Help Us Green Patchouli

 

Wow! This is gorgeous stuff. After my experience with Phool, and Help Us Green Rose, I was not expecting something so delightful.

Phool was founded by Karan Rastogi and Ankit Agarwal in 2017 to deal with the pollution of the Ganges in India from discarded temple flowers. In 2019 they split up over disagreements over how to finance the company. Agarwal wanted to pursue external funding, while Rastogi wished for Phool to grow more organically - so Rastogi left, and formed Help Us Green, doing the same thing as Phool: finding eco-friendly uses for the discarded temple flowers. Phool has grown, is well known, and currently has significant financial backing, but appears not yet to have turned a profit. Help Us Green is less well known, but feels to be in a more relaxed position.  My experience with Phool incense is that I love the packaging, and I love the eco-friendly intentions, but the incense tends to have dirty water and/or damp decay off-scents which are somewhat off-putting. 

When Rastogi sent me four samples of Help Us Green incense, I noted how similar the packaging was to Phool; indeed, it felt like an imitation. I also noted that all four incenses were perfume dipped, and used over-familiar mono-scents: Rose, Jasmine, Sandalwood, and this Patchouli. There seemed a lack of ambition, and a lack of imagination. On reviewing the Rose, I found it quite acceptable for an everyday perfume-dipped room-freshener mono-scent incense. But nothing special. To be fair, I am not a fan of rose incense. Especially rose incense that smells like rose incense. 

So, yes, given that Help Us Green are Phool Mark II, and Phool incense has significant off-notes, and that the Rose incense was unremarkable, I did have low expectations of this Patchouli.  The packaging is pleasant, and there is a free chunky wooden incense holder included (though exactly how many incense holders does any one person need or want?). The scent on the stick is very perfumed with distinct volatile fumes that are somewhat off-putting, but not disastrous (depending on your sensitivity to such things). The scent is sweet and musky, with elements of soap and vanilla.  When lit the oils really start to display themselves. Rich, oily, sensual, musky, sweet, woody - quite heavy with velvet tones of downy softness, yet touched with the light sweetness of vanilla. I am partial to patchouli, and I'm partial to rich, musky, woody, sweet incenses so this is very much my thing. I like the smoke, and I like the scent, and I like the way the fragrance informs and softens the room, enriching it, and lingering beautifully for long hours afterwards.  Yes, this is my bag, baby. It may be yours too; but not yet available in the West, sadly. 

One of the best patchouli incenses I've burned. With very much a School of Pune feel about it. And only available in India it seems. 

Date: May 2025   Score: 42

***

Patchouli

Recycled Temple Flowers