Potpourri

Fresh, herbal, camphorous. Green, all spices in the pot kinda fragrance. I’d like it as a room spray, not sure about wearing it. I love SMN for its history and story mostly.

I wouldn't say that it is repulsive but it smells a bit like chinese medicinal oil/balm so you wouldn't want to wear this next to an Asian.

Potpourri is the coldest fragrance I know. The temperature instantly drops 10 degrees. It feels like the Grim Reaper has entered the room, the cold breeze of death. Or a Dementor is floating outside your window staring in. Or you're looking down an ancient stone well you can't see the bottom of, cold moist air inciting you to jump down. Potpourri is fantastic. Really unique, nothing like it.

To be clear, do not be thrown off by its name: Potpourri is not your grandma's or auntie's bowl of potpourri, it is not powdery, sweet, and floral (save for the carnation here). This old world 19th century creation is more a potion that clears the senses and heals the soul, pre-dating familiar classic approaches to perfumery. It is unapologetically camphoraceous, phenolic, medicinal, and I love every second of it. A blast of bay leaves, rosemary and thyme braces you from the start, so warm and savory, almost reminding me of a more perfumed Bell's Seasoning. However, as we reach the heart of the fragrance, we realize this is all buffered by a softer, more resinous undercurrent; this junction is the most sensuous and captivating stage in development, as we have this duality that imparts a musky, ever so lightly perspiring sensation. I detect the peru balsam with its more vanillic, cinnamic qualities, as it slowly enters the picture. Obtained by removing the bark of the Myroxylon balsamum tree and scorching the exposed wood, peru balsam not only has its history in flavor perfume but also medicine, so naturally it would be present in this concoction. The dry down to the base is ever more smoky, elusive, and musky, perhaps due to this really stoic patchouli fixing it all together- no chocolate, no cacao, no cake. All dirt, must, sweat, and candor wrapped in a balsamic sweetness. Now you may ask, why wear something that smells somewhat medicinal? Trust me when I say that Potpourri is so not of the time or world for that matter that it somehow works; it is this dichotomy of the antiseptic with the dirty, the erogenous. All of this really speaks to the adventure in perfume, the depth and dimension in fragrance, not to mention the scope of history. One who has grown tired of the same hackneyed sweet amber bases and safe, yawn-inducing accessible 'niche' ennui of today could stand to reach for Potpourri, amongst others in the Santa

Wow... and not the good kind wow! This smacks me right in the face and just smells like very medicinal mouthwash you'd get at the pharmacy or chemist. It's a very strong smell you could smell from a mile away and would definitely not be work appropriate in my opinion. I can't really smell any of the top notes and I can only smell patchouli in the base notes a bit. The rest is just a rosemary first and foremost, followed in intensity by lavender, rosemary and cloves. It mellows down a bit, but it seems to stay mostly the same. It lasts a long time too. I'd say that this is a slightly masculine-leaning unisex cologne and not something a feminine woman or girl would want to wear. But I honestly wouldn't want to smell this on a man, either. It smells absolutely awful and rank!