Ispalla – Palo Santo & Eucalyptus RELAXATION / EMOTION
I got these incense sticks directly from Ispalla Incense out of Peru, you can find the backstory in this article.
My review explicitly refers to this new version, in a new packaging design. I can’t say how they differ from the old ones. The new ones are currently not available on the European market, but that’s sure to change soon.
Palo Santo & Eucalyptus RELAXATION is the name of the stick version of this scent. Further down in the article, you will find EMOTION, an incense log version. Ispalla calls the small blocks “Tablets”. The burning time of the incense sticks is approximately 50 minutes. A pack contains 10 sticks.
Ingredients: Bamboo sticks, Palo Santo powder, Palo Santo resin, powdered eucalyptus leaves, distilled water.
Eucalyptus is my “kryptonite”; I normally hate it in every form. So why do I like these incense sticks?
I’m really not sure why I can stand them because they clearly smell of eucalyptus, but somehow they lack the note that I usually find unbearable. Amazing!
I can only guess that it’s the sweetness in Palo Santo that blends very pleasantly with this green stuff that I despise.
Palo Santo & Eucalyptus have a very airy, minty fresh, and slightly sweet scent with a woody base note. The eucalyptus does not completely lose its herbal character; especially at the beginning, you can smell the typical burnt note of herbs, but when sufficiently diluted in the air, the scent is exceptionally fresh, light, and invigorating.
I would be genuinely interested to know what eucalyptus lovers think of Palo Santo & Eucalyptus.
EMOTION essentially smells the same as the sticks, just stronger, as more material burns at once. That is, it would be so if they burned properly, but unfortunately, I had the problem with this variety (and with FORTUNE / Rue) that the tablets went out after a short time. It would surprise me if Ispalla has not fixed the problem by now, but I have not yet received any feedback on my inquiry.
I find it a shame that Ispalla dyes the tablets. For EMOTION and RELAX / Lavender, the colour looks particularly artificial. For a company that likes to emphasize the naturalness of its product, such a decision is incomprehensible to me.