Chrissie went back to Rochester to visit some friends, and while there bought me a Sarah Crouch ash catcher at Store 104. The first one she bought didn't work as the glaze had trickled into the holes. After some effort I did manage to get one narrow, soft stick into one of the holes, but that was all. No other stick would stay in. I was keen on trying to drill the hole bigger, but Chrissie, being risk averse, got in touch with the store for advice. They offered a free replacement, and tested it out themselves before sending it. As a really nice extra touch, they included a gift of a pack of One Aromatics Sandalwood. Excellent service. Above and beyond.
One Aromatics is a brand of incense sold by One Village, a UK importer and distributor of fair trade goods. The incense is made by the Auroville community in India (they offer 12 scents, each with 12 sticks, for £24 with free UK postage). I've tended not to get along with incense associated with Mirra Alfassa ("The Mother"), either made at Auroville or at/for the Ashram at Pondicherry. They tend to be old fashioned mono-scents, quite dry and sombre, while I like sweet, fun incense, particularly interesting and thoughtful blends. But I like sandalwood. Well, I like sandalwood oil - be it natural or synthetic (or, preferably, a blend of both so that the synthetic sandalwood oil fills in the missing parts of the natural oil). I'm not so keen on sandalwood itself (such as used in much Asian incense) - that tends to be a little too clean and bland for my taste. I like the darker, sultry, sexy, sweet, musky oil that is associated with the heartwood.
The sticks consist of a hand-rolled paste onto a plain hand-cut bamboo splint. The paste is hard and dry, and when pieces are broken off and crumbled in the palm of the hand, it appears that the paste is made from wood powder rather than charcoal, though could be a blend of both, with more wood than charcoal. There is a perfume on the stick which is mildly woody with a touch of spice. It smells fairly clean and fresh, though there is an element of cool volatility. I've pondered this volatility for some years, and I now suspect that it may be mainly caused by terpenes in woods or resins, including halmaddi; and that I am sensitive to terpenes. I do not think the volatility or reaction comes from use of DEP or other solvent. Indeed, I am rather less likely to have a negative response to cheap and cheerful perfume-dipped incense which no doubt uses DEP, than I am to quality incense that uses wood oils or resins, or halmaddi. I have been aware of my sensitivity to halmaddi for some years, but only recently broadened that out to terpenes. Kinda frustrating to write an (increasingly popular) incense blog, and to become aware that I am in fact allergic to most natural incense!
The scent on the burn is woody, a bit spicy or peppery, but generally quite soft. It is more in line with sandalwood wood than sandalwood oil, and sits largely in the Asian area of sandalwood incense. It is clean, woody, elements of pine, fresh, crisp, somewhat uplifting. Pleasant. But it doesn't really do much. This is not the warm, sexy, heartwood oil that I love. This is just too clean and crisp for my taste. White sandalwood rather than the sensual dark. It's OK. It's nice. I'm happy to burn this in the house as a cleansing and uplifting room freshener.
One Aromatics is a brand of incense sold by One Village, a UK importer and distributor of fair trade goods. The incense is made by the Auroville community in India (they offer 12 scents, each with 12 sticks, for £24 with free UK postage). I've tended not to get along with incense associated with Mirra Alfassa ("The Mother"), either made at Auroville or at/for the Ashram at Pondicherry. They tend to be old fashioned mono-scents, quite dry and sombre, while I like sweet, fun incense, particularly interesting and thoughtful blends. But I like sandalwood. Well, I like sandalwood oil - be it natural or synthetic (or, preferably, a blend of both so that the synthetic sandalwood oil fills in the missing parts of the natural oil). I'm not so keen on sandalwood itself (such as used in much Asian incense) - that tends to be a little too clean and bland for my taste. I like the darker, sultry, sexy, sweet, musky oil that is associated with the heartwood.
The sticks consist of a hand-rolled paste onto a plain hand-cut bamboo splint. The paste is hard and dry, and when pieces are broken off and crumbled in the palm of the hand, it appears that the paste is made from wood powder rather than charcoal, though could be a blend of both, with more wood than charcoal. There is a perfume on the stick which is mildly woody with a touch of spice. It smells fairly clean and fresh, though there is an element of cool volatility. I've pondered this volatility for some years, and I now suspect that it may be mainly caused by terpenes in woods or resins, including halmaddi; and that I am sensitive to terpenes. I do not think the volatility or reaction comes from use of DEP or other solvent. Indeed, I am rather less likely to have a negative response to cheap and cheerful perfume-dipped incense which no doubt uses DEP, than I am to quality incense that uses wood oils or resins, or halmaddi. I have been aware of my sensitivity to halmaddi for some years, but only recently broadened that out to terpenes. Kinda frustrating to write an (increasingly popular) incense blog, and to become aware that I am in fact allergic to most natural incense!
The scent on the burn is woody, a bit spicy or peppery, but generally quite soft. It is more in line with sandalwood wood than sandalwood oil, and sits largely in the Asian area of sandalwood incense. It is clean, woody, elements of pine, fresh, crisp, somewhat uplifting. Pleasant. But it doesn't really do much. This is not the warm, sexy, heartwood oil that I love. This is just too clean and crisp for my taste. White sandalwood rather than the sensual dark. It's OK. It's nice. I'm happy to burn this in the house as a cleansing and uplifting room freshener.
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