I've been curious about Palo Santo for a while now. My main experience has been via incense sticks. I did buy some Palo Santo wood a while back, but it appears I didn't do a review, and I've now mislaid the wood. I will source a selection of woods at some point in the future, but I do need to focus on my backlog first.
I'm not certain how much the Palo Santo sticks I've had are representative of the wood itself. What is used in sticks, such as these, is essential oil rather than the wood. Though from what I read, the essential oils - provided they use true oil from Bursera graveolens - are accurate. And there are people who prefer the oil to the wood.
The scent on the stick is soft, pleasant, herby, touches of lavender, chocolate, warm spices - cinnamon and nutmeg, coriander. Mildly sweet. Woody. Some citric. The overall impression is modestly pleasant. moderately interesting, though a little too dry, subtle, and sombre for my taste. I like it, but it doesn't excite me. And I feel I'm doing a lot of the work to get scents and pleasure from the fragrance. It does remind me of Cottage, the original outlet for the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. I don't know if this is the ashram which Berk mention as the main source for their incense, though it seems possible, maybe even likely.
The scent on the burn is more assertive than on the stick; also harsher, dryer, less sweet, with an accent on burning herbs and smouldering wood. There's also a touch of turps - an oily and dirty pine. It is a cleansing scent rather than something aesthetic, and is perhaps more suited for smudging the house rather than as something pleasant to brighten the house, welcome guests, or use in the bedroom. Kinda functional rather than fun. All that said, I like it. It's not going to be an incense I'd want to burn often, but as a break from sweeter, headier, more perfumed and fun incense, it would be welcome. It's a calming and cleansing and sombre incense. Good, perhaps, for getting into a state of concentration. As the scent builds and settles there is some resinous, frankincense element that comes to the fore which deepens and rounds off the scent. Yeah. I like this.
I'm not certain how much the Palo Santo sticks I've had are representative of the wood itself. What is used in sticks, such as these, is essential oil rather than the wood. Though from what I read, the essential oils - provided they use true oil from Bursera graveolens - are accurate. And there are people who prefer the oil to the wood.
The scent on the stick is soft, pleasant, herby, touches of lavender, chocolate, warm spices - cinnamon and nutmeg, coriander. Mildly sweet. Woody. Some citric. The overall impression is modestly pleasant. moderately interesting, though a little too dry, subtle, and sombre for my taste. I like it, but it doesn't excite me. And I feel I'm doing a lot of the work to get scents and pleasure from the fragrance. It does remind me of Cottage, the original outlet for the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. I don't know if this is the ashram which Berk mention as the main source for their incense, though it seems possible, maybe even likely.
The scent on the burn is more assertive than on the stick; also harsher, dryer, less sweet, with an accent on burning herbs and smouldering wood. There's also a touch of turps - an oily and dirty pine. It is a cleansing scent rather than something aesthetic, and is perhaps more suited for smudging the house rather than as something pleasant to brighten the house, welcome guests, or use in the bedroom. Kinda functional rather than fun. All that said, I like it. It's not going to be an incense I'd want to burn often, but as a break from sweeter, headier, more perfumed and fun incense, it would be welcome. It's a calming and cleansing and sombre incense. Good, perhaps, for getting into a state of concentration. As the scent builds and settles there is some resinous, frankincense element that comes to the fore which deepens and rounds off the scent. Yeah. I like this.
Date: Nov 2024 Score: 37
***
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment: