Patchouli perfumes are the hedonistic scent of the season

Long before patchouli was adopted as the signature scent of hippies everywhere, the flowering herb, with its warm, woody, musky smell, was a symbol of opulence and prestige – rumour has it that King Tut was buried with gallons of patchouli oil.  Borneo 1834 by Serge Lutens Borneo 1834 eau de parfum by Serge Lutens. Photography by Oskar Proctor. Centuries later, Madonna put her own spin on the scent by infusing it into pressings of her 1989 album Like A Prayer, while in 2005, perfumer extraordinaire Serge Lutens launched iconic scent Borneo 1834, which blended patchouli with white fowers, cardamom, cacao and labdanum.  Velvet Black Patchouli by Dolce & Gabbana Some highly glamorous new fragrances feature this intoxicating plant as their star ingredient. Perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux’s latest creation for Dolce & Gabbana, Velvet Black Patchouli, blends its principle ingredient with notes of Sicilian blood orange, Venezuelan tonka beans and davana oil for a scent that is earthy with an edge of sweetness. Velvet Black Patchouli eau de parfum by Dolce & Gabbana. Photography by Oskar Proctor. To create the perfume, Flores-Roux looked back to patchouli’s past as a highly valuable fragrance that was traded between Asia and Europe. ‘Patchouli really symbolises that rich exchange of cultures,’ he says, ‘because it references a time when precious goods arrived from the East to the shores of Italy, cloaked in its mysterious scent.’ Witchy Woo by Vyrao  Witchy Woo by Vyrao. Photography by Igor Pjoort. Similarly, Witchy Woo by Vyrao blends patchouli with notes of orris, cinnamon, and rose to create a dark, mystifying scent. The brand, which launched last year, uses aromatherapy principals and energetically charged Herkimer diamonds to create scents that attempt to actively alter emotional states, with Witchy Woo designed to evoke courage and creativity.  Cannabis Patchouli by Dries Van Noten Cannabis Patchouli is one of ten new fragrances within Dries Van Noten’s new beauty line. The patchouli heavy fragrance is blended with herby notes of sage and cedar for a fresh and woody genderless perfume. ‘In Dries world, antagonistic elements are combined to create surprise,’ says Cannabis Patchouli’s perfumer Nicolas Bonneville. ‘This fragrance is like a light and dark olfactive pattern of fresh green leaves of clary sage aromatics rubbing against the woody leaves of patchouli.’ Splendida Patchouli Tentation by Bulgari Splendida Patchouli Tentation by Bulgari. Photography by Oskar Proctor. Meanwhile, Bulgari’s new Splendida Patchouli Tentation combines a trio of patchouli with white peach and velvety musk for a more powdery interpretation of its top note. §
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