Holy Smokes – Chakra assortment: Herz Chakra (Anahata)

I got Heart Chakra as a little surprise when I bought something on eBay-Kleinanzeigen. It was in an original BERK sample sleeve made of glassine, which was slightly discoloured due to oil leaking from the incense stick. It is an uncoated “masala” with apparently a very high charcoal content, it’s almost black and was (especially at the beginning) very oily.
The raw smell is correspondingly intense: very sweet, perfumey floral and somewhat pungent. I smell something “aquatic”, but only on the sleeve.

When lit, Heart Chakra smells to me primarily of Storax (Liquidambar ssp.), a balsam resin that is very potent and has a pungent, gasoline-like smell in high concentrations. As a loose incense, it’s mainly found in the form of soaked charcoal splinters, more rarely as coarse-grained charcoal granules, which are usually more potent than the splinters.
If you have a closer look at the burning stick, you will notice a small ring of bubbling liquid behind the embers – oil, balm, liquefied resin or the like.
After a while, the high-pitched, sweet Storax aroma is joined by a really nice, floral aspect, which I can’t specify. There is something dark in the background, perhaps just the smell of the base materials. Unfortunately, the smell of the coal used is very notable.

I find the scent too heady for the heart chakra. It’s a lean, sharp scent that’s simultaneously too much and too little for me.

Rating: 2.3

[2023-12-27 – This Chakra line has been discontinued and replaced by a new one.]