Cosmic Dealer – TAKE ME TO THE YOGA SHALA
Cosmic Dealer is a French, “female-founded” company that sells wellness products. Mainly chocolate and teas, and everything is pretty expensive and made to appear spiritual and healthy.
Their incense line currently includes 4 varieties that are “ethically crafted by Yogis in a magical Ashram in the Himalayas.” A box of 30 incense sticks costs €21, they are 14cm long.
The incense sticks are also vegan and free from all imaginable additives, including essential oils.
The packaging is extremely sturdy and well-made. It is a sturdy cardboard slipcase in which the drawer is even secured so that it cannot accidentally fall out.
I picked up a box of 19 sticks for very cheap on kleinanzeigen.de. The previous owner wanted to give it away because they liked it, but nevertheless never used it.
The ingredients of this variety are sandalwood and Ayurvedic herbs.
TAKE ME TO THE YOGA SHALA more than deserve the title “Dry Masala” because they are not only physically dry, but also smell so. It’s an almost dust-like dry wood smell, which takes a lot of good will from me to find something remotely sandalwood-ish in it. If there’s any, it’s not of high quality.
This smells more like something that you would use as a neutral base material because, in addition to the aromatic ingredients, incense sticks usually require a “base” made of a material that can burn well without negatively affecting the scent.
Simply put, it’s the smell of a campfire, but without being pungent or unpleasant.
I can detect a slightly tart note in it, which I attribute to herbs.
I once caught a stick that smelled noticeably different from the others. As if it had a higher herbal content. Its smell was a little sweeter and fresher. The smell reminded me slightly of marijuana, but more so the taste of that. It also created an association with food, it made me crave grilled meat in a herb marinade – not very vegan.
The following sticks were like the ones before.
I also burned one stick in my mother’s flat. She also likes incense, especially sandalwood, and her living room often showcases drier wood scents better than mine, but even there the scent didn’t really come to life. Sad.
I took the liberty of doing a little experiment with these sticks:
I dipped one in a homemade labdanum tincture (labdanum is balsam of rock rose – not to be confused with “laudanum”, the opium derivative) and then let it dry. The smell was surprisingly good.
If you have “Indian amber” at home, you can also rub it on incense sticks (assuming they are hard and sturdy enough) to spice up the smell. This is also a very economical way to use this expensive material as incense.
Amber – the solid perfume – which is also sometimes sold as incense, is very potent. It is not a single raw ingredient (or even true Amber, the petrified tree resin), but a composition of storax or liquidambar balms, honey, beeswax and other ingredients; the exact recipes are closely guarded secrets.
