Temple of Incense – Electric Musk and Monsoon Incense – Red Musk
I got these two samples in mid-2024: Electric Musk from Sascha (owner of Indiaroma) and Red Musk from Eugene, the owner of the Monsoon Incense brand.
Electric Musk is sold by Temple of Incense in England for £10 per box of 20 sticks.
In Germany, you can get them at Indiaroma or Wrage for €12.
Red Musk is available at Monsoon Incense for €2.50 in 15g packs. Based on the weight of my samples, that should be about 10 sticks.
Smell-wise, the two varieties aren’t alike in the slightest, but because of their visual similarity, and because Eugene directly references Electric Musk (originally sold by Happy Hari) in his description, it makes sense to cover them in one article.
Temple of Incense – Electric Musk
TOI describes Electric Musk as follows: “Everything we love about the exotic musky perfumed scents of Egypt is captured in these gorgeous Egyptian Musk incense sticks. Bright, clean, you’ll like these if you like fresh-linen style, bright incense with a light musky base.”
You’ll also find a note that these sticks are dyed with a synthetic blue colouring.
In the first moments after lighting, a mildly sweet and clean musk smell spreads through the room. The sweetness comes across as powdery-soft, but creamy at the same time. I also find a certain woody note.
The smell reminds me of a solid Arabic musk perfume I once had, but also of fresh laundry or fabric softener.
Once the stick has burned down a few centimetres, the sweetness starts to become a bit obtrusive. If the smell gets the chance to build up, it also develops a burnt note. I wonder if that comes from the dye.
The after-smell is rather subtle and gradually fades into the background.
Monsoon Incense – Red Musk
Eugene’s description: “A young and ambitious contender to Happy Hari’s Electric Musk, this incense has a similar shape but a completely different fragrance profile: bright, masculine, balsamic, and resinous musk. Made using a famous blend of Arabian perfume oils […]”
The raw smell of Red Musk is reminiscent of toilet cleaner and men’s deodorant. I find the smell unpleasant, so much so that I have to steel myself to light a stick.
Lit, Red Musk no longer smells of harsh cleaning products, but is still strongly soapy. It’s reminiscent of shower gel or similar.
I find a slightly fruity note in the profile, as well as a florality that’s heavy and sweet. It roughly hits in a similar vine as lily of the valley. At least, it reminds me of the lily of the valley scented soap I occasionally buy.
The smell does have aspects of scents generally defined as masculine, but is quite sweet along with that, in a way that I quickly find obtrusive.
The smell brings back a memory of another incense stick: Fleur de Vie – Five Tibetan Rites.
In the after-smell, the soapiness comes back stronger again, and this somehow fruity note resurfaces as well; both rather unpleasant to me.
Conclusion
The look of these two incense stick varieties is, to me, rather off-putting. The metallic blue of Electric Musk looks exactly like a spray paint I was into for a while as a teenager.
The glossy red of Red Musk reminds me of cheap faux leather.
Neither is something I’d want to use as incense.
Neither of the two really appeals to me, though I can’t get on with soapy scents in general. In that sense, I simply don’t belong to the target audience.
Electric Musk is the less offensive one to me.