Bought for £1.90 for 15g (15 sticks) from Wicked Dragon, a UK online clothing store. This is basic stuff, but the sort of thing us incense hunters find interesting. Handmade in Nepal for an incense shop in the Nepal capital city, Kathmandu, and decorated with a hand pressed Himalayan flower. There is so much to like in just that. This is clearly a long way from process, machines, and corporate business. There is human life here, and respect for the natural. The incense is made for Dipendra Dangol, who founded his shop, Lovely Incense, about 25 years ago, and who now employs 11 women to make and pack the incense. He has a wholesale website, Lovely Incense, though his incense is available retail from online sites across the world.
The brand name of his incense is a little vague. A few years ago the name Eyes of The Lord Buddha was used. Currently the name Three Lotus, with a logo of three stylised lotus flowers, is given on the packets. However, they appear to be better known by the description on the front which says "Decorated with natural Himalayan Flower", and each pack has a hand-pressed flower glued to the front - so they are known as Himalayan Flower Incense.
The sticks look like standard Indian masala - they have 6 inches of paste hand-rolled onto an 8 inch bamboo splint. However, they use powdered sandalwood rather than charcoal, so end up more like incense from Thailand, Vietnam, and China. The powdered sandalwood is impregnated with a liquid scent - possibly an essential oil. The scent on the stick is quite pleasant. It has a modest fruit aroma, more sweet and floral than citric, touched with some basic woody sandalwood.
The brand name of his incense is a little vague. A few years ago the name Eyes of The Lord Buddha was used. Currently the name Three Lotus, with a logo of three stylised lotus flowers, is given on the packets. However, they appear to be better known by the description on the front which says "Decorated with natural Himalayan Flower", and each pack has a hand-pressed flower glued to the front - so they are known as Himalayan Flower Incense.
The sticks look like standard Indian masala - they have 6 inches of paste hand-rolled onto an 8 inch bamboo splint. However, they use powdered sandalwood rather than charcoal, so end up more like incense from Thailand, Vietnam, and China. The powdered sandalwood is impregnated with a liquid scent - possibly an essential oil. The scent on the stick is quite pleasant. It has a modest fruit aroma, more sweet and floral than citric, touched with some basic woody sandalwood.
In line with the basic simplicity of the packets, this is not a sophisticated incense. There are no quality fixatives here - it appears to be an honest reliance on the aroma of the sandalwood powder and the essential oil. This does mean that, as with much East Asian incense, the scent on the burn is fairly modest, with the perfume just able to sustain itself among the fragrance of the smouldering powdered sandalwood. This is not an incense to buy for the aesthetic qualities of the burning fragrance, but for the honest rustic simplicity of it all.
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