Patchouli 24

So where to begin with this beautifully crafted masterpiece? Back in 2018 I was visiting a Le Labo store for the first time. It was winter and the white snow turned into ice and every breath a fog. I was looking forward to discover new perfumes that I had watched on YouTube. At that time the most challenging my nose had been disposed to, was the OG A-men and Classic Van Gils witch I love by the way. I Was so exited to try Patchouli 24, and when I finally sniffed it, I was so disapointed. I thought to myself “How can anybody smell like that”? And I ended up getting samples of Thé noir 29, Rose 31, Bergamote 22 and a bunch of others that I really enyoyed and still do. After some hours in the cold december afternoon I began to think about that smell earlier in that store. Now I realised what it was. Patchouli 24 smelled like smoked meat, resinous and a mouthwatering vanilla. Now I just kept thinking about that scent and that’s where my obsession about this perfume began. A whole year came by, and I finally bought a 100 ml bottle in 2019. This perfume opened the door into a new world of scents to me. This wil be the one that started my obssesion with smokey and dark fragrances, witch is still a style of perfumes that I absolutely adore. When I smell this perfume I get transported back to a place a long long time ago. On a market where people trades and buy stuff from each other. Wear renessance clothing and all seroundings covered in smoke by multiple barbecues and a freezing fog by the cold weather. There is also a smell of vanilla coming from sweet and buttery pastries from a bakery in the background. The perfume starts with a blast of smoked meat and when it starts to settle down, it becomes more sweet because the vanilla is trying to dominate the smoke (birch tar). The whole perfume feels like a battle or a dance of dominance between the two of them and a less pronounced patchouli adding a little earthines to the compsition.The styrax acts like a peace maker transforming the perfume into a merged powdery, smokey, resinous vanilla scent, what an acomplishment!! 10/10 It is a very unique perfume best worn in the winter and fall. I’ts not very versatile, but super sexy at night. More formal than casual. Intimate with someone you love or wear it for yourself!!🔥🔥💨💨🚬🍧🍨🥓🥩

instant favorite. le labo insists on wabi-sabi as an ethic, and this feels like its most honest expression. to my chinese nose patchouli 24 is unequivocally suanmeitang. i spray it on my hair and i'm seven again, hoarding fifty cents from my lunch money and sneaking to the corner store with the boy i swore i’d marry, cracking open that grenadeque bottle and taking a whiff. every beijingese summer smelled like this. what fascinates me is that suanmeitang lived squarely in my childhood summers, yet 24 somehow alchemized that memory into the most exquisite wintertime aromatherapy. on my skin 24 presents a constant and magical evolution. every few minutes it revises itself, yet beneath every metamorphosis there’s that unwavering backbone of patchouli: the one note i trust without question. you know i love patchouli; this is patchouli rendered devotional. there's a true northern quality that nests in my chest before it ever settles on my skin everytime i carry 24 with me. i don't think le labo ever intended this. 24 is the real old xicheng: lived-in, monastic and sacred. absolutely fucking beautiful, and not in the polite sense, but in the way a memory blindsides you on a quiet afternoon when really you were supposed to be editing your midterm film but found yourself in a le labo store sniffing through all the scents instead. 24 isn't a crowd-pleaser, and god i'd think of it different if tiktok girls started praising it like they did with santal 33. patchouli 24 is my most private and intimate scent, better than the haze after sex or a therapist's office. i rarely do but when i wear it, it doesn’t feel like i’m adding something to myself; it feels like i’m remembering something I’ve always carried. patchouli 24 is the most beautiful in the way memory is beautiful. in a way the loud, grimy, 2000s beijing is beautiful.

My problem is that this is my signature scent. With a 15ml bottle costing over $100, it is not something I would buy often (I've actually only been gifted this, and picked up the odd 2mL sample vial). Thankfully, the fragrance is potent and long-lasting, so I don't need much to impart the scent. It also sticks to fabric like rabbit fur (one tragic night I dropped a canvas bag that had my vial of Patchouli 24 -- it shattered along with my heart, but I still sometimes catch a whiff over a year later). I'd best describe this scent as spending a long night in an intimate, dimly lit speakeasy with an indoor smoking section, old leather booths, and deep red velvet damask wallpaper. The patrons are mostly older men, and maybe the occasional wayward young author pouring over their manuscripts. Very distinguished, with an implication of generational wealth. Like other reviews said, you don't get much patchouli from this fragrance unless you've been wearing it a while. Definitely heavy on the birch tar and styrax, and the vanilla cuts through to calm the harshness. I've gotten countless compliments wearing this before, even when I wear it at the "wrong time" (definitely more of a cool-weather, late-night scent, but I love to wear it as I run errands in the summer too). Initially heard of it from my mom, who received it as a sample, but she said the fragrance was too strong and offensive. When I went to visit a few weeks later, wearing the perfume, she wouldn't stop talking about how amazing I smell. This and Jorum's Firewater have convinced me that strong, polarizing fragrances are just right for me.

Patchouli 24 is quite an extraordinary scent. It reminds me of Frédéric Malle Monsieur, being patchouli-dominant, but is softer and more well-rounded, with the patchouli being balanced and complemented by the other well-chosen (yet an unusual combination of) notes. Composed by Annick Ménardo of Hypnotic Poison and Lolita Lempicka fame, it is no wonder it is so impressive. It is polarising and somewhat challenging - I can understand why people dislike P24, but it is such a clever composition that manages to be both avant-garde and comforting at the same time. P24 is patchouli-dominant from initial spray, dark and earthy but not quite dirty. Birch adds a nice green woodiness initially, becoming increasingly birch tar-like as it develops, slightly smoky and leathery. A nice vanilla-amber accord emerges, with the amber adding an animalic quality to the leathery birch tar, while the vanilla in the background smooths everything over. Dry, dusty and with minimal sweetness, the vanilla is excellent - unisex and reminiscent of yellowed paper. It is quite balsamic in the later stages, lingering for hours. Sillage is strong and longevity is long-lasting. Perfectly unisex, it is earthy and ambery, unpredictable in the best way and utterly unique. Olfactory art to wear to bed. 4.5/5.

Could not believe how good this smells. Tried MFK, Byredo, Killian, PDM, Xerjoff, Initio, everything from Penhaligon's and creed. Nothing from any of the houses above smelled as good as Le Labo Patchouli 24. This is not an ordinary patchouli fragrance. This is Patchouli Perfection. Patchouli done right, in true art form. I have a very very good Patchouli fragrance, one that has 3 different kinds of Patchouli, but this one wins by mile for the smell. I can't believe how good this smells, but the ingredients are so simple. There must be some notes they do not list on their website. I do not see how anyone could not be a Patchouli lover after smelling this. Going to purchase a full bottle tomorrow. Smelling this fragrance puts me into such a good mood. I probably scared one of the employee's, I was enjoying this juice a little too much. It's 5/5/26 12:12 AM Could not get enough of this, it's very addicting. I would classify this as a holy grail fragrance. Nothing on the market smells close to this. The smell is invigorating, and so beautiful, I am honored to be living in a time where this exists. 10/10 Holy Grail Masterpiece Definitely need to explore more from this house.