Weird perfume realizations

[cupcake_goth]

Unless it's some sort of spectacular chocolate scent, every perfume I really love contains patchouli. This is a vaguely unsettling realization to have, considering most people's reaction to even the word patchouli is "Eeewwww. Dirty hippies". Which is a totally understandable reaction, considering most people's exposure to patchouli is cheap "patchouli" oil or incense, which smells like bad dirt and funk. Ugh. GOOD patchouli, to me, smells of incense and sugar and dark wood. It has the feel of candle flame glimmering in the darkness.

Angel? Chaos? Coromandel? Lord of Misrule? (Thank you, LUSH UK, for making a perfume!) All have a patchouli note, and I'm willing to bet that Blood Popsicle from BPAL has some patchouli lurking in there, too.

So tell me: what are your favorite perfumes, and did any of them surprise you once you realized what the notes were?

Comments

[fufaraw]

Not about perfume, but I grew a couple of patchouli plants in my herb garden one year. The leaves, neither fresh nor dried, smelled anything like commercial "patchouli" oil or incense. I combined the dried leaves with other herbs and the occasional cardamom, nutmeg, peppercorn, or star anise to my own homemade potpourri mixes, and to drawer sachets. I love the scent of real patchouli.

[minim_calibre]

See, I also grew it (my first introduction to the smell was actually dried leaves), and it smells just like the essential oil to me.

The essential oil's cheap enough that the hippie smell is coming from the genuine article, but it is a note that changes dramatically when blended.

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

I don't know about my favorites, but the "patchouli" I'm used to reminds me of burning tires. Really.

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

My all time favorite "off the shelf" perfume is Opium (which costs as much as its name sake, alas); but I haven't analyzed the most subtle notes it contains. I am allergic to patchouli, at least in the cheap forms, and don't recall if I am allergic to those blended scents you list here.

My favorite scents are all spicy, with strong notes of Amber, and more mild notes of vanilla, Violet, and musk. I was surprised to discover that peppermint in a blend works well for me if it is so subtle you can't discern it; there is something about what it does with the other scents that rounds out the whole blend for me.

[dark-phoenix54.livejournal.com]

I love patchouli! Patchouli does change as it ages- it improves like a fine red wine.

I don't seem to have any real common thread in beloved perfumes; Giorgio (I'm embarrassed to admit that), Nuit de Noel (original version; haven't smelled the new version), Le Heure Bleu, Safari, Coco (original), Fendi- the one connecting thread seems to be that most of these are not made anymore, which I assume means my taste sucks and these weren't popular. Other than Giorgio, which was probably banned by the EPA for forming a solid cloud over the states during the 80s.

Sandalwood is one of my favorite notes; I don't tend to like watery, airy, fruity fragrances. I like woods, spices, and white flowers.

[minim_calibre]

Except for Fendi, all those scents are still in production. L'Heure Bleue's most recent reformulations are decent (Guerlain's been doing a better job than most houses at adjusting in the face of the IRFA restrictions), though it's the only one I've bothered to keep up with, as it used to be my main scent.

Almost anything that's been around more than five years is probably going to be in flux due to the asinine materials restrictions, so if there's a scent you used to love, check the threads on it at Basenotes to get a feel for what people are saying about the current juice.

Man, I love Fendi. It makes me smell like shoulder pads.

[mahariel.livejournal.com]

I'm firmly in the patchouli fragrance camp too. My absolute favorite scent ever was from Bath and Body Works, and was a mixture of orange, patchouli and ylang ylang. They sadly discontinued it almost a decade ago, so long ago now that I can't even remember what it was called.

[fallconsmate.livejournal.com]

my favorite oil blend i came up with myself, it was 3 parts musk, 1 part patchouli, and a bit of vanilla.

and APPARENTLY every perfume i have (no matter the manufacturer) smells like roses once i wear it a while. not a bad thing, but when i'm wearing a musky blend, it makes my brain go "huzzah-WHA???" :D

[morfydd.livejournal.com]

Patchouli by itself not only reminds me of hippies, but of the "Psycho Ex", who is no one you know, so it actively nauseates me. However, in a blend it is a pretty scent that improves everything around it.

I really like Chopard Wish, which I admit I bought mostly for the bottle (http://www.perfumesreview.com/chopard-wish-for-women.html) but is a pleasant everyday scent.

My BF really really likes Cartier Baise Vole, which I only ever got as a sample. Reviews seem to say it's the everyday and Wish is the romantic scent, but that's exactly opposite for me.

I have half of a sample of Philosykos (http://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Diptyque/Philosykos-3865.html) which is just the most luxuriously comfortable scent ever, but it's also my bad-luck scent, so it sits in my medicine cabinet mocking me.

Looking at those, my surprise is how sweet they are. Most perfumes end up 1) entirely disappearing, 2) turning into soap scent, or 3) turning into diabetes-inducing sugar scent, so I tend to go for citrus and wood scents in an effort to get away from sweet. (e.g., Angel is so lovely in the bottle and so syrupy on me - Angel Innocence is better but still...) I'm not sure why I can tolerate the three above.

Along the lines of citrus, my guilty pleasure perfume is Christina Aguilera's original scent (http://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Christina-Aguilera/Christina-Aguilera-1494.html) Despite the reviews linked, all I smell is grapefruit. :D

[icewyche.livejournal.com]

I didn't even realize Angel HAD patchouli until I read up on it on Fragrantica. Patchouli in essential oil form makes me ill - I worked at a vitamin store for several years and had a male coworker who LOVED to liberally apply it from the testers, and I'd always get a headache when he was there. But I adore Angel, even got myself a gift set for Xmas (yay Ulta Rewards!). Go figure. I also love Killer Queen (I know, Katy Perry, whatever), Lovestruck, Dior Addict, and the sadly-discontinued Vanilla Lace from Victoria's Secret. And I still wish Bath & Body Works would bring Vanilla Bean back instead of all this uber-sweet tweeny junk.

[angldst.livejournal.com]

I love sandalwood & vanilla in combo for winter everyday scent. I use Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme for perfume, and I have an awesome rich shea & cocoa butter lotion from a philadelphia shop (durossandlangell.com) that is scented with vanilla/sandalwood. Evenings/special occasions I use BPAL Lucy's Kiss (rose with victorian spices).

Summer/warm weather, I go citrus or floral, Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue (lightest of my d&g scents, husband picked it out years ago), or D&G Dolce for a more floral blend. I also like Eau de Chloe and Roses de Chloe.

<3

-d

[lylassandra.livejournal.com]

I recently became addicted to BPAL (my wallet weeps), and the scent that converted me was Moscow (rose, musk, amber, lily). The lily was a bit of a surprise, but then I'm so new to perfume that pretty much everything is.