Stamford Joss Styx Chakra Ajna Third Eye

Third review - scroll down for earlier

I love this incense. It's a real shame that the UK based Aargee/Stamford import company broke up, and some of the incense lines have been lost. Stamford still continue, and Ephra World in Germany offer a good selection of Stamford incense, but this Chakra range appears to no longer be available. At least by Stamford.  Aargee/Stamford used several Indian incense houses, including Satya and Goloka  (though I don't think this is by either of them), so this might still be made; however, as it is a themed incense part of a Chakra set, it might have been a special commission rather than a simple rebadge. Or, there may well be an incense right now selling a Chakra set with an Ajna Third Eye fragrance based on rosemary and juniper. 

The sticks are 8 inches long with 6 1/2 inches of hand-rolled soft black paste with a thin coating of brown powder. The sticks have an attractive fragrance, mildly sweet and floral with herbal and gentle warm spice notes. Some wood. Some cologne. While sweet, it is not rich; while highly scented, it is not overbearing. There is a dryish, sombre quality to the scent, so it walks a fine line between sweet and dry. I am enjoying that balance. There's plenty to explore here  - some hints of white chocolate, faint rosemary, pine, Christmas, and something deliciously savoury that is tantalisingly just of of reach. 

It lights and burns as you'd hope and expect. Producing a steady column of smoke that never becomes intrusive. The fragrance spreads gently but firmly around the room, and leaves a pleasant and cleansing aroma lingering for some hours - just as you'd want from a quality masala. The stick burns for approx 50 minutes.  I first reviewed this 10 years ago, and it still smells gorgeous today, though perhaps not as heady as it appears to have been back in 2013. The scent from the stick is repeated in the burn - playful, elusive, highly fragrant, sweet, spicy, slightly prickly. This presents as a quality masala (whatever a masala actually is!) with woolly pricks of halmaddi.  I'd love to come across who actually made this, and find out if they still make it today. 


Date: Nov 2023   Score: 45 

Second review

I grabbed a box of Anja today to sweeten the house for a guest arriving, and it reminded me how pleasant and sweet the Chakra series is, but also how smoky and in your face they can be. I had two burning at the same time, and although they were in different rooms, the house was thick with smoke, and there was a very heavy presence of sweet incense. I had forgotten my own caution on using too much. These sticks are best burned well in advance of visitors. It is better to allow the memory of the fragrance to inform a room than for an actively burning stick to dominate it; these sticks will inform a room quite delightfully for at least a day after burning.

There is  a magnificent floral, honey, camphor, and patchouli scent on the stick, which is present also on burning. The box informs us that the fragrance contains a "special mix of Rosemary and Juniper", though I'm not quite getting that. There is a suggestion of the warm wool and seductive sweetness of halmaddi (along with the prickly sensation I get when halmaddi is burned),  and there are distinct floral notes, and the whole is underpinned by musk and pierced by the medicinal  sharpness of camphor, but for me there is not quite rosemary or juniper. This is very much in the camp of the traditional Indian incenses such as The Mothers and  Satya, that is incenses which are special, and demand attention. They can be a little too much too take, but when blended carefully, can provide an uplifting experience. I like these Chakra, and burning this stick again this evening I'm reminded that I bought all seven of the series, but never got around to reviewing them, even though all the boxes have been opened and half the contents have been used!


Date: April 2016   Score: 42  

First review

 

This is gorgeous stuff. Rich, heady, sweet, evocative. The aroma penetrates and lasts, without being overwhelming - though I wouldn't recommend burning too many at the same time. I think two at the same time, in even a large room, is quite enough. The aroma envelops the area and lasts for a long time - at least 24 hours, and up to 48. This is top quality - hand rolled from good quality masala ingredients onto a charcoal base - the appearance is a moist sandy brown with the black of the charcoal just showing through occasionally in the faint translucence of the finishing powder. There's no suggestion of being dipped in synthetic perfumes. The aroma on burning is frankincense, patchouli and camphor with notes of violets and musk. It is a warm, mystical, seductive and opulent aroma.  Lovely.

