I like it in the write formulation. I don't know how it is made but some brands must squeeze old patchoulis they've been chasing around awhile while others use freshly hatched patchoulis? Seriously though, some brands are great and some smell not so great. Overall I like it, and being reminded of weed ain't always a bad thing to us reformed dirty hippy* types. *I'm not old enough to have been a traditional hippy but that didn't stop me from trying
Interesting to see this patchouli thread, as it's been on my mind the last month or so. I think I've come to some peace with patchouli lately. It has had some strong hippy-pot smoking-incense associations for me, but then when I was in a local toiletries shop lately, and I realized I actually like it more than most scents out there. If you take it for what it is, it's really a sort of pleasant deep wood scent. I think the sociocultural associations are still there for me, but I've sort of decided I should try to get past that, because it's gotten in the way of me enjoying something I probably would otherwise like quite a bit.
You were right, patchouli smells refreshing. And the soap is great too, much better than the "barber saloon" soap I had, it's totally different and better in every ways.
I think the biggest problem with patchouli isn't that it smells bad, just the quantities that the people who like it tend to wear it in. My mom used to have some perfume called Patchouli Chic that she absolutely loved, and it smelled fine. The scent was enough that she could smell it on herself and if you were close to her you could smell it too. The problem becomes when someone liberally applies it to every part of their body, I was recently at a hockey game where someone had entirely too much on. That scent just hangs in the nose and is really overbearing in large amounts, but so long as you don't bathe in it everything will be just fine. This is true with pretty much all scents.
I like patchoulli, I'm too young to know any hippies, except people dressing retro I'm 35. Patchoulli rose makes me think of Asian Spice from Pier one. lol David
Yes, I just tried sniffing some breath and body odor mints made with Patchouli, and they do smell a bit like a cologne. Just a bit musky, floral and minty. But they also have lilac and nutmeg in them, so its hard to say what is coming from the Patchouli. I have to say, they made my breath smell like no other breath mint I've ever tried!
Yep. Its based on a TCM herbal recipe from Tang Dynasty China. It was developed to cure a famous royal concubine of her odor problems. Apparently, it greatly increased her sex appeal, because she went on to be very influental in the royal court (until she was hanged, as I recall.) True story! Patchouli's been around for a while...
For the record, I've never been one to succumb to the vageries of the crowd. God knows I love the woman to death, we've been married most of our adult lives (27 years come April) but I must respectfully and actively disagree with her assesment. I doubt my patchouli has ever smelled like armpits (or visa versa for that matter.) Today's shave featured TSD Patchouli, with Masters Bay Rum AS and CK Obsession Cologne. She said I smelled good afterwards. So now I'm really confused as I'm not sure if she was infering that my armpits smelled good on the initial day in question or my patchouli smelled of post-gym, working on the lawn in summertime, armpits. As for me, I remain a patchouli fan but I'll likely not follow it up with Murray and Lanman's Orange Blossom cologne again. I suspect that was probably what produced the somewhat pungent aroma in question. Update: Disregard previous regarding M&L Orange Blossom. The Sunday prior to the initial entry, of 17 January read as follows: shaved my spud (same gear as my face) then: Hot Shower Glycerin Pre-shave Gem Jr. 1912 Fat Handle Omega Boar Brush TSD Patchouli WH Clubman Bay Rum As can plainly be seen, we're talking about a virtually identical shave as the one this morning. The only difference being CK Obsession as the finish. I have certain...uh...indications that this is probably her favorite scent in my stable. I would therefore theorize that the scent of CK Obsession was enough to trump the previously identified armpit smell she associated with patchouli. Gotta go freshen up my Obsession so I can...uh...garner some more of her unabashed approval and on a work night too, how lewd...VIVA PATCHOULI!!!
Frankly, I suspect that, subliminally, women (and men) LIKE the smell of armpits. I think I saw some research about that once, but I'm not sure. On the other hand, I wouldn't want to advertise the fact that my deoderant, cologne or breath mint smelled like armpits, so that's a tricky one. But I think the odor control candies in question smell nice, and they don't remind me of armpits. Nobody has complained that my breath smells like armpits after I use them,either. So I'm keeping them, too!
