Our take
What does Patchouli Impérial smell like?
Patchouli Impérial joined La Collection Privée Christian Dior in autumn 2011. François Demachy composed it as an eau de parfum. Dior highlights three materials: Russian coriander, Indonesian patchouli and sandalwoods from India and New Caledonia. Coriander opens peppery and faintly lemony, helped by a flash of bergamot. Then the patchouli arrives. It has been stripped of its earth and camphor, so it smells of dry wood and bitter chocolate rather than a damp cellar. Sandalwood rounds out the base, with some amber and cedar depending on the source. Nothing hippie about it. Think wool suit, not Indian cotton shirt. Next to Chanel's Coromandel, another luxury patchouli, the Dior is drier and less gourmand. It works just as well on men as on women. On skin it lasts well into the evening.
When to wear it
Wear it in autumn and winter, at the office or for dinner. Two sprays are enough and the patchouli radiates for hours.
It belongs to the Woody family. Patchouli Impérial is one of 72 creations by Dior in our encyclopedia.
