Essence de Patchouli

Essence de Patchouli by Alyssa Ashley, released in 2009, is a woody patchouli softened with flowers and resin. Woody is the word everyone uses; three quarters also call it floral, and about a quarter each gourmand, musky, resinous or ambery.

Patchouli is the main material, earthy, dry and a little chocolatey. Rose and geranium sit alongside it in the heart, giving a rosy, slightly green floral tone that lightens the earthiness, and orris root adds a powdery, make-up softness. The base is warm: French labdanum brings a sticky, ambery resin, coumarin and vanilla add a hay-like sweetness, and Virginia cedar and guaiac wood give a dry, slightly smoky wood that keeps the whole thing from going too soft. Musk rounds off the finish.

It is positioned as a feminine fragrance. The warmth of labdanum and vanilla suggests autumn and winter wear, and it suits people who like patchouli as a warm, comforting scent rather than a raw, hippyish one.

Essence de Patchouli — for women fragrance by Alyssa Ashley (released 2009). Notes: Cedar, Coumarin, French labdanum, Geranium, Guaiac Wood, Labdanum, Musk, Orris Root, Patchouli, Rose, Vanilla, Vanille, Virginia Cedar. — Parfica open fragrance database