DonErnesto

Arnold Layne
Had a strange hobby
Collecting clothes
Moonshine washing line
They suit him fine

As a patchouli fan I didn't want to write a comment on this fragrance. Had got it as a sample and tested it some time ago and had actually already forgotten it because it could not meet my expectations of a patch scent. Not patchouli, but a lot of other stuff
While rummaging around in the souk I just came across him again and that's when I came up with the headline for my commi, a line from Arnold Layne, a song by Pink Floyd, written by Syd Barrett in 1967. It's about a guy who steals the underwear and lingerie from the clothesline of the ladies in the neighborhood at night by moonlight to add it to his collection - Collection Extraordinaire.
And just like the ladies do their laundry, this fragrance has also lost its patchouli. The best ingredient, the erotic, the wicked is missing from the fragrance. Unfortunately.

First of all, I've been a Patchouli fan since the late seventies. At that time it was the pure patchouli oil from the poster shop that was often frowned upon here, the hippie patch, in between then premium colognes with patch parts from various perfumeries and today, freshly fixed since about a year, I hunt down all niche perfumes that, due to their name or their fragrance pyramid, suggest a substantial share of the beloved fabric. In the last 12 months I've certainly tested well over 50 perfumes and essential oils - from Devil's Kitchen and Lush to Reminiscence to Il Profumo and Profumum Roma - and I must say that the cheap patch oils are not necessarily of poor quality.
Anyway, I recently stumbled across one or the other new patch scent while browsing. Patchouli 1969 sounds like music to my ears. Jimi Hendrix, Grace Slick, the Doors, Ten Years After, Janis Joplin and Santana appear to me right in front of my mind's eye, not to mention the sound swaths that completely envelop me and make me float gently into the roundhouse in London of that time. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun I still enjoy to the fullest before I remember that little rehearsal again and take a picture of it. Immediately I stand again in the cold LED light of our time and wear a shiny white shirt. The smell of fresh, clean laundry penetrates my nose. As I take a closer look, I can see dark spots, green or brown, rather small sprinkles, in the beginning at least, from which a strange, herbaceous, almost medical smell emanates. Must have stained me a bit, with Maggi possibly ... Anyway, the shirt goes right into the laundry. From my loudspeakers Floyds Ummagumma booms.
Once again, you've fallen for such a promising name of a perfume as Jovoys Psychodelique did once before. Both perfumes are supposed to be a tribute to this time with the most wonderful music. Far from it! For me it only smells like fresh laundry (or white musk) with a little herbaceous Indonesian patchouli. Pretty boring. And that's how it stays

I recently ordered some perfume samples from various Patchouli fragrances; among others this one, which I discovered while browsing Amazon. Manufacturer is an English company based in London. I assume this is a one-man operation. Possibly a hobby perfumer who sells his products over the net. Beside Amazon there's also an own internet shop. All fragrances can be purchased as 2 ml samples. Flacons are available with 15 ml, 30 ml and 50 ml contents, with one euro per ml. From 100 ml it becomes a little cheaper then. As the products of ODORE MIO can only be ordered directly from the manufacturer in London, the shipping costs are correspondingly high; thus, one has to pay 5,- € for the sample. The flacons cost 15,- €.

Before I try to describe or evaluate the fragrance, I must first say that I am an absolute Patchouli fan. My small collection consists almost exclusively of patchouli perfumes and oils. Hardcore patch. I like pure.
According to the manufacturer, there are only a few ingredients in Patchouli Royal. In addition to three different patch oils there are also Labdanum, vanilla, amber and alcohol as ingredients. It is emphasised that only natural substances are used. The fragrance is described as warm, spicy, woody. Flowery, musky, fruity, it should be. After a spray of the usual sample tube with vaporizer and about 2 ml content on my wrist, I clearly smell a good portion of patchouli, which mixes with a sweet vanilla note. In addition there is a fruity aroma. Pineapple. If it's really pineapple, I'll leave it open. Anyway, it smells like patchouli + vanilla + pineapple to me. Very pleasant and delicious! Almost gourmand. Creamy. The patch is not dominant but always present. All in all a very beautiful fragrance, which never seems intrusive and sporadically gives off a touch of its aroma in a breeze to the nearby environment. More attar than perfume. In contrast to Sillage, the durability of Patch Royal is significantly higher. Sprayed on in the evening, the EdT was still clearly perceptible on the wrist before the morning shower. I couldn't tell the scent was running. After approx. 2 hours the sweetness of the vanilla takes itself back a little to give the Patchouli a little more space.
Conclusion: A unisex perfume suitable for everyday use with a slightly more feminine side. Not only for patch fans but still a very patchouli-oriented perfume without hippie gothic cellar airs and graces. A very appealing fragrance, worth every cent, that doesn't have to hide behind the much more expensive niche fragrances. If only there weren't the high shipping costs. He is too good for me personally and therefore I applied one of my patchouli oils again today. Pur!

