Sheesham Organics – Lavender

This sample is from Sascha, the owner of Indiaroma. He sent it to me as part of our sample exchange in May 2024. Sheesham Organics is not a brand he carries in his shop; he ordered it from aavyaa. The product images there only show the packaging, not the sticks themselves, and I suspect there’s a reason for this. These sticks are marketed as “luxury incense” and advertised as hand-rolled, which they definitely aren’t, as can easily be seen in the picture below.
A 100g pack costs ₹600 (about €6.50) at aavyaa. Each stick weighs 1.7g, meaning 100g would be around 60 sticks, resulting in a per-stick price of about €0.11. The back of the pack even lists a price as low as ₹200.

I was about to forgo a review altogether, but since I find Sheesham Organics’ marketing to be very misleading and aavyaa ships worldwide, I wanted to take the opportunity to warn potential buyers.

The raw scent of the sticks reminds me of a musty cupboard where cleaning products are stored.
When lit, Lavender smells less unpleasant but still far from good. It doesn’t smell like lavender, just vaguely floral and generic, with a character reminiscent of cheap air fresheners. This combines with a distinct wood smoke scent that feels heavy on the bronchi when used indoors.
This likely comes from the sawdust base used in these dipped incense sticks. In the industry, this base material is known as “White Powder” or “T1 Wood Powder”. The light colour allows for vibrant, intense colouring.
Given how weak the sticks seem while burning, the after-smell is surprisingly strong and long-lasting. It smells like a failed attempt to mask the odor of cold cigarette smoke with an air freshener.

In my opinion, Lavender has nothing to do with luxury, organic, or 100% natural ingredients and barely even with lavender. It’s cheap junk like that sold to tourists in Bali. Don’t waste your money on it.