Patchouli and Hippies

I love reading reviews here. And I always save the reviews at Parfumo for last when I'm using them for my research in a purchase. Why? Because the reviews here are the most poignant and honest reviews that delve into a perfume.

When I'm researching perfumes to buy, I first read the notes (obviously), then I'll read reviews about the perfume. I'll be honest. I go to different sites. At another site, I have to scroll through ( a lot) of reviews to find the worthwhile ones that have relevant material. That's ok. I'm a fast reader.

And some of them do make me smile. Or laugh. Or guffaw. I try not to drink anything while reading them at the other site.

I'm a patch lover. Not everyone is. Again, that's ok. Sometimes, a reviewer will comment that a perfume would have been great if only patchouli wasn't in the mix, because the patchouli ruined it. Well, here's my thought on that. Why'd you try that perfume if you knew patchouli was in it, and you knew you hated patchouli? Of course you're going to hate it. Duh. The perfumer didn't ask for your opinion. Did you bother to read the notes beforehand? Guess not..

Or this type of comment opens my eyes all the time. And I see it often enough. A reviewer will comment about patchouli in a good way, saying that it's not a patchouli that dirty hippies would wear, or a patch that reminds them of smelly hippies. Passive-aggressive shot at hippies. So then I'll look at the reviewer to check their age. And bingo! They're a youngin, far too young to have been rollin' in the mud at Woodstock. So I wonder. Were their parents traumatized by some hippies? Were their parents hippie-wannabes? Did hippies kidnap them at an early age and try to help them evolve into peaceful people? What happened in their early development stages that they dislike an entire generation of people that they know nothing about? Did these people grow up hearing about hippies in such a negative way that they must always associate hippies with patchouli, dirtiness and some type of disgusting odor? Who influenced them to speak so negatively and become haters of hippies? They weren't there, and that type of comment doesn't belong in a review, just as the "old lady smelling perfume" comment doesn't belong in a review, either.

Thank goodness I don't see it here at Parfumo. Because it doesn't belong in a critique. And for the record? I don't remember a dirty, hippie smell from back in the day. I do remember a lot of smiles, peace signs, hugs and camaraderie. Oh yeah-and people smelling of patch, musk oil, cannabis and hashish. There were bad times (the war) and good times back then. No need to dismiss and become haters of a generation of people that attempted to make changes for the future.

I wish folks would keep their dismissive tones of society out of reviews. It just shows their ignorance.

Of course, marketing always comes into play. I've added pictures of current perfumes from fragrances of patchouli/patchouli types of today. Note the marketing hype. Is it any wonder where the phrases "dirty hippie" come from? Granted, there will always be sociological implications, we know this. Those are ingrained. But to implement ad campaigns directed at a group of people and market perfumes using these words is just wrong. And this is called creativity.

Frankly, I wouldn't put my money down to any company that markets anything like this that isn't creative and dismisses a group of people in a hateful way. It's slanderous.

Peace.

Sorceress