Hey Posse! I recently pulled out one of my purchases from the 2013 ScentSation Bus Tour through LA. It was run by the Perfume Posse and March, Musette and Patty all travelled down to be a part of the madness. We hit a bunch of stores including Scent Bar, Barney’s, Beauty Habit and others. What a day! At Beauty Habit they had a fabulous selection of I Profumi di Firenze and Sarah Horowitz was in the warehouse as well. At the time I was still a bit frightened of patchouli as a note, Dolce Patchouly became my gateway scent.
Dolce Patchouly I Profumi di Firenze 2011
Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Orange, Geranium
Heart: Violet
Base: Heliotrope, Coniferous woods, Cedarwood, Patchouli
When I bought Dolce Patchouly it was worn a few times and then, as we all do, it got put away in a box at the end of that season and forgotten. While rummaging around looking for something else I rediscovered it and gave myself a spritz. WHOA! Hello gorgeous. Currently sitting in pride of place on my desk I find myself reaching for it more and more.
How does Dolce Patchouly smell?
A beautiful, air filled patchouli right from the first spritz. Orange, geranium and violet are bit players that lift the patchouli and give it some prettiness. The orange is a bit fairy floss, the geranium dry and the violet a barely noticeable plastic wash. Not a hard core, head shop patchouli though. Nope. Here we have a refined, sheer and elegant version of the note. Not sandblasted into the radiant 21st century model, there are still some earthy, dark, real aspects to it. The heliotrope adds a dash of powdery fluff in the heart that is maintained till dry down.
While being a totally unisex fragrance Dolce Patchouly leans more to a feminine gradation of patchouli. Longevity is good and the projection after the first 40 minutes is fragrant but not intrusive. By the third hour projection is close and becoming a skin scent. It stays at this up close level for hours.
I just noticed that Beauty Habit has 50ml reduced to US$88. Woo Hoo!
Surrender To Chance have some of the I Profumi di Firenze fragrances to sample.
Are you a patchouli fan? What are your favourites?
Portia xx
Patchouli, amber, rose and violet are favorite notes of mine. I really like Chanel’s Coromandel and L’Artisan’s Voleur de Roses. On the inexpensive side, Liberte by Cacharel is nice. There are more but I can’t think of them off hand right now. Happy Valentine’s day to all!
Hey Diana,
I recently found an old L’Artisan Voleur de Roses way back in my collection. It’s so old it had the round fluted lid. Smells wonderful.
Portia xx
Beautyhabit also has a 20% off coupon on a $100 order code Fresh20 valid through Sunday.
Woo Hoo TaraC,
Multi Discounts! I love that.
Tell them Portia sent you. I’m still in touch with Paula from our ScentSation tour.
Portia xx
I love patchouli but it no longer loves me. I think some of the IPdFs are/were really underrated. Not hugely complex, but just really beautiful and wearable, though they seem to have really scaled back their offer (unless I’m missing something).
Yeah, nobody really talks about them, I’m assuming due to their extremely limited/spotty distribution (in the US anyway.). They had dozens of scents in their Florence shop which I have literally never seen anywhere else.
five years ago i think they still had a load of stuff available. perhaps during the period of perfume release madness they simply couldn’t compete and scaled back. it was easier to get their stuff here. i think (tell me if i’m wrong) in the US there was some sort of exclusive distribution agreement which made importing more difficult?
Hi Cinnamon,
Excellent description of the brand. They are simple but therein lies much complexity too.
Maybe Beauty Habit has the rights?
Portia xx
Oh my goodness that sounds glorious. I’ve probably said this before, but in my first rumblings of what would become perfume obsession, I stumbled across iPdF which was near the hotel in Florence, and I spent hours and hours there. I still have a few tiny bottles of this and that, commemorating the trip, and they bring me such joy and fond memories.
Hey March,
I keep forgetting to look up the shop in Florence. We always do SMN and forget IPdF. Hopefully next time.
I’m so glad you have this beautiful association with the brand. Isn’t Florence heaven? It’s NEVER enough time.
Portia xx
I own this one, too. I have many from i Profumi. Good stuff.
Hey GinaT,
I think we are scent twins. Yes, the house makes some beautiful fragrance. I like that they keep them quite affordable too.
Portia xx