I like Nandita - they make delightful incense: subtle, beautiful, divine. Wonderful blends that touch something in me. They are soft and unpretentious, with scents that gently weave together to create sublime and mighty accords.
This Laxmidevi is a typical top end Nandita incense. Soft, subtle, beautiful scents that weave together to produce a wholesome and traditional masala scent. I have been thinking a fair bit about formulations recently, and it seems to me that finding and using a good formulation is the key to a great incense. Scents are personal - each to their own. And many incense houses use a variety of scents - some traditional single scents, such as patchouli, jasmine, sandalwood; some established blends, such as frankincense and myrrh or nag champa; some copies of famous accords such as Opium; and some unique blends. So in a typical incense house it should be possible to find some scents that an individual consumer will enjoy. What really matters, I think, is how well the incense formulation works so that the stick burns slowly and evenly, so there are no off scents intruding, and so the desired fragrance is amplified and dispersed beautifully. I think Nandita have a good formulation, such that the sticks burn well with no off-notes. What is smelled is the intended fragrance, and that fragrance is allowed into the room in a gentle, harmonious manner - neither too strongly nor too weakly. And what remains lingering afterwards is the pleasing aroma, not smoke, or ash, or a cold, empty nothing. What remains is warmth and good feelings.
This Laxmidevi is a typical top end Nandita incense. Soft, subtle, beautiful scents that weave together to produce a wholesome and traditional masala scent. I have been thinking a fair bit about formulations recently, and it seems to me that finding and using a good formulation is the key to a great incense. Scents are personal - each to their own. And many incense houses use a variety of scents - some traditional single scents, such as patchouli, jasmine, sandalwood; some established blends, such as frankincense and myrrh or nag champa; some copies of famous accords such as Opium; and some unique blends. So in a typical incense house it should be possible to find some scents that an individual consumer will enjoy. What really matters, I think, is how well the incense formulation works so that the stick burns slowly and evenly, so there are no off scents intruding, and so the desired fragrance is amplified and dispersed beautifully. I think Nandita have a good formulation, such that the sticks burn well with no off-notes. What is smelled is the intended fragrance, and that fragrance is allowed into the room in a gentle, harmonious manner - neither too strongly nor too weakly. And what remains lingering afterwards is the pleasing aroma, not smoke, or ash, or a cold, empty nothing. What remains is warmth and good feelings.
The scents are mostly woody musk and floral with a heavy leaning on jasmine. The woody musk and the jasmine are bridged by a subtle patchouli creating a traditional masala feel to the whole. I've been burning this a fair bit over the past few days, and I've consumed half the packet. I'm hovering around top end of Decent Stuff and low end of Heavenly, and while I initially gave this a tentative score of 41 (Heavenly), I'm landing now on 39 (Decent Stuff). I think that's mostly because I'm not a personal fan of floral scents. While I initially got into the woody musk and patchouli, by now I'm too fixed on the jasmine to ignore it.
The name Lamidevi refers to the goddess Lakshmi, also known as Lami. Devi means goddess. This is a standard box, 15g, available in America - $2, and Europe - €1.95; and the UK - £1.50. It is marked as "Limited Edition", which may indicate that this is a one-off batch, and when it is gone it will be gone.
Date: Nov 2023 Score: 39
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