Incense In The Wind

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

Thursday 8 February 2024

Om Sai's Trishala Patchouli Premium Incense Sticks

 


Patchouli is one of my favourite scents, and is a popular incense fragrance. It's rich, woody, sexy, warm, indulgent, sweet, with herbal, floral notes. This stick has those characteristics. Most patchouli incense tends to have those characteristics - it seems to work well. It's a useful incense adding sweet, musky, woody depth to a number of perfumes.  The patchouli plant is part of the mint family and is widely cultivated in Asia with over 12,000 farming families growing it. The active ingredient is Patchoulol, and this is now being developed synthetically with yeast, though I'm not sure how widespread is the use of synthetic patchoulol. It seems likely, given that most patchouli incenses are decent, that most patchouli incense is based on a natural essential oil, though the cheaper sticks would be blended with something like DEP, in order to keep the costs down. 

The scent on the stick is seducing me. It doesn't strike me as natural, but I still love the warmth and immediacy of the scent. It's probably a bit too well behaved for me - I like my incense to be a little wilder, a little different, and with unusual elements and contrasts. But, sigh, I do love patchouli, and I'm teased by the chocolate elements in the scent on this stick.  

On lighting the stick there is a fair degree of black smoke, which could be caused by a number of things, though I observe it appears to occur mostly when I suspect DEP has been used significantly. When the burn settles, though, the stick produces an attractive woody scent informed by mint and chocolate. It works for me. I wouldn't call it a classic patchouli - it lacks the earthy, sexy, sweet musky elements I love about a proper patchouli; and there's a some chalky muting from the smoke, which seems to be fairly common with this Trishala range; but it's enjoyable. Yes. It makes me happy. Funny thing about how scent can really impact the mood. And this makes me feel happy and a little excited.  Hmm. I'd be happy to buy more of this Trishala Patchouli. 


Date: Feb 2023   Score:  37

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