Patchouli Nosy Be

I randomly received two samples from Perris Monte Carlo with a purchase, and I'm very impressed so far. Vanille de Tahiti is a high-quality grown-up vanilla scent, far from the basic vanilla I expected. Patchouli Nosy Be is perhaps even better. A balsamic chocolate-patchouli scent, it is a beautiful example of its genre. Patchouli can be a challenging note - I used to think I disliked it, but now it is one of my favourites, given its versatility. It is frequently paired with florals, most notably rose, adding an earthy edge. It is a core component of the modern chypre to which I'm partial, as well as contributing to the fruichoulis of the noughties. It is a multifaceted note - oscillating between being earthy, herbal, dirty, muddy, damp, dry, balsamic, mossy, woody - the list goes on. When it appears in its balsamic state, it is smooth and amber-esque and, curiously, resembles chocolate. The chocolate-patchouli accord was famously pioneered in Mugler's Angel, arguably the first true gourmand, and it has featured in many scents since (of varying quality). Here, it is a much simpler composition than the kitchen-sink-y Angel, but excellent. Apart from Cartier L'Heure VII (expensive and hard to find), this is the best chocolate-patchouli I've come across. PNB opens with earthy patchouli, initially slightly herbal and damp, with some discordant pink pepper evident at its opening. This subsides quickly, and it settles into a smooth, balsamic patchouli scent thanks to the sweet, good-quality vanilla note that follows. Leather-like labdanum rounds out the ambery base and complementing the balsamic patchouli-vanilla accord seamlessly. The chocolate note emerges after a little while, like high-quality raw cacao, dark and bitter-sweet. It marries beautifully with the patchouli-vanilla accord. Some soft woodiness is evident as it dries down, complementing the patchouli nicely. It becomes musky as it fades. Sillage is moderate and longevity is long-lasting. It is unisex despite its sweetness, and is a cold weather scent. I was very taken with Le Labo Patchouli 24, but PNB has surpassed it in my opinion thanks to the inclusion of its pitch-perfect cacao note (it is also a fraction of the price of P24). Sweet, smooth, earthy darkness. 4.5/5.

I’m starting this review with a bold statement: I think this scent is THE patchouli scent for the category of fragrance wearers who say patchouli is not for them! Or they find it too much if a fragrance has a strong patchouli note. I am not one of those people, I like or love patchouli most of the times.. and I love this as well! Superb scent!! Patchouli Nosy Be is a strong scent but not necessarily a strong patchouli scent, like I have expected judging it by the name: Patchouli Nosy Be. I find the patchouli note very well balanced with the cacao pod, vanilla, labdanum, pink pepper and woods: cedar plus sandalwood. It’s such an exquisite blend that nothing feels overwhelming or overpowering any other note. No note here fights against the others in the mix.. It is such an intriguing fragrance: it’s warm and sweet, earthy and powdery, woody and spicy, all in the same time. Simply put, it’s a spicy gourmand patchouli. Not sweet but not too earthy or musty. An amazing fragrance that instantly draws you in. I think it comes second to Ylang Ylang Nose By, my most favourite ylang ylang scent of all time, in my Perris Monte Carlo collection. If you're looking for something deep and complex that will get you complimented, this is a runner. Superb for the colder months! Very underrated and well priced for the super quality and the way it performs. It’s a niche brand that is sold for the same price or even less than the latest designer launches. Like I have already mentioned, it’s an intense scent that performs well. Goes straight to my to buy list! Cooler season type of perfume.

After seeing this in a few YouTube patchouli lists of favorite patchoulis, and diving deeper into reviews I felt I’d really love this one and so I went my usual route of a blind buy and my lucky streak continues. I found this to be an instant love. Upon spraying and the ensuing hour or two, this one doesn’t seem to know what it wants to do on my skin. I get whiffs of both a dank skanky patchouli, balanced with whiffs of an ultra clean and deep patchouli. When this one settles, it settles on my skin into a deep, rich, robust chocolate patchouli. Simply marvelous. An absolute instant love. To be fair, when this delivered, I was in the midst of a work day and so I didn’t pay extremely close attention to this fragrance’s attributes, though I’m not sure I’d be able to add something not yet said below. The interplay and bipolararity of super clean luxury and dank skank was quite pleasing to me. Even the skanky aspects of this just kept pulling me in more when they revealed themselves. The performance seemed to me quite well. Hours later I could still detect it. I don’t believe it was necessarily projecting strongly, and in reality I’m not sure I could comment on that unless I was surrounded by others who man comment on whether they can detect it, and a couple other by MCP that I received in the same order were certainly detectable by nose several hours later. For me this is a 5 star out of 5 for me.

Patchouli Nosy Be is a fragrance in which the final result is more than the sum of its components. Although the patchouli note and a less identifiable sweet note can indeed be detected throughout the entire life of the perfume, the mix of notes gives birth to a very original, soothing, comforting scent. Not dry, not cloying: just the right balance of evocative power (through the patchouli) and calming, crowd-pleasing notes (vanilla, cacao). The problem with associating patchouli with sweet notes, at least to my nose, is that it may end up smelling like Play Do (think of Profumum Roma Patchouly for example). Patchouli Nosy Be luckily does not make this mistake: it never smells plasticky or cheap, which is very good. I detect strong similarities with profumum roma patchouly though, even in terms of performance. I tried all the perfumes of the Perris Monte Carlo Black and Gold lines, and this is the one I like the most (second being AmbreGris). I sprayed it three times: 1 on each side of my neck and 1 on the wrist. Sillage and projection are moderate (not too soft but I do not think that, unless someone is sitting/walking right next to you, they will be able to smell you) and does not leave a big trail. It does project nonetheless, it is not a skin scent. All in all I think Patchouli Nosy Be is a special scent, very original and comforting, but not a beast to fill the room.

The fragrance exudes a dark, sexy energy. It is rich and long-lasting, with a sweet balsamic quality and a distinct, opulent patchouli note. It’s not something to for blind buy, but for the right conditions, it’s simply perfect. Smells very unique, for both women and men you would get noticed wearing this one. On warm wet days, the labdanum note became overly pronounced, giving it an unpleasantly masculine edge. When I first caught a whiff of it in a store, I was completely mesmerized. I found myself returning again and again. Each time, the fragrance unfolded differently, influenced by the weather. In dry and cold (warm too) weather, it worked beautifully on me. The scent is amazing.