I've recently been working through my backlog of samples from Gokula-incense, but got somewhat side-tracked by looking into HMS, who are a main source for Gokula and a good number of other retailers, such as TOI, Happy Hari, Primo, Bhagwan, Prasad Gifts Celestial, etc. In my HMS research I bumped into VrindavanBazaar.com, who have an attractive range of masala incense that looks kind of similar to HMS. At the price they charge - £1 or £2 for 20gm, and only £7 for international shipping, I ordered a bunch to try them out. Bless them, they packaged it securely, and popped in several free packets, so I got the pictured catch for only £31, including delivery.
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| 22 packs for £31 from Vrindavan Bazaar |
The sticks are 9 inches long with 7 inches of paste. The paste is a soft, crumbly charcoal, very neatly and expertly hand-rolled onto a plain, machine-cut bamboo splint. There is a thin covering of melnoorva powder to stop the damp sticks from gluing together as they dry. The scent on the stick is mildly volatile, sharp, yet rather attractive - it's quite green, earthy, floral, cat pee, mushrooms, mildly musky. It's clear that the main fragrance work will be done by liquid scents - a fragrance oil of some sort, diluted with a carrier and a plasticiser.
The burn is gentle, but a little hot, so some of the top notes initially burn off too quickly to be noticed, though eventually it sort of settles so they begin to makes themselves known. The resulting fragrance is pleasant, but nothing special. It kinda feels natural, and it informs the room in a modest though attractive manner. I like it, but I'm not excited by it. I can be persuaded that there is some patchouli here, but it's not presenting as classic patchouli. There's a general air of slightly warm and sweaty (fresh, intriguing) wool. There's a kind of wildness and roughness about this, in a charming way, like a rough sleeping and attractive teenage hippy who doesn't wear chemical deodorants.
I like it more and more as it develops, and it is settling into an area of patchouli now, but without the sweetness and musk that, for me, is the essential draw of the fragrance.
Date: April 2024 Score: 33
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| Patchouli |
Oh, cool! Stuff from VrindavanBazaar! My friend Silver sent me some incense from this shop too! I got: Mysore Sandal (which seems identical to Chaitanya's Kesar Chandan, I reviewed a while back), Hari Leela (definitely not HMS-like), Pushkar, Radha Ras Bihari and Saffron.
ReplyDeleteMy Mysore Sandal also look exactly like the Kesar Chandan in your picture.
I don't have that Patchouli, though. I think I might like it better than you do.
There might be a connection to RBL&S.
It's difficult to know who makes what in India! I think at one time I wondered if RBL&S was made by HMS.
DeleteTheir Radha Kasturi was sold by Gokula
DeleteSriji, and others in a manner similar to the reselling of HMS, and with names and appearances - such as plastic tubs of Night Queen which remind me of HMS Night Queen and Pure Night Queen, that put thoughts in the head.
DeleteI think I've given up on looking into HMS for the time being. It was kind of dispiriting to find that one could be buying the very same incense under a variety of different brand names, and paying a wide variety of different prices.
I'm hoping that this Vrindavan incense will at the very least be made in Vrindavan, and have written to VrindavanBazaar asking that question. No response yet.
I has a problem posting the above message. There was a formatting issues with the Gokula Rahda Rasabihari link - which is sorted now (though I can't edit what's already posted). .
DeleteLooking at my notes from the RBL&S sampler, there have been a few I found a similarity to BERK or Pure, so it is possible that some of their incenses are HMS sourced. Based on how different they all look, there must be a couple of different producers behind them.
DeleteThere is kind of a huge bubble of certain incense sticks associated with hare Krishna devotees, and Gokula popped up in this context as well. I suspect they might source part of their stuff from Vrindavan Bazaar or from whoever they are sourcing from.
I agree that the whole HMS topic gets pretty tiring. However, I feel like the UK market is especially oversaturated with their incense. The massive presence of BERK in Germany aside, these incenses are a lot less broadly available in EU. Due to Reddit, the most known is Pure and given the prices for those (especially after import into the EU) I can't see it as a bad thing that they are sold under so many brands. The tricky part is the lack of transparency.