Chakra is a series of seven scents from Stamford, which they use for sticks, cones, essential oils, granules and fragrances.  Chakra are the areas in the body that are centres of life force or energy. Ajna is one of the primary seven chakra, and is represented by the colour blue, which is the colour of the box. There is a diagram of the seven primary chakra on the box, and a little bit of blurb about keeping your chakra in balance.

Prices for the sticks vary, I bought a pack of 15 for £1.49 from Incense-essentials.co.uk of Norfolk, which appears to be the cheapest source. [2023: Incense-essentials appears to have closed] 

Date: August 2013 Score: 42    

***

Vintage Incense
(Incense no longer available)

Other ratings of incense by Aargee

 Incense Ratings - Top of the Dhoops!

Ganesha Gardenia

Budget priced incense sticks made in India for Cha Cha Dum Dum, an ethnic gifts company founded in Kensington in 1968. Cha Cha sell them wholesale for 20p a packet (30 sticks per packet), and they can be bought online from eBay or incense-essentials for around 50p a pack. Ganesha is one of Cha Cha's brand names. The packs are flat, stiff paper, with rather crude but pleasant Indian designs. The packs are the same across the brand range, with the fragrance being identified by a sticker. The only writing is "Ganesha 30 Natural Incense Sticks" on the front and "Produced in India" on the back. The sticks are hand-rolled onto plain bamboo. It's a slightly gritty pale brown masala incense paste. The scent may come entirely from the masala ingredients - or it may also come from dipped perfume. It's difficult to tell. There's a pine and mint aroma on the stick - quite fresh and clean. There's something pleasantly rustic and simple about the whole thing that is quite charming. The aroma when lit is burning herbs, rather like some Tibet/Nepal and Thailand incense.

Gardenia is a highly scented flower, though apparently cannot be made into a perfume, so gardenia fragrances are approximations using orange blossom, jasmine and sandalwood. These notes are present in this incense, though not to a great degree.

This is a basic incense. But it's not offensive - indeed, it has some crude charms. And it is very cheap. It's not a brand I would buy again, nor is it one I would recommend. I wouldn't burn it in front of guests - but it serves well in the toilet or kitchen to mask mild odours. 

[2024 comment:] These old and originally very cheap, poor quality sticks are being sold on the RedBuddha website for £2.99 a packet. 

Date: Aug 2013    Score: 27

***

Cha Cha Dum Dum

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Stamford Joss Styx Chakra Muladhara Root (discontinued)

Third review - scroll down for earlier reviews

As of Oct 2023, this is is my Top Drawer World Class Incense listing, and burning it again now, I feel that it absolutely deserves that respect. This is a mighty incense made from a blend of myrrh and patchouli. These are the same sticks I burned in 2013, so they are over ten years old, and remain glorious. It captures my attention by being refined and beautiful - a musky, woody, resinous, moderately sweet, subtly balsamic scent - compelling and alluring. There's no off notes or oddities. The balance is harmonious and dreamy. There's herby patchouli riding along the top, dipping into soft, creamy caramel. The scent is bold yet subtle, and is refreshingly different to most incenses which work around the same ideas, accords, and scents.

This is not sold anymore under the Stamford name (though some stocks may turn up, and the maker may sell it under a different name). The Aargee company split in 2020, with the incense section being rebranded as Stamford London concentrating on Stamford branded perfume-dipped and co-branded Stamford-Satya masala incense.  Satya was one of several companies that Aargee worked with - other companies included Goloka and Mysore Sugandhi. One of those companies may have made this, or it could be any number of others. If anyone finds a masala Myrrh & Patchouli incense please let me know! 

Heavenly. 


Date: Oct 2023   Score: 48

Second review

Having a rummage in our spare room for some heat plasters, I came upon a few old boxes of incense. This one I bought in 2013, nearly nine years ago. It still smells fresh and delightful. Sadly, Incense-Essentials appears to no longer be operating, and Aargee appear to have discontinued the Chakra range, and it is not available anywhere. Shame, as this is a very fine incense indeed. A proper job masala incense using a blend of myrrh and patchouli. Gorgeous scent - sweet, sexy, fascinating, woody, and musky. Oh yes. This is really my sort of scent, and it is derived from pure resins and herbs, with only a modicum of essential oil, and none of the perfumes or agarbathi oils that a number of incense companies are using these days in their masala incense in order to keep the costs down. [2023 comment: I'm not so sure this sentence is true] 

The stick is made from a fragrant and still soft masala charcoal paste hand rolled on a hand cut and undyed bamboo splint, and then rolled in a fragrant melnoorva powder (hints of vanilla and floral notes in the powder) which is mainly used to stop the sticks from gluing together as they are laid out to dry. The scent on the stick is quite juicy and fruity - memories of walking through Mediterranean orange groves in Malta and in Cypress.  This is a lovely and profound incense. 

