Patchouli Ardent

Guerlain launched Patchouli Ardent in 2020 in Les Absolus d’Orient, its collection devoted to materials from the East. The fragrance was composed by Thierry Wasser, the house perfumer, and came out as a 125 ml eau de parfum, presented by Now Smell This as a woody floral.

A patchouli made luminous

The launch messaging came down to one idea: reinventing patchouli, a woody material usually dark and mysterious, in a vibrant and luminous light. The house pairs it with the elegance of rose and a majestic leather and musk accord.

Thierry Wasser sums up his intention in a sentence quoted by the house: he wanted to bring out everything this precious woody material contains and reveal its luminous, vibrant facets, far from its shadowy reputation.

The move to Absolus Allegoria

Patchouli Ardent has since left Les Absolus d’Orient for Absolus Allegoria, the collection of intense eaux de parfum that the house attaches to its Allegoria line and describes as a nocturnal journey through the wonders of the world, lit by the moon.

The house presents a formula with more than 90% ingredients of natural origin, water included, with a beet alcohol produced in France by a responsible farming supply chain. The ingredient list it publishes is no longer the 2020 one.

The current description no longer mentions the pink pepper, black pepper, fig, or cedar that accompanied the 2020 version: it keeps dried patchouli leaves, rose, and the leather and musk accord.