Patchouli Lorenzo Villoresi 1996 Eau de Toilette

at first it opens with a lavender explosion, i had a lavender pot and this perfume remind me just the lavender leaf and then patchouli and sandalwood comes and at the final you have a light mix of musk and patchouli i like it but 2 of my friends tell me that its too sharp and they hate it ! but i like it very much

Patchouli has always and will always be my favorite note, but I've struggled to stomach it in the summer. I contented myself with the relatively light Patchouli by Reminiscence until I found Lorenzo Villoresi's Patchouli. This one is an herbal variety, not powdery or sweet (like Reminiscence or Profumum Roma). A genderless summer-weight patch.

The impression I get when I first spray this perfume on my arms is one of alcoholic tincture of myrrh and patchouli; just a little bitter.

Around the 10 minute mark it smooths out with quite a strong note of lavender and just a little cedar.

It's quite soft, bright, a little sharp, gently musky, only a touch earthy, and occasionally sends out a smell like an old pipe - dry, woody, impregnated with years of smoke from a sweet pipe tobacco.

I rather like this one but don't find it different enough from a well aged patchouli to make it full bottle worthy (but if it were bought for me I would wear the heck out of it).

In 1996, Lorenzo Villoresi's "Patchouli" hit the market, and it must have been around this time that my first close encounter with this fragrance material sent me running.
At the height of the hippie movement, I was too caught up in my world as a teenager and young woman, a world of romance, floral, and rose scents, and had not looked beyond the "plate" of my own life.
Later, in the first half of my twenties, I wrapped myself for a long time in the light blue powdery coat of Elizabeth Arden's "Blue Grass" and lived in my pastel-hued scent boudoir.
Thus, it happened that I only very late descended the steps to the "Third World Store" at the foot of the tower ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, where I was greeted by rather peculiar light and where a strong, powerful scent immediately hit me: This scent was very unpleasant to me!
I just wanted to get away and suddenly felt as if I were being embraced, held back, and prevented from escaping by the multitude of colorful scarves and shawls in the entrance area!
The next day, a colleague said, "Ah, so you were in the Patchouli cave!"
I swore to myself back then: "Never again Patchouli!"

But as it often goes, it turned out here too: "Never say never!" and in recent years, I discovered a true "Patchouli fragrance world" with countless facets, in which I feel very, very comfortable and from which I can't get enough.
However, my rose and floral phase is also behind me, so there is plenty of room for new, previously completely unknown experiences.

Of course, I couldn't pass by Lorenzo Villoresi's "Patchouli" given my background: Curiosity beckoned, and right after the first sprays, I experienced a dark golden-brown aromatic fabric, interwoven among other things with scent wafts of lavender flowers, leaves, stems, and warm earth.
Dark, but not overly heavy patchouli clouds with golden edges, interestingly lavender-scented at the outset, dominate this fragrance composition.
And, although patchouli richly runs through the entire scent progression, it is neither monotonous nor boring:
When was that ever the case?
This mentioned aromatic fabric spreads delightfully and multifacetedly on my skin, gaining warmth, depth, and sensual weight.
This is ensured by a classic base combination consisting of not overly adapted oak moss and sandalwood with its tried-and-true partner vetiver:
There were far too many fragrance creations without these three during this era, which was so rich in diversity.
For Lorenzo Villoresi's rich, slightly damp, lightly animalistic, and smoky-resinous patchouli mélange, they are also ideal companions and harmonize surprisingly well with the aforementioned lavender scent fabric.

Here, the deep dark truffle, cocoa, or chocolate-heavy patchouli scent path is not taken; this leads to the herbal floral spice of lavender and thus to the light and air of the sunny south.

With a magnificent sillage and longevity, this creation makes a statement that I gladly follow.
Patchouli scent newcomers may feel more comfortable here than with the slightly dirty-animalistic compositions, which I love so much for their primal, earth-connected aura.

Once again, it shows:
Our fragrance world has such a vast variety of variations, even around a single scent note, that every nose can find something suitable, and it never gets boring to browse here.
(By the way, I've been browsing for the last few days and am already announcing a journey to delicious and sometimes sinfully warm vanilla creations!)

Few fragrance notes are as out of date as patchouli. And LV's patchouli is a powerhouse of patch. Sure, the hippie movement flickers back to life every now and then - but the musty-sweet scent rarely comes across as truly great. I like it, but wouldn't call myself a fan. "Patchouli" needs no addition - neither in the name nor in the scent. Almost a patchouli soliflore, so to speak. Pure, harsh, humorless.

Perhaps lavender flickers through briefly at the beginning - the rest is a one-scent show, without significant changes or different facets of the legendary material. For patch fans, one of the truest to its kind. For many others, a bit too stiff & too strong. Anyone who knows patchouli just needs to concentrate this scent, maybe even amplify it, and they are at their destination. Woodstock says hello. Earthy, muddy, musty. Like a chocolate that has been sitting in a dusty attic for years. Quality was almost a given at LV & is fulfilled. Few ingredients embody the color brown so precisely in my mind. No wood comes close. My mother could bathe in it :)

Bottle: brown would fit better
Sillage: I was embarrassed today in the office in the sunshine.
Longevity: hard to wash off - 9-15 hours.

Conclusion: a patchouli with a stick up its backside. You don't see that often with hippies. Nothing here stinks against the strict patch. If you like it, you really like it.