Sweet and musky (and musty) scent on the stick. Green coloured paste with sparkles (possibly vanilla or crystal or - more likely - vanillin) on a red stick. The stick is made by HMS as Classic Patchouli. It is also sold as Blue Pearl Patchouli; as Primo/Gokula/Gaura Patchouli; as Bhagwan Patchouli; and as Triloka Hawaiian High (and possibly others). There are variations between each of these brands, which could be purposeful, or simply the natural variations that occur with HMS due to their casual/sloppy/artisanal (take your pick) approach to incense making. Fans of HMS embrace and celebrate the variations as evidence that these are individually made sticks, not carbon-copy machine-made sticks. Think of it like the difference between hearing a band on record and seeing the band live. The live performance is going to vary from night to night, and some nights are going to be sub-par, while other nights are going to be magical. Meanwhile, the record is going to be the same every night. Record and live performance have their plus and minus points, and it's each to their own which they prefer. I like both.
It's kind of interesting how many companies use HMS, and the variations in price when this happens. I find it a shame that HMS is not directly exported (or imported) to the West, and I don't know why a shop like Padma Store is not doing just that. I for one would appreciate the clarity. I just looked, and I see that Everest Trader sells unboxed HMS on Etsy. Shipping is not cheap, and I'd prefer to have the sticks in the HMS boxes, but that's a useful source, especially if living in America.
The scent on the stick is herby and vanilla sweet. It's very commercial and attractive. I like it. The scent on the burn is equally pleasant. It's not an obvious patchouli - there are a range of scents, and one could say that patchouli is in there, but so are other experiences, most of them hovering around herb and vanilla, though there's also musk, light wood, some floral - but faint and vanishing, and some ghostly gourmand fragrances - possibly mint, possibly coconut, possibly chocolate. It's a typical HMS incense - sweet, pleasant, commercial, elusive. By commercial, I mean that the scent will have a wide popularity, and there's nothing challenging or difficult here. There are appealing scents offered up feely and with a solid strength - not too strong and not too weak. HMS could be the ABBA of the incense world, and this Patchouli is like Sugar Sugar by The Archies. It's great fun and very pleasant, but a little too sweet and lacking in authenticity to be a really high scorer for me.
I had a quick look around for other variations of this stick, and two that came to hand were Bhagwan Patchouli and Triloka Hawaiian High. All three are different - recognisably from the same house, and all three playing around with herbs and vanilla, with a sense of patchouli in there, but I couldn't say that these are the same sticks. The Bhagwan is rich, fresh, herbal. Not as sweet. Less vanilla for sure. Less excitement and pleasure, but more earthy, interesting, and satisfying. The scent on the burn is rather mild. A little too mild for my taste - I get impatient with such scents. It's not so much that it's mild, it's more that it's lazy - it will toddle along eventually, but pretty much when my attention has drifted off. I'm rarely one to sit and study an incense for the 40 minutes of so of its burn. I'm generally doing something else, and my attention will come back now and again. If the incense doesn't really change or develop, then my attention will not return. The Bhagwan comes up with the goods just as I'm about to switch off completely. It ends up being the most traditional of the three HMS sticks, and somehow, for me, the most likeable. The Triloka is sweet and fruity. Very fruity. Tropical fruit - pineapple and coconut. While this may be HMS doing a variation on the Patchouli, it may also be something else entirely. There's threads in common, but the general picture is not quite the same.
It's kind of interesting how many companies use HMS, and the variations in price when this happens. I find it a shame that HMS is not directly exported (or imported) to the West, and I don't know why a shop like Padma Store is not doing just that. I for one would appreciate the clarity. I just looked, and I see that Everest Trader sells unboxed HMS on Etsy. Shipping is not cheap, and I'd prefer to have the sticks in the HMS boxes, but that's a useful source, especially if living in America.
The scent on the stick is herby and vanilla sweet. It's very commercial and attractive. I like it. The scent on the burn is equally pleasant. It's not an obvious patchouli - there are a range of scents, and one could say that patchouli is in there, but so are other experiences, most of them hovering around herb and vanilla, though there's also musk, light wood, some floral - but faint and vanishing, and some ghostly gourmand fragrances - possibly mint, possibly coconut, possibly chocolate. It's a typical HMS incense - sweet, pleasant, commercial, elusive. By commercial, I mean that the scent will have a wide popularity, and there's nothing challenging or difficult here. There are appealing scents offered up feely and with a solid strength - not too strong and not too weak. HMS could be the ABBA of the incense world, and this Patchouli is like Sugar Sugar by The Archies. It's great fun and very pleasant, but a little too sweet and lacking in authenticity to be a really high scorer for me.
I had a quick look around for other variations of this stick, and two that came to hand were Bhagwan Patchouli and Triloka Hawaiian High. All three are different - recognisably from the same house, and all three playing around with herbs and vanilla, with a sense of patchouli in there, but I couldn't say that these are the same sticks. The Bhagwan is rich, fresh, herbal. Not as sweet. Less vanilla for sure. Less excitement and pleasure, but more earthy, interesting, and satisfying. The scent on the burn is rather mild. A little too mild for my taste - I get impatient with such scents. It's not so much that it's mild, it's more that it's lazy - it will toddle along eventually, but pretty much when my attention has drifted off. I'm rarely one to sit and study an incense for the 40 minutes of so of its burn. I'm generally doing something else, and my attention will come back now and again. If the incense doesn't really change or develop, then my attention will not return. The Bhagwan comes up with the goods just as I'm about to switch off completely. It ends up being the most traditional of the three HMS sticks, and somehow, for me, the most likeable. The Triloka is sweet and fruity. Very fruity. Tropical fruit - pineapple and coconut. While this may be HMS doing a variation on the Patchouli, it may also be something else entirely. There's threads in common, but the general picture is not quite the same.
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