Patchouly Indonesiano

I am still debating between this and the Patchouli from Santa Maria Novella. I love the smell of Patchouly Indonesiano more, but the Santa Maria slightly takes the edge because it performs better on my skin. However, I think that Patchouly Inodnesiano is meant for colder weather. This stuff is no joke - the purest, darkest, earthiest, and most straightforward Patchouli perfume you'll ever find. I'm not sure on the formula, but I wouldn't be surprised if they used just patchouli oil at a very high concentration. The fragrance is so oily and sticky that it clogs the atomizer. When sprayed, it leaves an oily sheen, and it behaves much like an essential oil. I'd love it to push out just a tad more because I adore the smell, and I'd like to get more wafts through the day. It lasts for a long time, though, and it is lingering beautifully on the skin. But the smell, oh my, to me, it is Patchouli perfection. There are no fillers here; no spices, no woods, no resins, and no florals. This is like pressing your nose against the shrub and then pulling it barehanded from the ground and smelling the dusty earth on the leaves as well as the soil clinging to the roots. It feels like being buried alive beneath a patchouli bush. It doesn't evolve much throughout the wear, but its profile is so complex that you'll always experience different facets and never get bored. It opens up like a shot of warm liquor made of earth. Boozy, spicy, warm, and with a dark cocoa-like undertone. This is the darkest, least sweet cocoa you can imagine. Then it emits bits of camphor, earthy facets, and progressively becomes dustier as it develops. When I say dusty, I mean earth dust. The scent of earth when it's hot outside and gets hit by the rain, but not as diffusive, rather thick that you could chew it. So perhaps, earth dust that has collected on the leaves of the shrub, and you take a bite without washing it beforehand (I do that with mint leaves). A scent that most likely won't find appeal in today's market, but if you like earthy perfumes, patchouli, and dark-themed fragrances, it should be on the list to try. It also reminds me of a dusty attic that hasn't been entered for decades. Impressive stuff from Farmacia SS. Annunziata. Unexpectedly bold and high quality. IG:@memory.of.scents

Decided late last year I needed to add a patchouli to the fragrance wardrobe so went through all the blogs, compiled a list of everything consistently top-rated, ordered a massive batch of samples... & then my nose was wiped out by a mild case of Covid. This was the only one I could smell at all, its camphor pervades, so by default was designated the favorite. After months of Flonase & fish oil pills & smell exercises my nose is back. & Patchouly Indonesiano is still in first place, tied with the Mazzolari, its utter opposite. The Mazzolari is the city patchouli, smooth & decadent & delicious. This is the country patchouli, intense & raw & hyperreal. I have patchouli plants & they don't smell like this, this is the ur-patchouli, the pagan god of dirt & roots & stems & leaves unleashed. Makes me want to do yardwork, the early spring kind, when you're tilling soil & wrestling old vines. Invigorating! Not sure how often I'd wear this around other people (already a stoner, no need to be a cliché) but require it for myself. Sold out on Luckyscent & I fear the bad news below of its discontinuance. Found a decant on ScentSplit. This has been happening a lot lately.

On the west coast of the U.S. we are stuck in an apocalyptic smoky “inverse” weather pattern from all the forest fires. In Seattle, this is causing air caught below the clouds to be unseasonably cool, not to mention incredibly difficult to breathe. The air is heavy with floating bits of ash that feel like a pallet of bricks on the inhale. Yesterday, the seventh day in a row of this nightmare, I decided to fight back with my patchouli weaponized perfume from Farmacia. This majestic, potent stuff can cut through anything. Finally my nose can take a break from smoke. Not many perfumes could stand up to this situation. So even though my eyes are itchy, my throat raw from the feeling of smoking 18 cigarettes a day (the equivalent of breathing this unhealthy air for 24 hours) I am grateful, elated even, to have this beautiful beast in my perfume collection.

After obtaining various aged patchouli bottles I thought I'd be done with patchouli fragrances... yet here I find myself loving this soliflore and wanting to get a full bottle. There are certain nuances of patchouli that are often toned down or flat out eliminated, regrettably for some of us. I feel this is the case with the camphorous, medicinal and earthy edges, being cut off on some classic patchouli fragrances. To my nose at least! Or maybe I'm less sensitive to them? TF's Patchouli Absolu and Patchouly Indonesiano, while fairly different from each other, embrace those nuances and it's oh so wonderful. The result is a vigorous patchouli that refuses to move from center stage throughout the journey. This is a love and the most hardcore patchouli I have encountered thus far, a great discovery!

I think my search for a holy grail patchouli may have ended with this truly filthy concoction. Opens with that apple and chocolate thing that patchouli does, but within some minutes becomes the smell of a plant ripped from the ground, roots and soil and all, chopped and churned, then squeezed into a bottle. The drydown smells earthy, in the best way possible, like actual soil. Fantastic. This is not one of your ubiquitous, sweetened patchoulis that every house seems to have, with vanilla and/or tonka and/or amber thrown in as a sort of apology for how patchouli smells. If this were a cup of coffee, it would be a strong, black espresso, not a watered-down, sugar-and-cream affair you can get on any corner for a ridiculous price.