It's been a few years since I entered a perfumery on Königstaße in Stuttgart and asked the shop assistant for a patchouli fragrance. Since I bought Jovoy`s Psychodelique around 2012 at Akzente, my old love for Patchouli had been rekindled. I wasn't much for perfume at the time. The old classics from the 80s weren't the same anymore and the new mainstream scents all smelled pretty similar or the same to me. I hardly knew niche perfume at the time. In addition, I was always fixated on fragrances based on patchouli, amber or sandalwood. Sayings like "You smell today again, as if you just got out of an old Indian temple" or "You already burned a few incense sticks today", I used to often hear. Today you can hardly find a patch scent in the surrounding area. There you have to go to Stuttgart or to Wuchsa (he is practically just around the corner, but I didn't know him back then). B.t.w.: I miss these little, special shops in our cities. The small shops with all kinds of special products from faraway countries, where you always found what you were looking for when you needed a little present. Where it smelled so wonderfully like oriental scents. Where you could buy fancy clothes, silver jewellery, great comics, kitsch, art, incense and Indian perfume oil. Today, one city is like another, at least as far as shopping is concerned. In the inner cities, the big chains dominate.

But back to Stuggi-Town in said perfumery. The lady there sprayed a few test strips from different flacons and handed them to me, one after the other. 3 or 4 pieces, there were no more, but there was a fragrance that was particularly striking and made the others seem uninteresting. Sprayed onto the skin, I found it to be one of the best, probably the best patchouli fragrance I've ever smelt and I already know a few. Rarely before had I noticed Patchouli so intensively with this very special, organic, animal note in the opening, which was to last relatively long. Of course, "beautiful" wouldn't necessarily be the right adjective. Beautiful fragrances are plentiful and beautiful can be quite everyday. Interesting, unusual, mysterious and valuable are more characteristic. I can well imagine that quite a few would dismiss him as a "stinker". Overripe came to my mind, pulsating, alive, animal. Stable smell. A clean stable, horses. Warmth, damp earth, old wood. Matured in barrique barrels. Dark cellar vaults. A pulsating mass on my wrist. Some of it crawled through my nose into my brain and must have settled there forever. I can't remember how it went from there. I remember it lasted a long time.
I didn't buy the scent back then. The prize stopped me. It was about 180,- € and seemed very high for a small bottle of perfume. At least I wanted to test it first, see how it develops over the next few hours. Test its fragrance and durability. As I said before, I didn't make much out of perfume at that time and so the fragrance was soon forgotten again. For now.
Unfortunately, I didn't remember the name of the brand. The perfume was simply called Patchouli and also the bottle was of simple, unobtrusive design.

Now, at the beginning of the year, an acquaintance of mine who wore patchouli almost fixed me again. This scent, which I liked so much in former times, I wanted to have now absolutely again. Of course the described perfume experience came to mind again and I started looking for this one fragrance. Ordered samples for samples in the net, bought one or the other bottle, had bottlings come to me, etc... In the meantime I have tested 50 different Patchouli and I have to say that the yield of Patchouli fragrances that I like is relatively low and around 15% for niche perfumes.
Was he there, this very special patch scent? Did I find him again? Honestly, I don't know. But it doesn't matter at all, because through my test marathon I definitely got to know some beautiful perfumes and it was fun too. And when I consider that I have been using patchouli daily for months and already had some very good scents on my skin, it's not surprising that my nose has got used to this raw material in the meantime. Actually, it could only have been the Roma, just from the price (And if anyone can think of a fragrance to describe me further up in the text, let me know). Anyway, I found a few favorite patches and Profumum Roma Patchouly is one of them. If not the best! Definitely! And just like my other favourite fragrances, the Roma consists of only a few ingredients of the finest quality. Patchouli, sandalwood, amber and frankincense are among the most beautiful fragrances for me anyway. That's all it takes to create a masterpiece. Despite the few ingredients, Patchovly is a complex fragrance. A fragrance that you have to work for until it opens up to you in all its facets. An olfactory work of art.

It remains to be seen whether Roma Patchouly will remain with us as we know him. I don't have much hope. Many Patchouli fragrances have already been "castrated" and have lost a lot of character. The only thing that reminds you of Patchouli is the writing on the bottle. The Roma stands and falls with its high concentration of fragrances.

With Vetiver Patchouli, Montale has a third patchouli fragrance in its current range this year. Or rather, "patchouli" is part of the perfume name. Are the other two still typical Montale-crackers with a lot of humming - Patchouli-Leaves is a hardcore-patch and comes along quite loud and Patchouli Leather makes the leather whip pop - Vetiver Patchouli is a quiet step.
The attack starts with a strong citrus vetiver note, like bergamot, refreshing, which remains throughout. The fragrance is linear. There's hardly any change. Only the initial severity becomes milder after 5 to 10 minutes. The fragrance then appears rounder. After about half an hour, you can gently guess at some patchouli. But really just a whiff. I wouldn't have guessed it on a blind test. When after about 2 hours the vetiver loses its dominance, jasmine comes to the fore.
After 4 hours the Montale has evaporated. Pretty short-lived, actually. Sillage's okay, I guess. More does not have to be.
If you like fresh, green fragrances, like vetiver and are looking for something else for the summer, you should try it out. A masculine fragrance with aftershave character. A classic that my father could have worn in a slightly different variant. I associate it with shaving soap, barbershop, tweed suit, Sean Connery, Prince Charles, Earl Grey, green nature and cool brooks. A nice scented water that always goes and never disturbs. I prefer to stay with Patchouli Leaves, Profumum Roma Patchouly and Patchouli Noir. And for the very hot days I have the (new) Elixir from Reminiscence. I just let myself get tempted again. I had a hunch, somehow. Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to Dunki, who could fill me 5 ml of his sharing!