Benzoin, though it is a vague term, and can be used generically for any tree resin. I generally like Benzoin/Sambrani. The general use in India is as a cleansing/ritual scent, though is also used for drying hair, and a general pleasing fragrance.  

This is a packet that is left over from a bunch of samples sent to me by Koya's export manager in September 2021. I found it on my desk yesterday under a pile of other stuff while clearing it in an effort to tackle my legendary backlog. On the whole I have been very impressed by Koya's incense - they seem to be generally my sort of incense manufacturer. 

The stick consists of a machine applied black paste which had dried hard and firm on a plain machine-cut bamboo splint, and coated in a thin, fine grey powder. The scent on the stick is very sweet, jammy, vanilla, enticing, mineral, powdery, mint, peach, band-aid, wheat beer, parma violets, licorice, complex, ranging over a number of related and complementary fragrances. Ooh, it is engaging, and very nice. The sort of thing I like. 

The burn is at a medium speed, fairly even, producing a decent amount of clean grey smoke. The scent on the burn is warmer (sometimes hot), than the scent on the stick, though carries much of the same qualities, though predominantly the base and mid notes - much of the light, sweet notes, such as the peach and the parma violets and harder to find, though they are present. Oh gosh. Yes, I like this. No. I love this.  

Post burning it leaves a brilliantly pleasing, cleansing, slightly mineral note in the room. It's an uplifting scent. Yes, quite glorious. 

Good one. Again. 

Date: June 2023   Score: 45 

Benzoin / Loban / Sambrani

Koya's Agarbathi

Tulasi Nag Champa & Jasmine Incense Sticks

 

Another of the Tulasi range of masala style incense sticks of Nag Champa (with an additional scent) which they have catalogued as Nag Champa Delights.  This one has some Jasmine fragrance oil added. 

The full range of Nag Champa Delights

I noted while reviewing the Nag Champa & Lavender I wondered if all the sticks in the Nag Champa Delights range are made with the same Nag Champa fragrance masala base, and the additional named scents are from added fragrance oils - so this one would have a jasmine fragrance oil added to the same Nag Champa paste as used on the rest of the range. 

The fragrance on the stick (which is made the same way as the Lavender, and the others I've burned in this series) is fresh, volatile, citric, fresh healthy sweat, musky, patchouli, lambs wool, faintly floral - really very attractive and inviting.   

On the burn it is the basic Nag Champa masala incense that dominates. That is pleasant, but it is the same Nag Champa scent as the Lavender (I burned them at the same time to check).  

This is a decent everyday Nag Champa masala incense, but - other than when on the stick before the burn - there is little awareness of the additional scent. 

I intend at some point doing a comparison of the whole series. Meanwhile, I'm marking this, and all the other Nag Champa Delights, as 35 - midway in my "Enjoyable, decent quality scents" ranking. 

Date: June 2023   Score: 35

***

More Tulasi reviews

Free international shipping on orders from Aavyaa

 

The Indian incense store aavyaa.com which has a great range of incense, such as Balaji, Misbah, Phool, Forest, Vedamrut, Cycle, Kailapira, etc, at only slightly higher than average domestic Indian prices, but well below Western prices, and even cow dung incense for those brave enough to try it, is offering free international shipping for "orders above a certain amount", in response to my mentioning them in a review for Cycle Pushkarini. See the discussion after the review: Ranga Rao Cycle Pushkarini. Orders need to go through on WhatsApp.

Prices are around 10% of what you would normally pay in the UK. I'm seeing Phool Tuberose for £29 on eBay, while Aavyaa are selling the same for £2.90.

I'm not sure what the "certain amount" is, and - though sorely tempted - I need to bring my backlog down before ordering any more, so you'll need to sort that out yourself through discussion.

Have fun, and let me know how you get on. There's some great incense to discover at fair prices. Incense that is rarely, if ever, sold in the UK. And even well known incense, such as Sai Flora, for 88p


After further discussion with Vishesh, the co-founder, he decided to skip the requirement to order via WhatsApp, and though he originally intended the free shipping offer to start at ₹10k (approx £98), he's brought it down, and agreed to have an incremental shipping offer, so the more you spend, the less the shipping costs.

International orders up to £9.99 cost £10 in shipping.
Orders between £10 and £29.99 cost £5 in shipping.
Orders between £30 and £49.99 cost £2.50 in shipping.
Orders over £50 are shipped for free.

But the costs are, obviously, given in Rupees - I've just translated into sterling. So £9.99 would be 999 Rupees. And £50 would be 5,000 Rupees.

The shipping page has been updated: https://aavyaa.com/policies/shipping-policy
In addition to the shipping discounts (which are done automatically on the website), there are also automatic discounts on purchases over a certain amount.

I think the new shipping prices are an incentive, and I may just add a bit more incense to my legendary backlog.

What do others think? 

Tulasi Nag Champa & Lavender Incense Sticks

 

Another of the Tulasi range of masala style incense sticks of Nag Champa (with an additional scent) which they have catalogued as Nag Champa Delights. 

