Osmo Scents Patchouli Noir

Il Profumo Patchouli Noir is a lovely dark patchouli scent. In the top there is a surprise mint burst that you almost wish would last longer as it is gone within minutes, subdued by a hefty dose of patchouli with a touch of indeterminate floral and dark conifer woody notes. I could swear there is some myrrh, but that could be a particularly earthy patchouli. The woody notes complement the patchouli beautifully, giving a more night time elegant and less oily-dirty feel than you get from pure patchouli. There is a very slow move toward off-dry resin and vanilla in the base, which is rich and beautiful. How to describe this mother earth meets sweet tooth base? The notes smell like vanilla, patchouli, tonka, incense, cedar, and balsams or resins (Peru Balsam, benzoin, etc.). The blend is too earthy-woody to be called a dessert but too sweet to be called woody. You simply have to try this - as is often the case, words fail in describing a scent. It is glorious. Parfumerie Generale (Coze, Intrigant Patchouli, etc) and many others make perfumes where you have to think a bit before finding the patchouli. In contrast, Patchouli Noir is happy to blend other notes with patchouli, so you have to like patchouli to like this. I have been trying quite a few patchouli scents recently and so far this is my favorite. Nicely blended and attractive at all stages without subordinating the central patchouli note, and what a beautiful finish. Those who are plagued by a "patchouli problem" should let it go. Who cares if hippies adopted this scent? Patchouli is one of the few perfume notes that is so compellingly rich, evocative, and distinctive it can stand on its own and is often used to define a perfume. Would you want to abandon jasmine, frankincense, vetiver, rose, citrus, leather, and sandalwood for such flimsy reasons? When some stranger asks "is that patchouli?" your answer should be, "yes isn't it great!?". And if you are wearing Il Profumo Patchouli Noir, you can answer "Yes, this is Patchouli Noir, isn't it glorious!!?".

I have been wearing this as my only fragrance for years. I still have some drops left of this magnificent oil and I will probably save them until I’m sure I will be able to buy another bottle. It might seem like I’m exaggerating but as much as I like other perfumes I still have to find something like this. It’s as if this fragrance understood me, like if it could read the DNA of my skin and become what I want to project around me. It’s like an epiphany of smells. It transforms everything around me in sweet and sensual. There’s something that makes this fragrance almost magical. It’s projecting a lot but it’s also discreet. I love patchouly and yet this is even better than patchouly itself. The vanilla is a warm sweet touch which here is also transformed in the perfect dark companion for a resinous and thick oil that lasts forever. I smell this and in my mind I see a wooden box with some powdered resin, plants crushed and mixed in a stone mortar with a precious oil. But as I said there’s something more that is magical and I can only smell and not explain. I need to try other osmo absolu from this house to understand more of the worlds that are hidden in what we call reality.

The opening is AMAZING! It’s an intoxicatingly sweet nectar of upbeat amber resins. The patchouli here isn’t the main player, as this is more of an amber fragrance. But my gosh, these resins are so good, I want to eat them. The florals aren’t obvious, but are enough to keep this uplifted and spiralling in a fascinating aura around me. This is not dark nor earthy like patchouli/ambers tend to be. The dry-down is an almondy amber, like a moist marzipan and honey cake. This doesn’t quite cross into category of being gourmand, but I don’t think it’s patchouli enough to have the name in its title - this is a spirited, balsamic, chewy amber. If it had more patchouli it would be closer to Mazzolari’s ‘Patchouly’. I’d describe this by indeed likening it to Mazzolari’s ‘Patchouly’ but swapping the patchouli for sweet almond essence. It’s brilliant.

Il Profumo PATCHOULI NOIR is my first experience with this house, and I have to say that I am impressed. This composition is truly beautiful and remarkably well-balanced, avoiding all of the excesses that so often mar patchouli perfumes. Yes, the patchouli is detectable from start to finish. No, it is not overwhelming. Yes, the noir element is important. No, it does not drown out the patchouli. There is a touch but only a touch of dirtiness here, and the golden, only slightly sweet drydown is simply a dream come true. I would describe the overall effect as similar to a smooth layer of very lightly sweetened caramel. It's as though the texture of caramel were captured but with only a fraction of the sugar. I've had the pleasure of wearing PATCHOULI NOIR twice now, and I can honestly say that I love it!

If you stumbled upon this review because you are interested in sampling Il Profvmo, you're probably scratching your head right now. Patchouli as the top note? Florals as the base? Here are the notes from Lucky Scent: Mint, cedarwood, patchouli, poppy, vanilla But yes, from the alpha to the omega sniff, it's savory, resinous, don't-hate-me-because-I'm-beautiful Patchouli. I like the mint burst in the opening, it's refreshing and unexpected. The middle act is very 'Western' to me. Think moccasins lined with sheep's wool; campfires crackling with cedar logs; and incense sticks smouldering on a rock. And then...no you aren't hallucinating ...the delicate smell of poppies and the luscious, seductive scent of vanilla. I'm in love.