I love this. 

Date: June 2022    Score: 47 

First review

Stamford, the "quality" brand name of the UK based incense distributors Aargee, do tend to have very well made incense sticks and attractive scents. These are hand-rolled sticks - charcoal paste onto undyed good quality bamboo sticks of consistent size, which are then rolled in a masala (ground and dried mix of herbs or spices or incense) of myrrh and patchouli. It's a beautiful aroma - warm, spicy, fragrant, quite dreamy, opulent, and relaxing. I really like it.

Chakra is a series of seven scents from Stamford, which they use for sticks, cones, essential oils, granules and fragrances.  Chakra are the areas in the body that are centres of life force or energy. Muladhara is one of the primary seven chakra, and is represented by the colour red, which is the colour of the box. There is a diagram of the seven primary chakra on the box, and a little bit of blurb about keeping your chakra in balance.

Prices for the sticks vary, I bought a pack of 15 for £1.49 from Incense-essentials.co.uk* of Norfolk, which appears to be the cheapest source. * [site no longer available of of 2023]


Date: Aug 2013  Score: 40

 ***

Vintage Incense
(Discontinued under this
brand name for over a year)

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Fair Trade Nitiraj Red Nag Champa

Nitiraj is made by Fair Trade Incense Works and was distributed by Bombay Incense, a British incense distribution company who, like Aargee, commission their own products. They mainly operate in America (originally I thought they were American). The sticks are hand rolled from a masala mix, rather than perfume dipped, and this gives a fresher, more natural smell. It's a variation on Nag Champa, and most Nag Champas tend to be masala style incense sticks. As it's a Nag Champa variation, it is sweet and heady and quite intoxicating. There are natural vanilla notes, underscored by sandalwood, producing a warm, seductive, exotic, and very delicious aroma. I have no complaints about this. It's a nice incense.

The packet is plainly decorated and rather uninspiring. And the lack of information about where the incense is made is slightly off-putting. The packet states that this is a blend of "exotic oils and sweet tropical fruits" - and there is a dampness to the sticks which indicates that after being rolled, they were dipped in essential oils - the perfume on the stick itself is not great, being inclined toward furniture polish; but neither is it offensive. I'm not sure how much the aroma of the oils penetrates when burned, as it is the base Nag Champa masala mix that dominates, but there is some awareness of orange oil in the air. The sticks were half price (99p for 10g - approx 10 sticks) as a clearance item from the Incense-man. That would put them normally at around £4 for a standard 20g - a price I feel is a little high when compared to the Nag Champa market leader, Satya. But perhaps they were at clearance because they are old, and the essential oils have largely evaporated, leaving just the basic Nag Champa aroma.

I like this incense. But then, I like Nag Champa. It's a damn good scent, and it burns for a long time, so that would compensate for the price. I note that Mike at ORS is not keen on this incense.

I have recently reviewed the same company's "Original" incense.

Date: Aug 2013   Score: 33

***

Nag Champa

 List of Incense Reviewed

Fair Trade Incense Works

Aravinda Sugandha Shringar

Sugandha Shringar, created in 1963, is claimed by the company to have been innovative in that it was not a single scent incense, but was a blend. It is a perfumed charcoal incense which combines sandalwood with a floral scent. This was created four years before Satya was founded, so this incense blend of sandalwood and champa was around at least four years before Satya made their Satya Nag Champa, which is a blend of sandalwood and champaca. 

This is clearly a perfumed charcoal incense - a machine extruded charcoal paste has been applied to a machine cut and dyed pink bamboo split, and at some point a liquid scent has been applied to the charcoal. The scent on the stick is not great. Indeed, it's a little off-putting with notes of vomit and stale cheese along with the floral touches which are both fresh and old at the same time. It's a curious and not exactly inviting scent. 

