One Aromatics Spring Blossom

I'm curious about One Aromatics, and the Auroville community, but the more Auroville incense I burn the more I am inclined to feel that this is not for me. This smells on the stick like a standard air freshener - pleasant enough, but not impressive; when burning, it is a little harsh, crude and smoky. Now and again a pleasant floral scent wafts over, but these are teasing, fragile moments. I burned a couple of One Aromatics yesterday, including this Spring Blossom, then fired up a couple of Balaji Red I had on my desk, just to restore my faith in the beauty of incense.  And that got me thinking about the Auroville community, and what is happening there, compared with the indigenous Indian incense companies. I like the ideal of people of all countries living together in harmony. I love it. And I like that they are using traditional Indian skills in order to fund the community. So I want to support that. But at the same time I am a little uncomfortable with Westerners coming into India, and then utilising Indian skills and traditions to make products which they sell to the West. I suppose, I don't feel the authenticity of something like Balaji, which is a true Indian company, which makes and sells its products in India, and some gets exported. That's not to say that I think that what companies like One Aromatics, Aargee, Happy Hari, The Mothers, Fiore d’Oriente, etc, are doing is wrong - it's just that I don't feel as comfortable with these Western companies, as I do with the Indian companies. I like the direct connection I get with the Indian companies.  I like the authenticity. I like the feel of the culture. Also,  the prices of the Indian companies is usually less than that of the Western companies.

I suppose, thinking about it a bit more, what I would really prefer, is for Western companies to distribute authentic Indian incense under the original brand names of the companies, giving credit where it's due, and also bringing the cultures together, because then we have shared brands and products, rather than importing them in Western packages, under a Western brand, exclusively for Western audiences.  When I put up my reviews on my incense Facebook account, which is widely read by Indian incense manufactures and distributors, I get a greater response to reviews of recognisable Indian brands, than of  Western brands like Aargee.

Anyway. Back to Spring Blossom. I shall be putting this in the toilet freshener box. It's OK, but not for me.

Score: 17

One Aromatics