Shekhar’s – Guava

I was gifted this pack of Shekhar’s by Steve Pereira (Incense in The Wind).
He bought it in a shop in Southampton for £1, at least that’s the case with Shekhar’s Nag Champa. Steve writes that Shekhar’s has an outlet at the Mapusa Municipal Market in Goa, India, information that can also be found on the packaging label. You can’t find anything about the brand on the internet.

SHEKHAR’S NATURAL HANDMADE INCENSE STICKS
Near Fruit Market, behind Dangui Watch Repairers,
Municipal Market, Mapusa-Goa.
Mob.: 09422634696 – Email: shekharven@yahoo.in
^{₹75 equals €0.84}

There is no need to have any illusions about “natural” in their title. In India, there are no regulations about this, you can write whatever you want on the label and this also largely applies to the western market.
They are definitely handmade. The Masala application is sometimes a bit uneven, and you can clearly see pressure marks from storage. This also reveals that the dough is very soft when processed, which suggests that much oil is used.

Whether I like Guava or not depends greatly on my mood. Some days I have to put them out even outside on the balcony because the smell gets on my nerves; other days – like today – I find them somehow entertaining.
But I can definitely say one thing: Guava‘s scent hits the nail on the head. This is precisely the smell I imagine with “guava”.
Guava has an extremely intense, sweet-sour, tangy and tart-fruity aroma. Like Shekhar’s – Sweet 16, this fragrance has the motto “guilty pleasure” for me. It makes me think of sweets like Skittles or Jelly Beans; the kind of sweets whose “artificial” taste I simply crave sometimes.
Especially shortly after lighting, I find a hint in Guava that reminds me of sweat. This is another parallel to Sweet 16, and it looks like this could be a certain family resemblance within Shekhar’s incenses.
My friend Max thought they smelled like sugar or a candy store, and he was really into it – which surprised us both equally. Guava will therefore become his after finishing this review.

Guava is for lovers of intense fruit smells. A colourful, somewhat garish smell that can occasionally be quite fun.