Fragrance Finder Selection

Patchouli Fragrances — Earthy Depth and Sensuality

Patchouli is one of the most polarising plant materials in perfumery — some adore it for its earthy depth, its dark sensuality and its way of anchoring in the skin with extraordinary persistence; others criticise its old-fashioned hippie side or its sometimes stifling opulence. The reality is that modern patchouli, precisely distilled and skilfully dosed, is a material of remarkable richness and sophistication that underpins compositions across all major families. Contemporary patchouli has been profoundly rehabilitated by a new generation of perfumers who use it no longer as a main note but as a woody-earthy foundation upon which the most varied accords flourish. YSL Opium remains one of the greatest explorations of patchouli in an oriental-spiced context. Guerlain Shalimar uses patchouli to support a vanilla-bergamot accord that has become a standard of world perfumery.