Song Of India – Aromatherapy – Sensuality
This pack was part of a clearance sale lot that I purchased via Kleinanzeigen in mid-2024. I had previously considered another variety from this line (Serenity) but ultimately decided against buying it.
A pack contains 50 bamboo-less incense sticks, each approximately 11cm long and about 3mm in diameter.
The pack also includes a small ceramic holder and the following leaflet, which provides an overview of the varieties of this line:
According to this, Sensuality is a “fancy aromatic fougère“; a term from perfumery that originates from French and literally translates to ‘fern.’ It describes a perfume accord for which lavender and oakmoss are classic components.
As soon as I open the inner plastic bag, I’m hit with an intensely perfumed scent: it’s relatively piercing, fresh, green, tart, and rather masculine. It feels like it sits somewhere between a cheap deodorant and a toilet air freshener.
When burned, there’s an additional smell reminiscent of burning cardboard.
So, to Song Of India, sensuality apparently smells like burning, perfumed cardboard. 😐
I advise against buying these; that’s €3 down the drain.
This Aromatherapy line follows a relatively new trend in the incense market: Indian ‘bambooless’ (sometimes written ‘bamboo-less’) incense sticks, meaning sticks without a bamboo core. If you’re wondering what’s new about that, since dhoop sticks have been around for ages, you’re not alone.
A discussion on Reddit provided me some insight, though I still don’t entirely understand it—especially since, ironically, there are also bamboo-less incenses that do have a bamboo.
In summary, the new bambooless incense sticks are apparently longer than dhoops, their composition differs from masala incense sticks because they need to hold their shape without a supporting core, and they are heavily perfumed.
I assume the line between bambooless and dry dhoop will often be blurred. For now, I’ll be categorising them under dhoop.
While in South India this year, I bought four packs of bambooless sticks, all of which looked similar to the ones you reviewed above. Two were made by Big Bell, a relatively new brand owned and run by Karthik, one of the sons of the famous former Balaji brothers—before Balaji was sold to a group of inexperienced young people.
It seems bambooless sticks are made without charcoal, using wood powder and, apparently, a lot of chemicals to keep them burning. And they do stay lit, regardless of weather or wind—clearly indicating heavy chemical content.
All four of the bambooless products I tried had a strong, unpleasant chemical scent. The fragrance and the base didn’t integrate well, despite the sticks being heavily perfumed. I wouldn’t classify them as dhoops or cones, which tend to be more natural and often contain charcoal or biochar.
I suspect it’s difficult to make an 11 cm stick without charcoal , as it would easily break. That’s probably why manufacturers use wood powder with heavy fixatives and burn-enhancing chemicals. Honestly, they’re so chemically loaded, I wouldn’t be surprised if they burned in space!
LOL