Patchouli
The patchouli accord is dark, earthy and slightly sweet, the classic seventies note.
In 291 of 1747 fragrances here, most often worn in winter
What it is
A leaf from the mint family, dried and fermented before distillation. Modern perfumery mostly uses a fractioned version with the mustiest part stripped out, which is why it no longer smells the way it did in 1972.
What it smells like
Dark and earthy with a sweet edge, somewhere between damp soil and a second hand bookshop. The cleaned up version is the backbone of most modern fruity and chypre blends, so plenty of people wearing patchouli would tell you they dislike it.
How strongly it is worn
The average strength this accord is listed at, where 100 means it dominates the fragrance.
61 / 100
What builds it
How much more often than the catalogue average. 1.0x would be chance, so these are the things that genuinely travel with it rather than the things that are simply common.
Accords it sits beside
Same measure, with its own family filtered out. Saying woody turns up with oud is a restatement, not a finding.
When it is worn
Against the average fragrance here. The line marks that average, so a bar past it means this is worn in that season or setting more than most.
Houses that use it most
Counted across the fragrances here, which reflects what we cover as much as what a house makes.
Gucci (21), Mugler (13), Viktor&Rolf (13), Ajmal (12), Rasasi (12), Yves Saint Laurent (11).
The description above is written here. The counts, pairings and seasons are measured across every fragrance on this site that lists it. We have not smelled every bottle behind those numbers.
The most patchouli fragrances here
Ranked by how strongly the catalogue lists this accord, not by how popular the bottle is.
Parfums De Marly
Parfums De Marly Carlisle
Availability may vary
Yves Saint Laurent
Elle Yves Saint Laurent
Availability may vary
