Rasta Love Incense Sticks Review

These Rasta Love Incense Sticks come in some rather pretty packaging, featuring the Rasta oriented colors, red, green, and yellow.

The box says they are hand-rolled in India. Mine came in a 15 gram box but supposedly there are other sizes as well, such a 100 gram option. Strangely enough, the box is not a closing type. Supposedly this incense is handmade. The lid just pulls right off, and inside, there is an unsealed plastic bag containing 15 incense sticks.

According to the manufacturer:

Rasta means Universal Love and a Rasta is one who attempts right action, improving the self. Part of the proceeds from sales helps India’s poor.

I really love how part of the proceeds go towards helping India’s poor. This is actually quite common among Indian incense manufacturers, with many of them such as Shrinivas Sugandhalaya and Shanthimalai doing similar things. Many of them teach poor widows how to make incense and give them a way to take care of themselves. Other organizations supply school books or supplies to needy Indian children and so on. This wonderful act of support within their community is something we should all learn from.

Rasta Love Fragrance Review

Upon opening the pack, the incense does seem fragrant, but not overly so. It definitely isn’t laden with a lot of perfume like some other varieties. These appear to be typical masala styled incense sticks and although they claim to be hand-rolled, the near preciseness of the incense stick size and shape lead me to believe that these incense sticks are hand-rolled using semi-automated technology. Overall, the fragrance smells quite like nag champa, but more powdery, sort of like Satya’s Super Hit.

Once I lit the incense stick, my nose immediately recognized a scent very similar to nag champa, except a little sweeter. Even while burning, this incense did indeed remind me of Satya’s Super Hit. The sandalwood is a little light, and in effect, I smell mostly a powdery floral fragrance. It’s actually not to bad, considering the pack of incense was relatively inexpensive. I could definitely see somebody enjoying this quite a lot, but I don’t think it stands up to more traditional nag champa brands such as Goloka.

Conclusion

It’s a decent, non-expensive daily burner, and there’s truly nothing wrong with it, but it lacks the depth which some other brands have managed to bring out of this incense style. The theme is quite fun however, and that alone may appeal to a certain crowd of people. I would also consider it to be higher quality and a step above some other popular brands such as HEM.