R. Expo / Song of India are a well established Indian incense house, founded in 1932, and with an export sales base in America since 1972, where their perfume-dipped and quite ordinary Aroma Temple is a big seller partly through reputation and partly through strong promotion (I have been sent dozens of free samples over the years). They have two main brands aimed at the Western market - Song of India, which this is, is a well established brand in America, and The Great Indian Caravan, a more recent brand, has been gaining ground in Europe. I've not found them to be a quality or interesting incense house - the perfumed incense I've tried has been below average; some of the masala is decent good value everyday stuff with some nice scents, but I've not come across anything that interesting yet.
The box has a clean, simple, and attractive design. It's in the flat, wide boxes I associate with masala incense sold in India - masala boxes marketed to the West tend to use the chunkier Satya box shape. The box doesn't declare for being either the domestic or export market - perhaps it's intended for both? The name, Samsara, relates to the cycle of life. The sticks look like standard masala, and have the generic "incense" scent of a blend of woods and florals, though with a healthy dose of sweet fruit, rather like the old Spangles sweet. For those Brits old enough to remember, there was a "mystery" Spangle - one sweet wrapped in a question mark, the scent here is very much like that "mystery" Spangle (which was later revealed to be "Fruit Cocktail"). It's nice and light and fun and uplifting.
The scent on the burn is, like the stick, generic masala incense. Sandalwood is the core of the accord, with earthy, herbal, woody notes wafting around it, and some sweet florals on top, heightened by a subtle touch of that Spangles fruit note. There's some of the lamb's wool prickle I associate with halmaddi. It's an OK scent. Nothing special or different, but quite acceptable. Calming, attractive, nice. Yes. Simply nice. I think at one time I would have got more excited about it than I do now. Having reviewed well over 1,200 different incenses, and around 500 of those being Indian masala, coming upon a decent Indian masala isn't the revelation it once was. Particularly as this one simply follows the line of generic Indian masala with its blend of woods and florals. There's a jaded part of me which is going "ho hum", but there's the other part which is going - yes, this may be run of the mill, but it's actually softly beautiful, and it is a traditional masala, rather than the modern perfumed masala style which is becoming all too common.
The scent on the burn is, like the stick, generic masala incense. Sandalwood is the core of the accord, with earthy, herbal, woody notes wafting around it, and some sweet florals on top, heightened by a subtle touch of that Spangles fruit note. There's some of the lamb's wool prickle I associate with halmaddi. It's an OK scent. Nothing special or different, but quite acceptable. Calming, attractive, nice. Yes. Simply nice. I think at one time I would have got more excited about it than I do now. Having reviewed well over 1,200 different incenses, and around 500 of those being Indian masala, coming upon a decent Indian masala isn't the revelation it once was. Particularly as this one simply follows the line of generic Indian masala with its blend of woods and florals. There's a jaded part of me which is going "ho hum", but there's the other part which is going - yes, this may be run of the mill, but it's actually softly beautiful, and it is a traditional masala, rather than the modern perfumed masala style which is becoming all too common.
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