However, on the burn, it somehow works. I'm not as impressed as I was ten years ago - also I note that the sticks I had then are different, as I describe them "scruffily hand-rolled charcoal paste onto undyed sticks which are mostly quite thin and floppy", whereas these are fairly sturdy machine extruded sticks.  I didn't take a photo - the picture I used was taken from the internet, so all I have to go by is my description, and my memory, which matches the description. 

The scent on the burn is warm, modest, attractive; fairly sweet with gently heady rose like floral notes underpinned by a modest sandalwood warmth. It somehow works, but does feel a little old fashioned and minor. The main interest is the historic claim, and experiencing this scent, which despite being old fashioned, may be the first modern Indian incense, and the forerunner of all  Nag Champas and blended incenses.  I also like the retro quality of the packet design. 

Date: April 2023   Score:  28 


We've been finishing off the pack in the outhouse, and I've become quite fond of the lingering scent. It is attractively floral, and last for a good while, making the outhouse a pleasant place to walk into. Moved the score up a tad. 

Date: May 2023   Score: 29 

Pack of approx 15 for 48p from Incense-essentials.co.uk of Norfolk [Update, Oct 2021 - the link appears to be dead]. Made by Aravinda Parimala Works, of Mysore, who were founded as a small local company in 1963 with this scent. The company has developed its exports and now has several export awards and a wide range of scents. Sugandha means fragrance, and is sometimes used to mean incense. Shringar means adornment - interestingly. Indian brides should wear 16 shringar or adornments on their wedding day.

These are rather cheap, rough looking sticks. Poorly and scruffily hand-rolled charcoal paste onto undyed sticks which are mostly quite thin and floppy.  This is a perfume-dipped incense, with volatile aromas present on the stick. The incense does burn nicely however. The smoke is soft and attractive. The colour is grey and modest, but the smoke itself is soft, enveloping and very pleasant. The base aroma is sandalwood, with sweet champa notes. Quite warm and seductive. For a budget incense, this is indeed quite pleasant, and the aroma is strong enough to make itself felt, and to linger for a while. Again, quite impressive for an imported dipped perfume stick. Unless I happened upon a very fresh one.

I like these.

Date: August 2013  Score: 31

***

Aravinda Parimala Works

 Incense Ratings - Top of the Dhoops!

/684

Tulasi Honey

Square box of eight sticks. Hand rolled charcoal paste onto a red dyed stick, which is then dipped into a synthetic perfume that resembles the aroma of honey. The stick also has an aroma of furniture polish - but as that tends to contains bees wax, I suppose that's where the similarity comes.

It's an acceptable aroma when burning - slightly smokey, with notes of burning butter, but there are distinct honey aromas. Not high quality, but certainly not offensive. A decent enough scent from a fairly consistent if largely unexciting incense company.

Date: Aug 2013   Score: 24

***

 Various Incense Ratings

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Incense stick production in India

Incense sticks, also known as agarbathi (or agarbatti) and joss sticks, in which an incense paste is rolled or moulded around a bamboo stick, is one of the main forms of incense in India. The method is believed to have started in India, and is distinct from the Nepal/Tibet and Japanese methods of stick making which don't use a bamboo core. Though the method is also used in the west, particularly in America, it is strongly associated with India.

 The basic ingredients are the bamboo stick, the paste (generally made of charcoal dust and joss/jiggit/gum/tabu powder - an adhesive made from the bark of litsea glutinosa and other trees), and the perfume ingredients - which would be a masala powder of ground ingredients into which the stick would be rolled, or a perfume liquid sometimes consisting of synthetic ingredients into which the stick would be dipped. Stick machines are sometimes used, which coat the stick with paste and perfume, though the bulk of production is done by hand rolling at home. There are about 5,000 incense companies in India which take raw unperfumed sticks hand-rolled by approx 2000,000 women working part-time at home, and then apply their own brand of perfume, and package the sticks for sale.  There are about 25 main companies who together account for up to 30% of the market, and around 500 of the companies, including a significant number of the main ones, are based in Bangalore.

