I got a sample pack of Aromandise incense from Padma Store two years ago in 2003 - 11 scents (two sticks of each) for around 11 Euros. I wasn't aware of the company, I just liked the offer, and trust Ashok's taste in selecting interesting incense. The sampler has been tucked away in my backlog until now, completely forgotten.
I've just been researching Aromandise and am a little disappointed that they are a shop in France rather than an incense house. The incense house responsible for making the incense is Naturveda. Naturveda was set up in 2005 by "an international group of people" in Pondicherry, and offer a white label service to Western shops - they are sold under various brand names in Europe and USA. Depending on the arrangement, the same sticks could be sold again and again under different brand names. Or the agreement could be that Naturveda tweak the scent, or even make a scent blend unique to the seller. We don't know. But such is the nature of the incense marke, and many people do seem to feel more comfortable buying from a local brand than from an Indian brand. Aromandise, the shop, uses the brand name Les Encens du Monde for the incense it sells.
I'm not really warming to this brand. A bunch of Westerners go to India to set up a white label brand to sell to own brand Western shops. And in Pondicherry of all places. I've not really got on with incense made in and around Pondicherry. Not that the incense made there is bad - far from it. It's natural, and decent. But it tends to be dry, sombre, old fashioned mono-scents, and with more of a focus on tradition and natural, rather than the aesthetics of the fragrance, or the sheer joy and pleasure and fun of burning incense.
On the positive side, I like the blend of Indian and European culture in Pondicherry and nearby Auroville. I think cultures working together is the way to the future. And I like that the ingredients are all natural. Having said that, it's not actually a priority for me. Priorities are first that the incense smells nice, then that the incense blends are interesting and forward moving rather than locked into simple mono-scents from the past, then that the incense minimises the harm to the planet (so as little wood as possible - there are a number of interesting Indian companies who are really moving forward with this, such as Malaan Gaudhoop using cow dung as the combustible, and young companies such as Phool and Calmveda using temple flowers. I am excited by these companies, and see them as doing the right thing), and then that there is a positive vibe about the brand, which includes the brand being the one responsible for making the incense.
Even though Naturveda are based in Pondicherry, I'm not sure how responsible they are for making the incense. There is no Naturveda factory, just a residential address. But there is also no Cottage Industries factory - there's a showroom next door to the ashram, but the incense is not made there. I don't know, but it seems likely, that the incenses made in and around Pondicherry are made in people's homes as a cottage industry - just like the name suggests. Well, the incense sticks are rolled in people's homes. The paste is possibly made in some central location. The fragrance oils could either be put into the paste as it was being mixed, or added later, after the sticks have been rolled. Now, either Naturveda are setting up their own cottage industry workforce, or they are working in collaboration with the existing Cottage Industries network set up by Mirra Alfassa (The Mother). All this is just speculation and me thinking aloud. However, it seems possible, even likely, that these Aromandise sticks are part of the Cottage Industries network - which is known for the same things that these "High Tradition" Aromandise/Naturveda are known for: being natural, and using traditional, natural mono-scents. I've just compared Cottage Musk, Rose, and Myrrh with the Naturveda sticks, and they could be made by the same network, but the recipes are different.
Anyway. Research, speculation, and general riffing over. Time to focus on the incense. Tiare is a flower that grows in French Polynesia, and is used in Monoï de Tahiti, a perfumed body oil, popular in France, which is probably why the French company Aromandise commissioned it. There is little scent on the paste, which is a hard, dry, and brittle dark paste. The Aromandise website says the paste is made of "wood powder", so it must be; though it looks, feels, and behaves like charcoal blended with wood powder, so I would - without that information - have assumed charcoal was present. I think I need to look more carefully at Indian sticks in future, and not assume charcoal so much.
The scent on the burn is gentle, modest, with some awareness of wood burning - a sandalwood; though that is not given in the ingredients, and could just be me creating a mental aroma out of my awareness that wood powder is used in this stick. However, this presents more as an Asian incense than an Indian, and they do use wood powder instead of charcoal. There's a light touch of lemon, soft lemon, not sharp. Moving the incense out of the room, so I become less aware of the base notes, and find the top notes, I now find it actually more assertive and bolder, with peach and tropical notes; and along come some middle notes, amber and caramel, and a cosmetic soap or hand lotion fragrance. It's OK. It's a bit more joyful and pleasant at a distance than in the same room. But, overall, not my thing.
I've just been researching Aromandise and am a little disappointed that they are a shop in France rather than an incense house. The incense house responsible for making the incense is Naturveda. Naturveda was set up in 2005 by "an international group of people" in Pondicherry, and offer a white label service to Western shops - they are sold under various brand names in Europe and USA. Depending on the arrangement, the same sticks could be sold again and again under different brand names. Or the agreement could be that Naturveda tweak the scent, or even make a scent blend unique to the seller. We don't know. But such is the nature of the incense marke, and many people do seem to feel more comfortable buying from a local brand than from an Indian brand. Aromandise, the shop, uses the brand name Les Encens du Monde for the incense it sells.
