Gaia’s Incense – Nag Champa Original

This pack was given to me as a gift.
Online, I’ve found prices ranging from about €3.50 up to an absurd €7.99 (spiru.de). A pack contains 15 sticks.

Gaia’s Incense is Fair Trade. It is made somewhere in southern India by women from disadvantaged social backgrounds, who receive fair wages as a result.
Like other Fair Trade incense sticks I have tested, these seem very cheaply produced to me. They are extruded and probably dipped, although it could also be that the “natural essential oils” listed as ingredients are added directly to the dough. In any case, the scent is clearly based on some form of perfume.

Gaia’s Incense – Nag Champa Original smells extremely overpowering like an old lady’s perfume straight out of the package.
When lit, it’s a bit better but still very obtrusive and perfumey. It’s a heavy, old-fashioned floral scent, sweet and pungent. For me, the scent has absolutely nothing to do with Nag Champa. It has the same effect as when you walk past someone on the street and into their cloud of perfume, which makes you hold your breath for a moment.
I want to acknowledge that the composition has a certain softness in the background that some people might like, and the base wood material used rounds out the scent a bit.
But to be honest, I find them quite dreadful.

For me, they are basically on par with the Hari Darshan line Tales Of India, which are also extruded and overpriced. They also bear a striking resemblance to aroma valley (also Fair Trade), which I found perfumey but much more pleasant. It makes me wonder if perhaps the same organization is behind this mysterious Fair Trade production in southern India.

Rating: 1.2