Vakratund – Rosy Pearls

I was initially not going to review these sticks because they’re not available outside of India anyway, but they have a rather unique appearance which I didn’t want to withhold from you.

A close-up of the sticks.

I received three sticks as a gift from Sascha, a fellow incense enthusiast. He had ordered them from Aavyaa, but they are no longer available there. With some help from Sascha, I found this Indian shop that sells them for ₹110.00 without specifying the quantity included. However, there you can at least admire the pretty packaging that tempted Sascha to buy them.
Vakratund apparently doesn’t have a website, only an Instagram profile.

Rosy Pearls can only be dipped incense. When lit, the stick burns with a hungry, very sooty flame; nevertheless, it takes time before it begins to establish an ember. They certainly didn’t go light on thinners like DPG here.
The raw smell suggests the worst: it smells like cheap air freshener with the charm of toilet pucks.
Once lit, the smell is surprisingly “good” – as in not bad, quite acceptable. It’s a recognisable rose fragrance, which I surprisingly don’t find obtrusive or excessively sweet. Sweet – yes, but not cloying. It’s also unexpectedly soft. I found Rose by Morning Star considerably worse.
However, the amount of smoke produced is quite enormous, and after a few minutes I can feel (despite widely opened windows) an unpleasant pressure settling on my bronchi.
In the after-smell, the initially suspected character of Rosy Pearls ultimately reveals itself, and an odour like cheap air freshener settles in.

Originally, I would have written that Vakratund – Rosy Pearls contrary to expectations, aren’t complete rubbish. I would have said that they’re only suitable for outdoors, but usable.
However, the day after I wrote this review, I had to realise that my nasal mucous membranes were apparently seriously affected by these incense sticks. Already in the evening, I had noticed that I had an unusually dry nose. Still, I hadn’t taken it so seriously. The blood I saw when blowing my nose the next morning, changed that, however.
In fact, it took well over a week for my nose to recover!

Stay away from Vakratund!