Incense In The Wind

Radiating Incense In The Wind - a painting by Hai Linh Le

Monday 30 July 2018

Patchouli



As an old hippy I have a great fondness for patchouli - I wore it as a perfume during my teens, later blending it three parts patchouli, two parts musk, and one part civet (a combination idea I may have got from Aleister Crowley, though altered to my own taste). Its sweet musky scent is very evocative of an interesting period of my life, and though I have not quite found the same sweet intensity in incense as I have in the essential oil, a good patchouli incense will nearly always tend to seduce me....

Patchouli is a plant. It is part of the fragrant mint family - which includes basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, thyme, lavender, etc.  The leaves are steam distilled to create the essential (or plant) oil that is used as the basis for the scent in perfumes and incense.  The seeds (and sometimes the plants) can be bought online in the UK, and in the US.  The leaves are an effective insect repellent, and were used to protect silks that travelled to the West along the Silk Road. 

Patchouli is one of my favourite scents, and is a popular incense fragrance. It's rich, woody, sexy, warm, indulgent, sweet, with herbal, floral notes. Most patchouli incense tends to have those characteristics - it seems to work well. It's a useful incense adding sweet, musky, woody depth to a number of perfumes.  The patchouli plant is part of the mint family and is widely cultivated in Asia with over 12,000 farming families growing it. The active ingredient is Patchoulol, and this is now being developed synthetically with yeast, though I'm not sure how widespread is the use of synthetic patchoulol. It seems likely, given that most patchouli incenses are decent, that most patchouli incense is based on a natural essential oil, though the cheaper sticks would be blended with something like DEP, in order to keep the costs down. 


The scent is often called earthy, musky, sweet, like damp earth, brown, heady. It can be quite compelling and intoxicating. It is a robust, sexual, animalistic, natural, disturbing scent. When an incense replicates the scent successfully, it can be a heavenly experience - filling the room with a throbbing sensuality.

It is quite a common scent in incense - though less so for masala makers. It is found mainly in perfume-dipped incense - either as a natural essential oil, or as a chemical replicant.  Most perfume-dipped producers will have a patchouli in their range; sometimes part of a blend, but mostly just as patchouli. If there's a variety pack of cheap incense, patchouli will often be one of the scents - as with  Ganesha incense cones (score 29),  Emporium Impressions Premiere Incense Gift Pack (27),  Pan Aroma Incense Sticks (23), Stamford Exotic Collection (22), Zodiac Scents (19) - Scorpio is represented by patchouli, 100 Loose Cones eBay Mega-Mix (19), Spiritual Sky (19),  and Divine Spirit (18).

There are blends in the Stamford Aromatherapy Collection (Tulasi) with the Relaxing scent (27) containing a blend of cardamom, cedarwood and patchouli, while the Sensuality scent (22) contains a blend of ylang ylang, patchouli, and spicy nutmeg.

It can work well in perfume-dipped incense, as in SAC Patchouli cones (34),  HEM Patchouli (33) which does smell of patchouli, Mysore Sugandhi/Aargee Patchouli (33) which is crude but gives a likeable musky warmth,  and can make acceptable everyday patchouli incense, as in
SAC Patchouli sticks (29), or Karma Scents Patchouli (25). Though sometimes it's a scent in name only and the product is only useful as a toilet freshener as in Darshan Patchouli cones (15).

It is not common in masala incense, though Goloka do a Patchouli (36) which is more sandalwood than patchouli but is a warm and sensual incense nevertheless,  and Aromatika Ace Scents do a Patchouli (32) which again is more about sandalwood but is pleasant enough. Nandita do Nandita Organic Patchouli (27), which is a thin masala, and uses charcoal which burns quite sharp and hot, so is not successful.

Reviews

  * = Scores over 5 years old, so can't be relied on 


Aargee Imperial Maharaja Patchouli Fragrance
Dec 2023  -  Score: 47


Sai Handicraft UK Hand Rolled Pitcholi 
Dec 2023 - Score: 41


Goloka Patchouli Dhoop Cones 
Aug 2020 - Score: 41 


Satya (BNG - 2016) Patchouli (M)
Dec 2019  -  Score: 40

  
Satya (Mumbai) Patchouli Forest (M)
Aug 2019 - Score: 38


  
Elbenzauber Patchouli 
Jan 2024 - Score: 38

   
(HMS) Bhagwan Incense Patchouli (PM)
March 2024 - Score: 37 

  
Vivasvan Garden Fresh Pure Patchouli (M)
Jan 2024 Score: 37



Om Brand Trishala Patchouli (P)
Feb 2024 - Score: 37



Aargee Patchouli (P)
May 2019  - Score: 37

  
Namaste India Pure Patchouli (M)
Nov 2023 - Score: 36



Goloka Patchouli 
Nov 2015 - Score: 36*


Satya (BNG) Patchouli (M)
Aug 2019 - Score: 35 


SAC Patchouli (cones)
Aug 2018 - Score: 34*


Tulasi Patchouli Masala Incense (M)
Sept 2021  -  Score: 33


Dec 2022  -  Score: 33

  
April 2022 - Score: 33


Aargee Patchouli tube series
March 2015 - Score: 33*


HEM Patchouli
July 2017 - Score: 33*


Aromatika Ace Scents 
Patchouli
Aug 2015 - Score: 32*


Sifcon Patchouli Incense Sticks (P)
Oct 2021 -  Score: 31

 

Gokula / Primo Connoisseur Patchouli /
Gaura Super Patchouli Incense Sticks

Nov 2021 -   Score: 30 


  
Bhagvati Ppure Nagchampa Patchouli
May 2017   Score: 30*

 
Aasha Aromatics Patchouli (P)
Oct 2018  - Score: 30*


SAC Patchouli (sticks)
March 2017  Score: 29* 
 

Feb 2022 - Score: 28


Nandita Organic Patchouli (M)
Dec 2019   Score: 27
 




Mausum Patchouli (P)
Nov 2023 - Score: 27


Sifcon Karma Scents Patchouli (P)
June 2017  Score: 25*


Oct 2023   Score:  23

 

Nov 2023  -  Score: 15

 
July 2018  - Score: 15*



Scents reviewed: 31
Top five average: 41 
Reviews over 5 years old: 10 
Highest: 47
Lowest: 15
Average: 32
Score: 37

2 comments:

  1. Hello, Steve. Very good to learn about Patchouli! Have you tried the aroma of Satya? I got a copy and I'm going to burn it, and then comment on my impression!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd love to see your comment on any incense.

      I have a lot of Satya I've not yet reviewed. I'll take a look to see if I have a Satya Patchouli.

      Delete

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