I'm not really warming to this brand. A bunch of Westerners go to India to set up a white label brand to sell to own brand Western shops. And in Pondicherry of all places. I've not really got on with incense made in and around Pondicherry. Not that the incense made there is bad - far from it. It's natural, and decent. But it tends to be dry, sombre, old fashioned mono-scents, and with more of a focus on tradition and natural, rather than the aesthetics of the fragrance, or the sheer joy and pleasure and fun of burning incense.
On the positive side, I like the blend of Indian and European culture in Pondicherry and nearby Auroville. I think cultures working together is the way to the future. And I like that the ingredients are all natural. Having said that, it's not actually a priority for me. Priorities are first that the incense smells nice, then that the incense blends are interesting and forward moving rather than locked into simple mono-scents from the past, then that the incense minimises the harm to the planet (so as little wood as possible - there are a number of interesting Indian companies who are really moving forward with this, such as Malaan Gaudhoop using cow dung as the combustible, and young companies such as Phool and Calmveda using temple flowers. I am excited by these companies, and see them as doing the right thing), and then that there is a positive vibe about the brand, which includes the brand being the one responsible for making the incense.
Even though Naturveda are based in Pondicherry, I'm not sure how responsible they are for making the incense. There is no Naturveda factory, just a residential address. But there is also no Cottage Industries factory - there's a showroom next door to the ashram, but the incense is not made there. I don't know, but it seems likely, that the incenses made in and around Pondicherry are made in people's homes as a cottage industry - just like the name suggests. Well, the incense sticks are rolled in people's homes. The paste is possibly made in some central location. The fragrance oils could either be put into the paste as it was being mixed, or added later, after the sticks have been rolled. Now, either Naturveda are setting up their own cottage industry workforce, or they are working in collaboration with the existing Cottage Industries network set up by Mirra Alfassa (The Mother). All this is just speculation and me thinking aloud. However, it seems possible, even likely, that these Aromandise sticks are part of the Cottage Industries network - which is known for the same things that these "High Tradition" Aromandise/Naturveda are known for: being natural, and using traditional, natural mono-scents. I've just compared Cottage Musk, Rose, and Myrrh with the Naturveda sticks, and they could be made by the same network, but the recipes are different.
Anyway. Research, speculation, and general riffing over. Time to focus on the incense. Tiare is a flower that grows in French Polynesia, and is used in Monoï de Tahiti, a perfumed body oil, popular in France, which is probably why the French company Aromandise commissioned it. There is little scent on the paste, which is a hard, dry, and brittle dark paste. The Aromandise website says the paste is made of "wood powder", so it must be; though it looks, feels, and behaves like charcoal blended with wood powder, so I would - without that information - have assumed charcoal was present. I think I need to look more carefully at Indian sticks in future, and not assume charcoal so much.
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Ingredients: Wood powder, cane sugar, benzoin resin, essential oil of: palmarosa, lemon, patchouli, ylang ylang and dry extract of vanilla pod |
The scent on the burn is gentle, modest, with some awareness of wood burning - a sandalwood; though that is not given in the ingredients, and could just be me creating a mental aroma out of my awareness that wood powder is used in this stick. However, this presents more as an Asian incense than an Indian, and they do use wood powder instead of charcoal. There's a light touch of lemon, soft lemon, not sharp. Moving the incense out of the room, so I become less aware of the base notes, and find the top notes, I now find it actually more assertive and bolder, with peach and tropical notes; and along come some middle notes, amber and caramel, and a cosmetic soap or hand lotion fragrance. It's OK. It's a bit more joyful and pleasant at a distance than in the same room. But, overall, not my thing.
Available from Aromandise or Padma Store, and other outlets.
Date: March 2025 Score: 28
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I might get that sampler eventually. I really enjoyed Tiaré. Here's the link to my review:
ReplyDeletehttps://blog.rauchfahne.de/en/2023/09/14/aromandise-encens-traditionnel-tiare-en/
I think it's more your sort of thing than mine. I like more lusty stuff. I was thinking of you as I was burning this and the others. But I don't have enough to share.
DeleteI see you picked up sandalwood as well. The ingredients just say "wood powder", but it is likely to be sandalwood. For me it has the same sandalwood scent I get from Asian incense, particularly the Chinese incense I've been burning recently.
DeleteI now linked you from my post.
It absolutely is my thing, yes. :)
DeleteSure, it's just a sampler. It's ok, I'm closer to the source anyway.