The full range of Nag Champa Delights

This works for me. It's not a complex incense. It starts off sweet and very engaging, then settles into a "masala" scent with notes of warm wool that I associate with halmaddi. It is firm and spreads around the house quite quickly and pleasantly, informing the rooms. It burns quite quickly and fairly hot, so there's little time for subtlety or for delicate fragrances to makes themselves known. This is a broad strokes sort of incense.  It comes in, firmly announces itself, makes a general impression, then leaves. And once gone it's difficult to pin down what was there - all that you have is the general impression. 

The sticks are well made -  dry, crumbly paste neatly hand rolled onto a machine cut purple dyed bamboo splint then coated in tree bark powder. The scent on the stick is the fragrance oil - lavender and parma violets, which is where the initial sweetness comes from. The sticks when lit burn too fast, so the fragrance oil burns off in the heat, and what is left is the scent of the masala paste burning. Hmmm. I wonder if all the sticks are made with the same masala paste base, and the additional scents are the fragrance oils. 

Anyway. This is a decent enough everyday incense. Quite happy to burn it, but there's little here to hold the interest, or to get me coming back for another packet. 

I intend at some point doing a rereview and comparison of the whole series. Meanwhile, I'm marking this, and all the other Nag Champa Delights, as 35 - midway in my "Enjoyable, decent quality scents" ranking. 

Date: June 2023   Score: 35 

***

More Tulasi reviews

Ranga Rao Cycle Brand Pushkarini

 

I really like these masala sticks. Proper job masala from Ranga Rao's Cycle brand, one of the Top Incense Brands in India. 98 rupees (approx 98p) from the excellent Aavyaa online store who ship to Europe (shipping prices have risen steeply since my order in Feb of this year, but are still reasonable, and Aarvaa are a great way to discover top quality authentic domestic Indian incense).  The box is large, solid, and attractive, with an old school look. The box claims that the incense is "made with sacred temple flowers", and has a 1950s magazine style illustration of several flowers, along with a temple and a pool in front of it. The temple pool is where the Pushkarini name comes from - other names include kalyani, kunda, sarovara, tirtha, talab, pukhuri, and ambalakkuḷam. They are places of ritual cleansing; so we might assume that the smoke and aroma from this incense is intended for the same purpose - to cleanse. 

The sticks are standard masala - a charcoal paste has been hand rolled onto a plain machine-cut bamboo splint and then coated in a woody powder. Fragrant oils have been used as part of the ingredients. The scent on the stick is pleasant - natural, floral (jasmine mostly, with some rose and begonia in the mix), also some notes of lemon and of cat pee (which could be lilies).  The hand rolling is pretty decent, though there are lumps and twists. All in all at this stage I'm sort of pre-disposed toward this incense because of the packaging, the producer, the target audience (this is a domestic incense, not intended for the Western market, so feels authentic), the production method, and the scent on the stick. While I am pre-disposed, I'm not actually excited as the scent is pleasant and promising, but not heavenly. There are woody, resinous base notes on the stick, which interest me more than the floral and lemon top notes, but the top notes do dominate. As I'm not a huge fan of floral scents, I'm finding the scent more pleasing than engaging. I'm kinda neutral about it, though I like its freshness. The melody of floral notes holds off from being assertive or overbearing or too heady, and gently informs the room with a sense of floral masala, so there's lots positive here, but it lacks definition or balance or harmony, and doesn't engage my interest by offering something new or unexpected. 

When I noted above that the box says "made with sacred temple flowers", I didn't understand that the flowers are not just the same type of flowers that are offered at temples, but the actual flowers themselves. The flowers are left at three temples: Nanjundeshwara, Chamundeshwari and Sri Lakshmi Venkataramanaswamy Temple in Mysuru, and then later collected by Cycle, sorted, dried, powdered, and used in the incense, along with "a divine fragrance", which is the fragrant oil or perfume that can be detected on the stick.  I'd heard about incense being made from the flowers left at temples - though I'm not sure if it was this particular incense I'd heard about, or another. So I looked - Phool do it; and Kailapira, and so do others. I haven't researched enough to find out who started doing it, though Phool appear to promote it quite heavily, and have made it popular.  

Due to other distractions, it has taken me a while to write this review, so while I am now going to study the aroma of the burning incense, I have been burning the sticks now and again, though quite casually. The impression I've had while burning them casually is that the aroma is quite modest, gentle, fresh, dry, earthy (dry earth, but not dust), floral, but not bright or clear. Generally modestly attractive. Not an incense to attract attention either positively or negatively. 

As I'm burning now I have to say that by and large I agree with the general impression I had from the casual burnings. The scent is warm, dry, pleasant, hovering between masala and perfumed, with a general sense of dried flowers and mild spice. The top notes are not bright or sharp - there's floral, though quite mixed, and leaning perhaps more toward rose. There's some faint citric notes, soft lemon, some geranium. Mid notes are the mild spice - a bit of cumin. Bases notes are mild wood. There isn't much of a range - the top and base notes are fairly close together. And there's isn't much variation in the scents - they tend to hover around a vague dried flower fragrance.  This is, because of the lack of bright notes, lack of musky notes, lack of variety, etc not going to be one of my top favourite incenses, however I find it to be good quality, attractive, and decent value for money, with a great story.  Essentially, while not exciting or overwhelming me, I really like this incense, and would be happy to buy more.  Recommended. 

Date: June 2023   Score: 39   

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Ranga Rao