ONEIRONAUT: No 09, No 10, No 13, No 25, No 28
I received these samples from Steve (Incense in The Wind). Here is his article about Oneironaut, in which you can find his reviews of the individual varieties linked below.
As can be read there, Oneironaut is the brand of a shop of the same name based in Shoreditch.
On their homepage, you find the information that the Oneironaut incense sticks are made in Shoreditch, though Steve thinks he read something that would suggest the sticks are produced elsewhere.
The individual packets cost £5, but Oneironaut‘s actual thing seems to be subscription services: for £10 one gets 3 packets sent monthly; a subscription with 10 packets monthly costs £30.
On the individual product pages, you’ll search in vain for information about the number of sticks included in a pack. However, on the packs, and the header of the overview page, you can read ‘six incense sticks’. These are 10″ (approximately 25.5cm) long. The packs measure 11″ (approximately 28cm).
I initially thought Steve had shortened the sticks at the bamboo end so they’d fit better in the sample pouches, but in the photos in the Oneironaut shop, the bare bamboo ends are just as short.
The sticks all seem to have a burning time of approximately one hour, with the fragrance supposed to remain in the room for 3+ hours.
For all varieties, there’s a brief description as well as categorisation by fragrance family and a listing of fragrance notes.
In The Branches | No 09
Scent notes: Patchouli, Plum
Unlit, No 09 smell very fruity; rather like peach, but ‘plum’ also makes sense. It’s a very fresh, clear fruit smell that mixes with something like herbal sweets.
When the stick is burning, the fruitiness is considerably weaker and more washed out. The herbal note is now stronger and smells to me a little like bitter sage with a touch of mint. I wouldn’t have thought of patchouli.
I’m not sure whether it’s only the base material that brings a certain woodiness into the fragrance.
I’m not particularly keen on fruit smells, but apart from that, the fragrance of In The Branches is quite alright.
This stick was shortened at the upper end.
Dickens | No 10
Scent notes: Amber, musk, frankincense, cedarwood
The raw smell reminds me a little of toilet blocks, bath additives and Kukident tabs.
When lit, the fragrance is dry, tart and somewhat peppery-sharp and pungent. In the background I find a weak sweetness. The association with cleaning products doesn’t entirely vanish.
I also received a sample of Zam Zam – Frankincense from Steve, which when unlit had a severe chemical cleaning product smell for me. It’s sad what some people consider frankincense to smell like.
Dickens doesn’t smell entirely unpleasant, though. It’s more like the incense stick version of a relatively cheap aftershave. The pungent note reminds me a bit of oakmoss with the dry-woody character of the fragrance.
Whitechapel | No 13
Scent notes: Amber, wood, musk
Unlit, Whitechapel remind me of men’s shower gel, aftershave or similar. It’s a tart-fresh, slightly sweet and warm smell.
The smouldering sticks smell sweeter, more woody and warmer than the raw smell. They still have a masculine touch though, with an idea of aquatic freshness. It remains a ‘perfume smell’ for me.
As with the following Outdoors | No 25, I have the impression with Whitechapel that temperature influences how intensely the sweetness comes through. On somewhat cooler days, it seems to stay further in the background and let the fresher notes take centre stage.
Max’s impression of the sticks is a robust, aromatic smell with watery freshness, but the scent felt overall a little incoherent for him.
This stick was shortened at the upper end.
Outdoors | No 25
Scent notes: Pine, sandalwood, musk, cedarwood
There’s a clear pine needle note in the raw smell. But the fragrance is also a little soapy or like bath additives.
When burning, the green pine fragrance is more subdued. I no longer find the smell soapy now, but instead I smell a perfumed sweetness I’m not excited about. It’s probably the musk, in combination with what’s supposed to be sandalwood.
Today, it’s considerably cooler (16°C) than the day before (23°C) and I don’t find the fragrance outright unpleasant anymore; yesterday I found the sweetness very obtrusive. The cooler air seems to let the fresh smell of the pine oil through much better. Yesterday, Outdoors smelled rather like ‘heavily perfumed granny in the forest’.
I’m still not enthusiastic, though.
This stick was shortened at the upper end.
Cinematographic Still | No 28
Scent notes: Tonka bean, myrrh, guaiac wood
The raw smell has a fruitiness about it, which I cannot really explain based on the mentioned fragrance notes. It smells like chewy sweets like Maoam, with a spray of perfume and a pinch of spices.
When lit, the fruity note is gone. Only a washed-out sweet, quite woody and slightly tart smell remains. I don’t find the aroma bad, but I can’t get much out of it either.
As it seems, Steve also finds fruity notes in No 28, but for him, it remains during the burn. It’s actually his favourite of this selection.
Conclusion
With all sticks, I perceive the smell of the base material relatively strongly, especially at the start of the burn; which reminds me a little of the also dipped incense sticks from the Aromatherapy line by Maroma. As in these, I don’t find the wood smoke smell unpleasant; some might be bothered by it, though.
The fragrance compositions are generally quite interesting and appealing; however, I find the smell on the raw sticks almost always clearer or more defined. As fragrance oils for an oil diffuser, they might make more sense. The one exception is Whitechapel | No 13, which is my favourite.
Even though there are always exceptions, I again find that dipped incense sticks simply aren’t my cup of tea.
For people who generally enjoy dipped incense, though, Oneironaut are certainly interesting, as Steve’s largely positive reviews also indicate.