Some ingredients

Match Incense: Daisy, Kiwi, Pineapple & Cedar Wood

Match Incense are made by Amina Agarbatti Works Pvt. Ltd.,  a small company based in Mumbai, India, and founded in 1995. I can't find much information on them, other than they make a range of cones all packaged in imitation Indian matchboxes. Few places seem to sell them, which is a shame, as the matchbox idea is really good. The cones are quite small,  and the scent is quite light, but they are attractive.

They burn very quickly, and the blend of burnt herbs and  perfumed scent can be a little unbalanced for my taste, but overall a decent little low budget everyday incense. The match box idea is so cute. It makes them quite collectible as the match box images are very attractive. And the boxes can be used afterwards for storing spare buttons or paper clips.

Daisy
Box of twenty small sandy coloured cones by Amina of Mumbai; bought from Incense Essentials for 75p. These have a pleasant mix of floral and fruit. with hints of citric and bergamont.

Date: August 2013   Score: 23

Kiwi

Bought in a hippy shop on Market Square in Faversham for £1.25 for a box of 20 cones. . The cones are coloured a light green, and the aroma is fresh and fruit like, with a suggestion of kiwi, though other tropical fruit scents can be made out. It is a clean, refreshing aroma, with base notes of warm sandal and musk, and some bergamot on the way to the fresh, citric high notes.

Date:  March 2013  Score: 30  

Pineapple
A pleasant light citric aroma - mildly sweet and tropical. These are modest everyday incense cones, which burn quickly, but have an enjoyable, uplifting aroma which freshens a room.

Date: August 2013   Score: 30

Cedar Wood
Woody and herbal. Moderately attractive - quite cleansing. Has warm, sandalwood tones mingled with wood smoke. Modestly likable.

Date: August 2013   Score: 28

Match Incense Grapefruit
Score: 19 

Date: August 2013   Average score: 28

***

Incense cones

Fruit Fragrances
That'll Make You Drool

 What's The Best Incense In The World?

Tulasi Feng Shui Wood

  

Messily hand-rolled charcoal paste onto a red dyed stick. This is part of Tulasi's Feng Shui series. 84p for a hex box of 20 from Incense Essentials of Norfolk. Made by Sarathi International Inc of Bangalore.

This is a modest incense. Slightly perfumed with chemical rather than natural notes. There's nothing yummy about it, but it's not offensive either. The sticks have a sharp, shoe polish and pomegranate aroma with harsh chemical notes that irritate the nose. Burn and forget. Though best to use at least two sticks. It's OK to freshen a room and to keep flies away, but not one to use with guests, or to create a mood.

Date: Aug 2013   Score: 21/50

***

 What's The Best Incense In The World?

More Tulasi reviews

Aargee (out of business)

Aargee Novelties was a British company based in Acton, London, and founded in 1978 to import incense and ethnic gifts. As well as importing incense such as Satya and Goloka, they sold masala incense under their own Aargee name, and perfumed-charcoal incense under their own Stamford brand. Around 2020 it appears that the company split, with Nimesh Radia taking the company's own label Stamford brand as Stamford London, while the incense and ethnic gifts section was taken over by Puckator. The Aargee brand, including the masala incense, appears to no longer exist. 

Aargee claimed to be the "UK’s leading specialist importer and wholesale distributor of incense and ethnic giftware", with "450 types of incense, comprising of 15 brands and 119 different fragrances". They didn't directly make incense, but had it made for them in India by other manufacturers, including Goloka, Satya (Shrinivas Sugandhalaya), and Mysore Sugandhi. They introduced the Stamford brand in 1994. In 2011, Aargee developed 12 new fragrances with Shrinivas Sugandhalaya to be sold exclusively through the Stamford brand. The two companies have listed 24 fragrances they make together. Brands they owned: Aargee (now defunct); Stamford (defunct website) - StamfordLondon (new website); Imperial (now defunct); Chakra (now defunct). Many of my reviews are over five years old so may not be reliable both in terms of age, and in terms of my own knowledge and experience. 

