Hey Posse. I mentioned recently that Patchouli Patch had been getting some love around here. Then I noticed that there was no post here on the Posse about it, ever. What a surprise. then I got to thinking that some of you might have missed its choc patchouli goodness because you never even heard about it. OK! Time to rectify this, let’s talk Patchouli Patch today!
Patchouli Patch by L’Artisan Parfumeur 2002
Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Star anise, Violet, Plum, Fennel
Heart: Patchouli, Osmanthus, Vetiver
Base: Musk, Oakmoss, Cedar, Sandalwood
I’ve had a few hits & misses with patchouli. Patchouli 24, Patchouli Absolu, and others I can’t find. The problem is often that the patchouli is mixed with too much smoke or birch and I’m left feeling shaken and fumigated. I much prefer my patchouli either head shop real or smooth & sweet.
Fortunately Patchouli Patch is all the smooth and sweet. It’s funny because all those notes in the note list just seem like they are talking about another fragrance. My experience is a rich, creamy chocolate vanilla patchouli with only hints of woodiness and almost zero fruit. Through the heart there are even hints of the headship and some earthiness. Only in the dry down do the woods appear as anything other than hints and there are also little wafts of hay towards then and that lift as it fades.
L’Artisan are well known for their magnificent but fleeting fragrances. This is not like the others. Here we have decent fragrant longevity and excellent projection for the first couple of hours. Even late in the day there are still wispy remnants that I am immune to but others around me can smell.
Interestingly Bertrand Duchaufour worked with Evelyne Boulanger on this fragrance. You may know her from CdG Jaisalmer and Zagorsk.
One of the less dark patchoulis I think you can easily wear it in hot or cool temperatures. I’ve been wearing it on our cool sunny winter days here in Sydney and loving it.
Are you a Patchouli Patch fan?
Portia xx
I wish I loved patch more, but I just don’t. I have cultivated a deep love for SL Borneo but that’s about as close as I can get to patch love. Well, Le Labo Patch 24, but that’s not really patchouli!
Heya Patty,
That Le Labo hated me. Picked me up, punched me in the face, shook me to my core and then threw me to the ground in a heap. Terrifying adventure.
Portia xx
At least it didn’t throw you into the leafy bonfire…
HA! Indeed
Ardent lover of headshop patchouli! As mentioned above Nombril Immense is unique and lovely patchouli. I also love Patchouly Boheme by Laurent Mazzone Parfums. I used to layer my favorite patchouli oil with Shalimar and this is heavier and creamier but in a really good way. I read somewhere that Mona di Orio is the nose behind Patchouly Boheme and the soft powder dry down fits. Her perfumes were my introduction into the world of fancy niche fragrances and she still has my heart.
PAM! I think you just reminded me I have a bottle of Patchouli Boheme here in my collection. I’m going to search it out.
Mona di Orio was a wonder. I’m a fan too.
Portia xx
I bought a sample of this for my daughter as a gift since she is the big patchouli lover in the house. She’s not a big scent wearer, but I’m trying to bring her over to the dark side little by little! 😀 I remember sniffing it and thinking, “Nice!,” but I’m not surprised because I really like or love the things that Bertrand Duchaufour has a nose in creating. I’ll have to ask her if she still has it, and have another sniff. Thanks Portia.
Hey DinaC,
Yeah, I also like most of Bertrand Duchaufour’s work. If you look at Fragrantica he has over 200 compositions!! It’s quite the oeuvre.
Portia xx
It can be so hard to talk people into the delights of perfume wearing! Even if someone has been cajoled into at least buying a lovely scent, then they often forget to wear it!
I unfortunately missed the boat with this one. Not to be found. I love patchouli, yet I can’t think of any perfume I own where it plays the starring role, it’s always in the background ensemble. I have some excellent essential oils, one of them is minty and refreshing, the other earthy yet creamy, the latter being my favourite. I always get comments when I wear it. There’s a guy I know through work and when he’s in the vicinity I know he’s there before I see him, I privately call him Gary Patchouli.
HA! Does Gary Patchouli wear it well, as well as heavily?
Patchouli always reminded me of Grateful Dead concerts. Fun but not something I wanted to wear. Then I tried Coromandel! During cold winters, there is nothing better then wafting around in a Coromandel sprayed scarf. How does this scent compare to Coromandel?
