Tribal

A traditional, earthy patchouli with cacao-like graininess and a straw or hay note in the mid-range from the tonka bean. There's a slightly green, fresh element to it too that I first thought might be mint but which must be the moss. Overall quite peaty, single malt whisky-ish. Not transparent. Top quality. Gorgeous! Arte Profumi have two patchouli perfumes in their stable: Tribal and Mitti . Where Mitti is smooth and ambery in its drydown with noticeable labdanum, Tribal stays earthy, grainy and sharper.

This is a warm intoxicating fragrance. An earthy almost chocolatey patch with some gentle warm spice - kind of like a spiced dark hot chocolate. It's really lovely. Probably one for evening, or colder days, or snuggling up on a sofa with your loved one. Longevity is pretty good - getting over around 7 hours before it fades to a distant memory of lightly spiced chocolate on your skin.

Tribal is about patchouli. Almost a solinote perfume, it features green herbal patchouli with camphor overtones. This is a pleasant and easy going camphor, not the extreme mentholated mothball version in some other patchoulis. Under that are earthy soil-like tones. But again, not the chocolatey rich earth of some other patchoulis but rather minerally, tangy clay soil. Perhaps some of that tang comes from the oak moss, but still, this is a fragrance for patchouli lovers. That said, it’s a fairly gentle version. To me it smells very natural in the sense of not synthetic, and also of nature, reminiscent of nature. Wild places, dense forest, dripping undergrowth. As it wears on skin Tribal gains notes of sweetish powder and becomes even more strongly aromatic, scenting the entire air space around the wearer. It’s really nice if like me you enjoy earthy aromatic perfumes. Tribal lasts about 8 hours on skin.

Opening is very similar to Tundra, musty patchouli, but it doesnt penetrate so deep in the soil, it just stop at the place where eventually can start first mushrooms to grow. When Tundra continues in this direction couple more hours, Tribal started show slowly other side and starting to leaning more to safe masculine side, safe i mean more woody, not so earthy, no wet, with little damp. But thats my perception, i love all kind of patchoulis, but my office coworker said at that day when i had Tribal on me: whats that pungent smell? If i have to do list of some favorite patchouli scents direction from wet/damp to dry/spicey, will say Tundra and Tribal are in the same area, Tribal is more “safe”, less damp, Santa Maria Novella Patchouli and SS Farmacia Oriental Casbah are simillar, not musty damp Patchouli, but more earthy/rooty patchouli with small hint of Chocolate, Profumum Roma Patchouli is more dry chocolately patchouli.