Nandita – Wood Spice

This pack is from my first order from Ephra. I paid €2.25 back then, but the price has risen slightly since then. This 15g pack contained 13 pieces.

I’ve been putting off the review for a long time. It’s probably one of Nandita‘s most popular varieties and one of Steve’s favorites, but it doesn’t do much for me. They’re not bad, but just not what I look for in incense.

Nandita – Wood Spice simply smells like aftershave, men’s perfume or something similar to me. The scent also has a distinctly soapy touch. It is tart-green, woody and has an astringent oakmoss character that quickly becomes intrusive to me. There is a certain sweetness to it, but I noticed it mainly when I compared it to Goloka – Tree of Life (which I’m not crazy about either). They are underlaid with a spicy note that I can’t define in more detail.
They’re too potent for me. I use it outside, but even there the smell is really overpowering. When the smoke thins out a lot, a fruity note emerges that makes me think of apple flavour. Overall, they seem quite synthetic.
I briefly compared it with Vijayshree‘s Nag Temple, which I wrote about a while ago. These seem significantly fresher, woodier and sweeter compared to Woodspice and I think I would rate them a little higher now than at the time of the review. For me, Tales of India – Monsoon Magic, along with the other two already mentioned, are in the same fragrance genre as Woodspice.

Rating: 2.0