Hi there ElizaC,
Coromandel is my gold standard for the creamiest and most comfortable, smooth as silk version of patchouli. They are quite similar but Patchouli Patch has a darker, earthier quality. If you wore them a year apart you would probably think them quite alike.
Portia xx
Hi Portia!
I’m not familiar with many patchouli-centric scents including Coromandel or Patchouli Patch although I love the essential oil, – my friend got me hooked on it. She was so keen on it that she even soaked her wallet in it (that always got her some funny looks, lol). The only patchouli I have is LAP’s Voleur de roses. I think I’m going to make it my SOTN. Thanks for the reminder 🙂 xx
Hey Diana!
I love that your friend soaked her wallet in patchouli oil. That will definitely keep the moths away!
Voleur de Roses is so beautiful. I think I’ll wear it tonight too so we can be Perfume Snap Buddies.
Portia xx
Hi Portia! You’re so right, that wallet had hippie chic in spades 🙂
Yay to Perfume Snap Buddiship and to finding common ground! XX
Patchouli 24, like so many other Le Labos, does not smell like its name, but is a straight up bonfire. Nice to wear during brisk autumn walks.
Since I am still haunted by the patchouli oil reeks of 90s, pseudo-hippy students, my only patchouli perfume is ELO’s Nombil Immense, or big belly button as I like to anglicize. It too is nice on a crisp autumn day.
OOHH! How do I not know Nombil Immense, is it a very new or old one AnnieA?
Portia xx
It’s an oldie, Portia. I believe it’s part of the first ELOs that came out. Not sure how easily obtainable it is these days.
It never did much for me; not because it’s a poorly crafted scent-more because my skin absorbs patchouli and renders it nearly odorless. Go figure…
Thanks MizChris.
Bummer about your patchouli eating skin.
My bottle dates from ca. 2012, so while definitely not in frequent use it’s lovely in the fall/winter.
I have a current bottle and it’s okay, but I would love to find a vintage one. I love patchouli, especially chocolate patchouli. Neil Chapman on the Black Narcissus recently talked about vintage L’Occitane Patchouli that has violet in it, now that sounds intriguing as well!
Hey TaraC,
Isn’t Neil one of the best perfume writers ever. Sometimes reading Black Narcissus is like dropping acid and wandering through a perfume store.
Portia xx
Omgosh. You had me at ‘shaken and fumigated’!!! LOL! Glad I wasn’t drinking anything when I read that.
I hate patchouli. I hate chocolate (in perfume). The idea of this makes my stomach twist.
But I love you!
xoxoxo
HA! Sorry Musette.
Love you back.
Portia xx
I wanted to love Patchouli Patch (as I did many L’Artisans from that era) but it was too much chocolate on me, and I could never quite make it work. But I did admire it!
Bummer March.
Is there a patchouli you love?
Portia xx
I’ve been advised by my acupuncturist that I need a bottle of patchouli essential oil to sniff because it’s good for anosmia because it’s a “wet” element. Or something. So THAT should be a thing I have no problem finding in Santa Fe’s multiple hippie and crystal healing and natural foods shops, just need to pick one! And no, even when Patch was Queen in perfumery two decades ago, I was never a huge fan, probably from having been exposed to too many people who’d marinated themselves in the oil. I do like its medicinal raspiness as a subtle background note, though, sorta in the same way as sandalwood.
OOOH! Looking for that oil will be fun. You’ll be truly Santa Fe once your house has it wafting March.
I love patchouli and definitely, L’Artisan’s Patch is a fave. I think your description of it is perfect. I’ve been a fan of L’AP since the time I bought a bottle of Timbuktu, about 8 years ago.
Woo Hoo! Timbuktu! A couple of my friends wear it so beautifully but it never smells quite so good on me. So I enjoy its beauty on them.
Portia xx
Timbuktu smells like a burning building on me! Wish I got what y’all are getting 😉
xoxo
I love love love it. And often look for an old bottle, I would love to have it again. I used a whole bottle 2002/3. Should have replaced it then. They come up on eBay, but usually from Russia or Israel. Well known for fakes, lots of them at that. One day it might come along. So there you go Honey! Gorgeous stuff xxx
OMG! You’re a fan? This is really good to know Val.