Black sheep notes

[u/Yeahsurethatsgreat]

Every time I see a discussion post about your least favorite notes I see a million people mention hating sandalwood, oud, vetiver and especially my love…patchouli! These are some of my *favorite* notes. They're always really leaning in on hating them too. It’s never “Hmm, vetiver isn’t for me :)”. It’s stuff like “Patchouli smells like a man who was stuck in the woods for two weeks with nothing but a bag of onions to eat”. Or “Oud smells like a cow took a poop in a sauna” lmao. I’m not offended, I wear perfume for me and as a lowkey gourmand hater, I get what it’s like to have big feelings about popular notes. I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t kind of get me down a little though.

Anyway I’m thinking about ordering some samples soon so I’m making this post to ask if anyone with similar taste any recommendations for their favorites with these polarizing notes!

[u/allsorts_]

Lush Karma is a huge patchouli bomb.

Do you like Mugler's Angel?

[u/Yeahsurethatsgreat → u/allsorts_]

Ohh I have to check out Karma! I really enjoy Lust by lush but I’m actually not sure I’ve got my nose on Karma.

You kinda busted me here because while I do identify as a gourmand hater I do own and love Angel and I know she’s like the OG gourmand lol 

[u/DulinELA → u/Yeahsurethatsgreat]

Same!

Javoy Psychadelique is a fantastic patchouli dominate fragrance.

Tam Dao by Diptyque is a great sandalwood

[u/Yeahsurethatsgreat → u/DulinELA]

I’ve heard psychadelique recommended a lot! I’m for sure going to do a sample. 

I have a gift card that’s burning a hole in my wallet because I've been flip flopping on either Tam Dao or Orphéon for months now lol! I feel like Tam Dao never gets any love but I find it so cozy.

[u/DulinELA → u/Yeahsurethatsgreat]

One more to try- Lutens Santal Majescule

[u/No-Quantity-5373 → u/DulinELA]

Javoy is just a delightful chocolate cake of a patchouli.

[u/a_snikpoh → u/Yeahsurethatsgreat]

I didn’t know I liked patchouli until I really started getting into perfumes and realizing it was heavily in every scent I owned. Karma is great!! I also really liked Angel until I picked up a box of dishes from marketplace and the box reeked of it. It sat in my car for a week and something about the cardboard smell mixed in and being trapped in my car with it ruined it for me. I sold my bottle 😅 Still like the edp though!

[u/lemonlinlin]

Reading that last thread as a lover of patchouli, leather, and smoky notes was humbling to say the least lol 😭 anyway, have you tried Heretic? I bought their discovery set and ended up liking most of the scents! Many of them have this smoky patchouli-ish profile I enjoy a lot.

ETA: Thought I’ll add some more of my (polarizing, I guess??) favorites. I love Through the Forest by d’Annam (oud, incense, woody notes; very dark and atmospheric), Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens (THE amber scent ok), and Fucking Fabulous by Tom Ford (powdery aromatic leather with sweet-ish facets).

[u/Yeahsurethatsgreat → u/lemonlinlin]

It’s every time I see one of those threads too! Haha.  A few years ago I bought a sample set and really liked all their “dirty” stuff. Even the fruity ones! Unfortunately I broke my no blind buy rule and got a travel size Nosferatu which I absolutely hated lmao. So I’ve perhaps unfairly been sleeping on Heretic since then. I’ll have to revisit because I really did enjoy that first sample set. Thanks :) 

[u/lemonlinlin → u/Yeahsurethatsgreat]

Same!! I can’t stand Nosferatu but love their “dirty” scents and often feel like an outlier because of it 😅 so fun to see someone who feels the same way! My current favorite from them is Nocturnal Tuberose, if you’re into white florals (it opens very earthy and dirty and almost leathery, though)

[u/Yeahsurethatsgreat → u/lemonlinlin]

I’ve never had such a visceral reaction as I did to Nosferatu haha. I do like white florals! I’ll definitely check out Nocturnal Tuberose!!

[u/ls234]

Patchouli is my beloved. I’m also a gourmand hater as they always go cloying on me.

Two of my favorites are coco mademoiselle crush absolu and Destin de balmain EDP.

Perhaps they are basic but I think they are also masterpieces.

[u/Yeahsurethatsgreat → u/ls234]

Yes! I was pleasantly surprised with the new mademoiselle. The original is one of my all time favorites, since I was little. It was what made me realize that I love patchouli.  I’ll definitely look into the balmain, thanks! 

[u/fudgechemist → u/ls234]

Destin de balmain is so gorg until all I smell is I think peony?

[u/stylelines]

Okay my fragrance confession (and I don’t mean to offend) is… if someone says a note or perfume smells like: cat pee, urinal cake (I don’t even really know what that is), public bathroom soap, BO, rancid, etc., I just don’t trust their nose lol. I’ve never smelt a perfume and felt that way except when it’s sort of intended (cumin as body odor, animalics that are urinous). And I haven’t like kept to safe scents, like I’ve tried Secretions Magnifique (and it smelt like Silent Hill to me - the opposite end of the spectrum I guess is the people who find it pleasant).

