The goddess Laxmi is occasionally invoked in incense titles; and those Laxmi titled incenses I've tried have tended to be sweet and floral. And this Nitiraj branded incense follows the trend by also being sweet and floral. Nitiraj branded incenses are made by the Mumbai based white label incense company Incense Collective, previously known as Fair Trade Incense Works, and are distributed in North America by Kheops International, in Australia by KO Shop Distributors, and in the UK by Namaste. Fair Trade's incense tends to be machine extruded, professionally made, well behaved, and made to a budget. They tend to be acceptable, though lacking in interest or character. Gentle, safe, commercial.
I like the scent on the stick. It is a pleasant blend of sandalwood and floral with some sweet caramel and a little sparkle of benzoin or vanilla. It smells more like a feminine body spray than an Indian incense - warm musk, a restrained hint of patchouli, and delicate late summer florals. Very likeable. Not sophisticated - just a pleasant, low cost, everyday young woman's body spray. And, yeah, there are soapy elements to the scent.
The scent on the burn is very gentle - so gentle as to be almost unnoticeable. This is a scent for people who prefer quiet, understated, clean and safe incense. Perhaps more inclined toward Japanese than Indian, but are looking to explore what India has to offer. It does have the "incense" accord - touches of frankincense or mystikal - which puts people in touch with what India has to offer, without being too heady or wild or bold. A safe yet pleasant bet. I'm OK with this. It doesn't rock my world, and it is a tad expensive at the regular price of £5, but is quite a pleasant and acceptable burn. Essentially this incense smells like Teen Spirit, but it doesn't Smell Like Teen Spirit. I tend to prefer Nirvana over Mennen, but there is a place in my heart for a safe and pleasant moment of teen or Laxmi spirit.
The scent on the burn is very gentle - so gentle as to be almost unnoticeable. This is a scent for people who prefer quiet, understated, clean and safe incense. Perhaps more inclined toward Japanese than Indian, but are looking to explore what India has to offer. It does have the "incense" accord - touches of frankincense or mystikal - which puts people in touch with what India has to offer, without being too heady or wild or bold. A safe yet pleasant bet. I'm OK with this. It doesn't rock my world, and it is a tad expensive at the regular price of £5, but is quite a pleasant and acceptable burn. Essentially this incense smells like Teen Spirit, but it doesn't Smell Like Teen Spirit. I tend to prefer Nirvana over Mennen, but there is a place in my heart for a safe and pleasant moment of teen or Laxmi spirit.
Widely available from many regular incense outlets. $4.25 from Exotic Incense; £4.95 from Incense Atelier on eBay; £3.98 special offer from Sacred Incense.
Sounds like it could be for me. ;P
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