I liked Aargee. The masala incense was fairly consistently of a high standard, and some of the fragrances still stand as among the best I have experienced.  The Aargee branded perfumed incense was lower end stuff. The Stamford branded perfumed incense, much of which continues as  Stamford London, was always popular. It tended to be sweet and heady. I liked (and still like) much of it, and in particular liked the cones as something fun and fragrant to burn in the toilet.  

Some of these fragrances have been continued by Stamford London, which trades under the Stamford brand name. Not just the scented incense, but some of the masala as well. It seems that it's the Satya and Goloka made masala that continues.  I will gradually move all the currently available reviews out of this Aargee listing into the Stamford London listing. 

Reviews

* = Score over five years old, so may not be reliable

 

Stamford Chakra 
Muladhara Root

Oct 2023 - Score: 48↑↑

Aargee Imperial 
Kashmir Sandal Fragrance
Dec 2023 - Score: 48↓↑

Aargee Imperial Maharaja
Patchouli Fragrance (M)
Dec 2023 - Score: 47

Aargee Joss Styx Chakra
Manipura Solar Plexis
Discontinued
Dec 2023 - Score: 47

Stamford Chakra 
Ajna (Third Eye)

Nov 2023 - Score: 45=↑

Stamford Chakra 
Anahata Heart
Feb 2023 - Score: 45

Aargee Imperial Maharani
Heena Fragrance (M)
Dec 2023 - Score: 41=

Aargee Imperial 
Bharat Mata Bouquet Fragrance
March 2017 - Score: 40↑*

  

Satya / Stamford (2012) Imagination (PM)
Aug 2025 - Score: 39

Aargee Krishna Leela Agarbathi (M)
Dec 2023 - Score: 39

Aargee Laxmi Pooja
May 2015 - Score: 38*

  

Aargee Joss Styx Chakra
Sahasrara Crown (M)
Dec 2023 - Score: 38

Aargee Patchouli
Discontinued
March 2015 - Score: 33*

Ganesh Flora by Aargee
Discontinued
August 2015 - Score: 32=*

Satya/Stamford (Original - 2014) Knowledge (M)
Nov 2019   Score: 32

Stamford Chakra
Svadhistana Sacral
Dec 2023 - Score: 32↑

Aargee Imperial 

Raja Rani Lavender Fragrance

June 2023 - Score: 30

Stamford 
Midnight Calm (by Satya)
July 2015 - Score: 30↓* 

Stamford
Midnight Collection 07 Cones
Discontinued
Date: July 2018 - Score: 28↓*

Aargee Rose (tube series)
Discontinued
July 2018  Score: 28*

Satya/Stamford (Original - 2014)
Meditating Shiva (PM)
Nov 2019 - Score: 27*

Aargee Musk
Discontinued
Dec 2015 - Score: 27*

Aargee Lavender
Discontinued
Dec 2015   Score: 27*

Satya/Stamford (Original - 2014)
Laxmi's Lotus (PM)
 Nov 2019   Score: 25

Satya/Stamford (Mumbai 2014) Intuition 
Feb 2024 - Score: 25

Stamford Chakra Muladhara Root Cones
Aug 2016  Score:  25*

Aargee
Sandalwood (tube series)
Discontinued
Dec 2015 - Score: 22*

Aargee Gold Statue
Discontinued
April 2014 - Score: 21*

   

Aargee Namaste (P) 
Discontinued
Jan 2015 - Score: 21*

Aargee Ayurveda
Variety Pack 
Discontinued
Feb 2017 - Score: 20*

Satya/Stamford (Original - 2014)
Freedom (PM)
Nov 2019 - Score: 20

Stamford Natura Sandalwood
July 2018 - Score: 20*

Aargee Jasmine 
Discontinued
Dec 2015 - Score: 20* 

Stamford Satin
Discontinued
July 2015 - Score: 12*

Reviews: 34
Highest score: 48
Average top five: 45
Lowest score: 12
Average: 28 

Overall score: 37

Conclusion: Aargee were a significant wholesale importer of incense into the UK, and commissioned some excellent masala incense and sweet, heady commercial scented incense.  Though they continue as Stamford London, they now only sell the scented incense, so the excellent masala incense is no longer available under the Aargee name except in places where there is some old stock left.  

***

Own Brand / Private Label

Vintage Incense
(Incense not available from
this brand for over a year)