Tempo* is one of two new perfumes that celebrate Diptyque L’Eau’s 50th birthday. (I’ve already tackled the ‘softie’ of the pair, Fleur de Peau.) Here’s what Diptyque has to say about Tempo:
During the 60’s, a certain scent was changing the world: patchouli. It conveyed a sense of freedom and spirituality that was closer to Nature, and the hopes of a generation that was reinventing the future….
Videos from Givaudan (just below; including short appearance by perfumer Jacques Huclier) and Firmenich Naturals (below the jump) on sourcing initiatives with patchouli farming communities in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Although many people remain convinced that patchouli is distilled from the body odor of unwashed hippies, it’s actually a plant from the mint family. Hiram Green Arbolé Arbolé is a good reminder of that fact. Although it stars patchouli, the fragrance is dry and camphorous, with the feel of a living plant in an arid wind.
Arbolé Arbolé is named after a poem by García Lorca that begins, “Tree, tree / Dry and green.” That’s about as good a description of the fragrance you can pack into five words. Arbolé Arbolé’s notes include patchouli, cedar, sandalwood, vanilla and tonka bean. Like all of Hiram Green’s fragrances, it’s made exclusively of natural materials…
According to Barneys New York, Frédéric Malle’s inspirations for Monsieur1 were…
“…remorseless seducers2 who would playfully flit from women’s embrace to social merrymaking. Gentlemen3 whose manly and timeless elegance has relentlessly guided the development of this perfume and enabled Frédéric Malle to stay on course during the creation of this very minimal scent.”
Here they are, a-hem, “aristocrats” all…
How many people know what REAL patchouli smells like? It seems fewer and fewer perfumistas have smelled “dirty” natural patchouli. The patchouli most used in perfumes these days is clean and crease-less, its damp/dank, earthy/root-y character has been dimmed or eliminated. Brutish, chest-thumping patchouli has been replaced in designer fragrances with patchouli that could be characterized as either an elegant lady or a freshly laundered, cuddly teddy bear who has cocoa-scented breath, with a dab of vanilla extract behind each ear.
Tom Ford Patchouli Absolu doesn’t go the ladylike or gourmand routes; its patchouli retains a natural “edge.” If real patchouli is Homo neanderthalensis and contemporary patchouli is Homo Catherine Deneuve, Tom Ford Patchouli (Absolu) is…Tom Ford himself…