Elbenzauber – Patchouli
I bought this pack of incense from an online shop called “Arkanum des Lichts” of which I was unfortunately very disappointed with the service and manners. The shop has very low prices, which is why I decided to test it. The Elbenzauber sticks costs €3.90 there, normal is €4.50.
A pack contains 15g, but the thickness of the sticks varies, so the quantity isn’t always the same. This time there were 12 sticks. On average, you pay about 30 cents per stick. The burning time is stated as 40–60 minutes.
For more information about the Elbenzauber brand, you can read my main article here.
Generally, I’m a big fan of this brand. But sadly, I must say that Patchouli was a real disappointment. I cannot find the slightest trace of patchouli in this scent.
The smell is rather mild and settled somewhere between powdery and creamy, slightly aromatic and sweet. Essentially, it smells like the room-note of very mild pipe tobacco after a few hours have passed. It’s a bit vanilla-like, and I think I can detect a hint of nutmeg. The scent is soft, absolutely unobtrusive, and actually pleasant, but it has nothing to do with patchouli.
It almost seems as if they forgot to add patchouli while mixing the ingredients. Because there’s nothing actually unpleasant for me, I’m willing to give them a rating of 2.4; yet, this scent is a complete miss regarding its theme.
Since I was so disappointed with the retailer, I considered that the incense sticks might have been stored incorrectly or were too old, but I ordered some others there, and I haven’t noticed anything with those. Also, patchouli is not a scent that quickly evaporates. At least, traces of it should still be detectable.
I sent samples to my blogger colleague Steve Pereira to see if he could find the patchouli in them. I will update the article when I receive feedback from him. (Given his legendary backlog, this may take a while.)
2024-01-14 Update Steve wrote a review of the sample I sent him. He describes it as “warm, earthy, spicy, bright, sexy, herbal” but calls the scent “light” and says that he misses the musky sweetness he normally associates with it. Still, he rates it with 38 points.
It seems that there is indeed nothing wrong with the pack; they are just absolutely not for me!
Still, if you are familiar with Elbenzauber – Patchouli, I’d be interested in your opinion. How does Elbenzauber – Patchouli smell to you? Leave me a comment!
I think we can sometimes be dazzled by the headlights of an incense fragrance name, and will tend to go chasing after that fragrance, and then get frustrated when we can’t find it, or its not as clear and bright as we expected. That happens to me a lot. I decided about a year ago that I would treat an incense fragrance name the same as a non-fragrance name, and just experience the incense for what it delivers rather than for what I pre-assume it will deliver. I have tried. But it is hard. If I’m told an incense is patchouli, and what I get is jasmine, then there is going to be a disconnect.
Hm.
I guess, I’m not as liberal as you are with incenses that don’t match their name, but this is definitely not the only criteria that counts for me.
However, it depends at least a little on the style of incense.
I do expect an incense to smell at least somewhat like it’s namesake and I won’t give up on that take. I think if you give an incense a specific name, you set an expectation and if this is meat or not is part of the experience the incense provides.
However, I tend to go in two steps; the first is “Does the incense match its name?” But the second step is, “Do I like the scent?”
I can appreciate an incense for being true to the natural plant scent and still dislike its smell because I don’t like said plant. I also can be in love with an incense that doesn’t smell like what it’s called. There were incenses I liked because they didn’t smell like their namesake, as I don’t like the (true) smell of that. Bhagwan -Eucalyptus would be an example.
This Patchouli, I just found entirely underwhelming, both as a patchouli scent and as an incense in general.