Patchouli

Let's just address it: patchouli has a reputation. It's the smell of a certain kind of van, a certain kind of drum circle, a certain uncle who 'did some traveling.' We are not here to run from that. We are here to make it good.

Real patchouli — the leaf cured and steam-distilled, not the headshop imitation — is deep, sweet and dark in a way that has nothing to do with hacky-sack. It gets better with age. It gets better on skin. It's one of the only scents that smells more expensive the longer you wear it, which is a neat trick for a plant that grows like a weed.

We dose it at two percent. Present, not preceding-you-into-rooms. Think 'interesting stranger with good stories,' not 'beaded curtain.' The van is optional. The vibe is not.