Patchouly Etro 1989 Eau de Toilette

A few years ago I tested Etro Patchouly and really wasn't very smitten with it. So, I moved on. Until a few months ago a friend gave me a sample of the new version. After finishing the sample in a few days she also sent me a 5 ml. decant and after finishing the decant within 2 weeks I knew I had to buy a bottle. The new version is much more suitable for women as the older version.

Etro Patchouly is an earthy and non-sweet patchouli that is very easy to be worn during summertime as well as wintertime. It's not intrusive as the sillage is relatively low and the longevity is about 3 hours on my skin. The ingredients that are used are very high quality and all Etro's can be layered as well. I love layering Patchouly with my equally beloved Messe de Minuit.

So, ladies. If you like patchouli and you are looking for a version less sweet than other patchouli fragrances try the new version Etro Patchouly. It's very versatile and easy to wear.

If I didn’t have Patchouli by Santa Maria Novella, I would have hung onto this. It runs close to the Santa Maria Novella in that it is a rather plain, straightforward patchouli, but worn side by side, the Etro emerges as far greener (mint, geranium), woodier (cypress), and more bitter (artemisia, orange). I will admit that the ETRO Patchouli is the more evolved and elegant fragrance of the two, as it goes on with less of a roar and its pacing is more even over the course of a wear. However, as much as I hate to pitch my two favorite Italian houses against each other, the Santa Maria Novella Patchouli remains deeply evocative for me, while the Etro never strikes me as anything more than ‘a nice patchouli perfume’

After nearly decades of practically complete perfume abstinence - due to an incredible sensitivity to scents that developed during my first pregnancy - I am testing fragrances in the fresh-floral-fruity direction as a re-entrant into the perfume carousel, and I have avoided certain scents altogether. But it’s amazing how quickly one wants to explore all other fragrance directions: Woody-resinous? Absolutely! Spicy-oriental? Bring it on! The dam was broken by Shaal Nur from Etro, which was the first slightly oriental scent to enter my collection. Yes, I know, all connoisseurs of oriental fragrances will now scream and say that this is not a true oriental but a floriental or something like that. That’s probably true! But believe me: For me, it was a gigantic step!
And now to Patchouly: It came to me as a sample, was sunk in the desk drawer - for those days when I sit at my desk during lunch breaks and, as escapism, randomly spray a scent to test it until the evening. And since I am now completely unflinching, indeed almost reckless in testing EVERYTHING, this time the Etro sample made it onto my arm. Oh yes, without even sniffing it once, directly from the tube - and since Etro packages these samples with that stupid plastic stick, I almost used the entire amount. And now is the right time to say what is sometimes said on TV during game shows. “Dear perfumistas in front of your computers and on your tablets and phones: This is NOT suitable for replication at home. It could launch you off the sofa with an explosive scent development….”. Oh yes, this is undoubtedly Patchouly and it doesn’t even pretend to be tame or cuddly or anything like that. It smells of earth, moss, a hint of resin, and 100% baking chocolate - and bitter-herbaceous with a touch of chamomile extract. The first five minutes I spend trying to keep my arm as far from my nose as possible. And then, very slowly, “Patchouly” becomes something that makes me think: “Well, you rough forest creature, maybe this could still work out between us two.” It becomes smokier, softer, woodier, and I discover a kind of vanilla-resin. It’s a bit bitter and smells like a fresh vanilla pod. So not sweet, but rather herbaceous.
Patchouly is a very idiosyncratic, pure scent - I can well imagine that some might find it quite musty or something. For me, despite the ridiculous overdose, it developed so beautifully on my skin into something really resinous/woody/green that I tested it again this morning (very carefully) after spraying it on. And lo and behold, I really like it! For me, it would be a candidate for layering experiments: Perhaps to give the too sweet Vicolo Fiori a bit of edge!

Even now in November, there can still be wonderful golden days, just like today. Fog fields in the mornings and evenings included. We have a good bike path that runs through a longer stretch of forest from the district to the "capital." That's where I ride to work and back. Strangely enough, exactly halfway along the approximately 4 km route, there is a so-called weather boundary. So it can happen that it is very foggy in the morning in P., the fog thins out on the way to D., and behind a small rise (former Neckar dunes) there is no fog left. Or the other way around: fog suddenly appears at the border to D. And in the evening, sometimes the same game occurs. I can just about ride in the light of sunrise or sunset, and I observe how the setting sun glimmers red through the colorful leaves of the trees, and a few meters later, only a vague hint of it can be seen because it approaches the "boundary." It’s always a fascinating spectacle. Where there is "fog," there is also a scent. Warm and earthy, with a hint of wood and freshly fallen leaves. Dry and moist at the same time. ....Where there was pure sunshine at noon, it is now hazy; where it was foggy in the morning, the sun has taken precedence. This whole scenario creates that wonderful mysterious and enchanting scent, very similar to the smell of Etro's "Patchouly." The theme of patchouli has been following me, just like vetiver, since my youth. There are very sweet patchoulis, cellar-like musty ones, rugged and angular "Rübezahle," as well as half-silk ladies from kitschy films, translated into scent with "accessories." The patchouli scent from Etro is none of these, but rather a quite natural autumn fragrance of a forest. With earthy, green, woody, and herbaceous as well as leafy notes. Surrounded by fog and sun, wind and rain, warmth and coolness. My taste for this very season. Also gladly in winter:

For my first comment, I find myself in the aforementioned nursery.
I am on the second floor, so to speak, in the head of the department. Everywhere there is potting soil scattered around, some bags closed, some open. It smells of peat, of swamp, of earth; when I close my eyes, I could just as well be in a cellar. Somewhere in the corner, there must be an orange tree; I can't see it, it could also be a lemon.
I don't stay here too long, about half an hour, then I descend the stairs to the first floor, to the heart of the department. Significantly relieved, I walk through the aisle, dreamily plucking the occasional rose petal from my left and right and rubbing it between my fingers, walking through an aisle of beautiful flowers, whose names I do not know, but they smell wonderful. I spend a whole hour here, …it was a lovely hour.
I have little time left, so I go down to the checkout area, to the base of the department. A friendly employee is just wrapping a few gifts, to the left and right of the register are two large glass containers, brimming with candies, wonderfully fragrant vanilla cream candies. The shop door opens, the floral scent from above wafts past me outwards, tickling me quite unconsciously, but noticeably. I tell the saleswoman that the tour was worth it, but I won’t buy anything today, maybe next time.