Patchouli Patch (2002)
by L'Artisan Parfumeur

As I waved the scent soaked test paper under my nose, I was suddenly 14 again, buying patchouli oil in a head shop on yonge street in Toronto. The semblance was brief but poignant, as this fragrance developed and bloomed well beyond the linear scent of that oil. Well balanced and present, without being an overbearing bore.

2nd September, 2011.

Slapped in the face with cherry cough syrup for the first 20 seconds. Wow, that was unpleasant. This fades, but the sweet fruitiness remains throughout, the medicinal note does not.

Where are you patchouli? I have heard of rounding the sharp edges off of a scent, but this one has been filed down to nub. I am picking up some florals. Seems fairly feminine to my nose.

If I am going to wear a fragrance with patchouli in the name, I had better smell patchouli. This is not a bad smell, it's just not for me.

4th August, 2011.

I do not like patchouli, but I am open to trying everything. This is said to be the crem de la crem of patchouli based fragrances. It's certainly much cleaner than the others. It doesn't remind me of hippies. It isn't as earthy. It's very smooth, and actually lives up to its reputation. This really is THE patchouli to own. Granted you love patchouli, enough to wanna wear it as a single note fragrance pretty much. All I get out of this is patchouli, from start to finish. And if ya know me, ya know I don't much care for patchouli.

From the unbiased point of view though, this is good stuff. And it lasts forever, 12+ hours on my skin.

14th April, 2011.

Fellow favorable reviewers have done this lovely scent justice. Like most of you I do not love patchouli on its own -- but this is a beautiful, softly elegant blend of earthy patchouli, soaring immortelle, and rosy florals. Drydown is supersoft and very pretty. On a trip to Southern California last fall, Patchouli Patch made this Ohio girl feel Bohemian-hip, a little wild, bright and lively as the waves rolling up on Venice Beach. Wear it while the sun shines.

31st March, 2011.

This is not the fierce and camphoraceous patchouli of head-shop days gone by, but rather the smell of a little garden where patchouli plants once grew... and then the patch was rototilled.

All through the dry down I am reminded of the smell of an old antique store, with bare wood floors, a lot of old books, and maybe some turpentine rags by the back door.

Yes, I like it a lot... but I'm actually surprised that more people don't hate it. Patchouli Patch is a very unusual fragrance.

7th December, 2010.

Now I don’t like patchouli. So why the hell did this just wrap me up tight and obsess me so? The quality of the patchouli shines like a burning light, almost white in its clarity and beauty. As soon as the curve arced off my skin I knew I was in trouble. I ran my tongue across my own wrist; I just had to know what it tasted like. If it smelt that good, then surely it had to taste like the walls of heaven. The patchouli note literally collides with rose and shatters all around you, splinters of purple and red slowly rolling through charged particles of heated air. I wore it out to a small dark underground cocktail bar, everybody noticed. I gave off heat like a crackling sinful ember. Papal, dirty and highly charged, what more could you want from a fragrance?

9th September, 2010.