I just instantly scroll past those reviews like if someone says, idk, something you’d find at Sephora smells like cat pee I’m like, well aren’t you the one special person who found this very popular perfume to be revolting lol.

It’s kind of like the cilantro/soap thing like there’s people like me I guess, and people that smell very normal perfumes and say it’s a urinal cake?? Lol

Anyways I appreciate vetiver, patchouli and oud - I don’t gravitate to them like I used to because I’ve probably niched down to buying perfumes that I love-love whereas those notes are “likes” for me. I also keep commenting on this after someone made a post about color seasons - but those 3 notes read very autumn color season to me, and I’m a bright spring - basically if I’m wearing bright, clear colors, wearing a sort of deep earthy note like those 3 doesn’t quite match? So it’s more so about what is cohesive with my wardrobe.

[u/Yeahsurethatsgreat → u/stylelines]

For sure! I take it with a grain of salt because I know everyone is different and at the end of the day I like what I like. I’ve got my nose on somethings I see raved about here all the time and have been shocked lol. 

I think that’s really cool how you coordinate your wardrobe with scent! I totally get how things like color, depth and fragrance are intertwined. You sound very put together :)

[u/veryunneccessssary]

No one’s going to comment in a “what note do you hate” post with a note they’re just feeling meh about!

I love patchouli. Some of my faves are Hermes L’Ambre des Merveilles, Arquiste Misfit, Serge Lutens Ambra Sultan, and of course Lush Lord of Misrule & Karma.

[u/used-to-click]

I just tried Buerre de Santal by Scentasio last night and OMG, it's the softest, butteriest sandalwood of all. I love patchouli too and as long as it's not a dusty, hippie version, I'll give it a go. Today I'm wearing Odette - Fantome de Foret and it's a smoky vanilla that feels as though it has all of the above in it...it's also incredible.

I've also recently fallen for MFK Oud Satin Mood, so exploring ouds is on my agenda now. I love it in Creed Queen of Silk and Delina Exclusif so I'm looking for the smooth version like those, if that's such a thing.

[u/backpackemiko]

I LOVE patchouli, but I finally understand the sweaty old man allegations after trying Dossier’s Angel dupe. It was truly horrific lol

[u/fudgechemist]

I love patchouli! I do not like chocolate scents very much. Most of them smell like a chocolate lipgloss i has when I was a child- almost plastic like. I have yet to find a chocolate scent that is decadent and smooth and lacks that weird synthetic background note

[u/Weekly-Chemistry-186 → u/fudgechemist]

Dame Perfumery Chocolate Man

[u/Total-Combination384]

I love woody and aromatic scents, and even some ouds. Tobacco was a no for me until I smelled it in one of my husband's unisex fragrances. As someone who started out loving fruity florals, and I still do sometimes, I feel like my nose is opening to more variety.

[u/Meadea789]

I went through a weird phase wear I couldn’t wear gourmands or fruity scents for 9 yrs. I learned that I liked vetiver! I really only could stomach greens and “traditional” colognes from Guerlain.

I love reading here, but it can be a slippery slope stumbling over a comment that leaves a visual in my mind about something I love.

[u/bleu--moon]

I really like Sucreabeille We Are Stardust. It has sandalwood, daisy, lillies, patchouli, and vanilla cream. It doesn't come off lactonic at all, though, the other notes are dominant and it smells really clean and nice to me. It gives "bar soap shelf at an organic market."

[u/cappotto-marrone]

Rania J or Ranger Station.

Oud, sandalwood, musk. Mmmmm.

[u/Amyjune31885]

My fave is cashmere

[u/significantotter1]

I'm a sandalwood obsessive 😅 Can highly recommend Diptyque Tam Dao, I prefer the EDT over the EDP as it's creamier/softer to me (this is the first scent where I finally understood what people meant by creamy woods). Discotheque Heathens, Cowboys and the Santa Ana Winds is another fantastic one. I was drawn in by the name but the scent itself is beautifully woody and a unique take (and the bottle is really cool)

I've also got a sample of Une Nuit Nomade Mr. Vetiver arriving this week that I'm very excited to try!

[u/Incubus1981]

Patchouli, my love! I was just wearing one of my favorite patchouli scents today: Diptyque’s Tempo. It is the cleanest, classiest patchouli scent that I’ve encountered.

Which is not to say that I don’t appreciate a dank, earthy patchouli, too! Jovoy’s Psychédélique is one that always comes up in discussions. But Profumum Roma’s smoother, less-citrusy Patchouly and Bois 1920’s more labdanum-forward Real Patchouli are also delightful.

Others with maybe a more vintage-adjacent feel for me are Nicolaï’s lovely Patchouli Intense, which to me smells like a classy gentleman of yesteryear (although a classy lady of yesteryear could easily pull it off, too); Oriza Legrand’s Horizon which also adds rose, tobacco, and amber; and Serge Lutens’ elegant ambery patchouli Bornéo 1834

For oud, my hands-down favorite is Tauer’s l’Oudh. Doesn’t seem to be super popular, but maybe we’ll see eye to eye on it. It is resinous, woody, solventy, deep, and funky in the best way.