Patchouli, originally native to Asia, is now cultivated in tropical areas throughout the world. 
A bushy herb of the mint family and distantly related to lavender and
rosemary, it is reluctant to flower and is propagated by cuttings. 
Patchouli rocketed to popularity during the hippie movement of the 60’s
when people began challenging traditional ideas. 
Trying different scents that weren’t widely accepted or even known
about was par for the course in that particular era. 
Once Patchouli caught on, however, it eventually became a common
ingredient in perfumes, soaps and incense.  Its
rich exotic scent reminds one of earth and wood, making it a popular ingredient
in perfume. 

 BOGART
POUR HOMME BY JACQUES BOGART(MEN) – Price : $21.02

Patchouli is also very useful to
perfumers as a fixative that blends well with other ingredients, substantially
slowing their evaporation and allowing the scent to last longer. 
It is usually harvested by steam distillation and has very good yields,
the leaves producing 3.5% of their weight in oil. 
Patchouli leaves are said to be best if processed as quickly as possible
after harvesting but some producers prefer to bale dried leaves and allow them
to ferment a bit to encourage their earthy scent. 
Aging is an important part of processing the leaves, as they have a
rather harsh aroma when first picked.  The
oil mellows with time, becoming sweeter and richer-much as fine wine does as it
ages. 

Both men’s and women’s perfumes use
patchouli for its rich, warm fragrance redolent of nature and sunshine. 
High quality oil is demanded by the best perfumers; patchouli that has
been altered by additives to stretch its quantity has a cedar wood or clove-like
scent and its fixative powers are severely impeded. 
The best patchouli oil is fruity, sophisticated and has a wine-like
richness. 

 CRISTALLE
BY CHANEL – Price : $44.95

Patchouli is ideal for men and women who
like to wear fresh scents inspired by nature. 
Bogart Pour Homme by Jacques Bogart, a men’s cologne first marketed in
2004, uses patchouli as a base to preserve and compliment its other notes of
vanilla, bergamot and water lily tempered by tonka bean. 
Cristalle, a women’s fragrance by Chanel, combines patchouli with rose
and amber with an aldehyde fixative for a fresh scent of summer days full of
sunshine and cool, breezy evenings with a hint of dew. 
As you can see, patchouli is very versatile and allows other components
to shine while subtly lending its own unique and earthy bouquet to the formula.  

Tim Walt

Amber is well known for its rich, earthy and exotic fragrance.
Popular due to it being natural, good alternative to diluted perfume oils
or synthetic perfumes.  Amber resin
is great to wear as a solid because the scent gets stronger as it’s heated by
the body or the sun.

Making amber perfume begins with Liquidambar Orientalis, a deciduous amber
resin tree that is native to the eastern Mediterranean region of Europe ,
sometimes called the Oriental Sweetgum.  The
most basic form of amber perfume is made by mixing it with beeswax and benzoin
gum to create a rather tacky-feeling solid that’s very easy to apply. 
This simple form of amber scent has been shown through biofeedback to
have a psychoactive effect, acting as a relaxant to the brainwaves.

PASHA
DE CARTIER BY CARTIER 
(EAU DE TOILETTE SPRAY 1 OZ) – Click to Buy

Condition:
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Sale Price: $24.70

Amber perfume was distilled hundreds of years ago from ambergris, which was
commonly found floating on the oceans.  Ambergris,
believe it or not, is a digestive secretion of the sperm whale that is flammable
as well as aromatic.  It was natural
that in years past when the whale population was many times what it is today
that ambergris was easily found and used not only for perfuming but as fuel for
lamps.  Since then, of course,
perfumers have discovered amber resin which is the preferred method of producing
not only amber perfume but adding the scent to combinations of other elements.

PROVOCATIVE
BY ELIZABETH ARDEN
(EAU DE PARFUM SPRAY 1 OZ)

- Click to Buy

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Sale Price: $14.99

Because of its woodsy nature, amber is often used in scents manufactured for
men.  Aramis by Aramis, for example,
combines amber with musk, jasmine and bergamot to produce a very masculine scent
that women love their men to wear.  Cartier
adds lavender, mint, musk and wood to amber to make their popular Pasha De
Cartier for men.

Amber’s basic and earthy properties make it ideal for so many formulas
that there is a wide variety of perfumes both masculine and feminine that
feature it.  It can enhance woodsy
scents as well as floral; Provocative by Elizabeth Arden uses subtle amber
undertones to compliment its lotus, orchid and lily features.

ARAMIS
BY ARAMIS (AFTER SHAVE 4 OZ)
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Sale Price: $26.51

Amber perfumes have long been popular in the Middle East, Far East and
Europe , particularly because its aroma goes well with so many other scents,
drawing out subtle properties of flowers, herbs and fruits. 
Hundreds of years ago it was distilled, as most perfumes were, drawing
out the liquid from the resin in order to add it to other scents, for use by
itself or even in lamps, incense and candles. 
In India and Persia (now Iran ) it was a luxury reserved for royalty,
used to perfume the hair and clothing of kings and their favorite wives.

Amber’s woodsy fragrance is so versatile that today it is used not only in
perfumes but in shampoos and other toiletries, sachets for linens or clothing
and even air fresheners for the house or the car. 
Most scents aren’t as universally liked as amber has always been and
its appeal throughout the centuries certainly hasn’t diminished in modern
times.

Tim Walt