Patchouli is a bushy herb of the mint family that can reach up to two or three feet in height with small pale pink-white flowers. It is native to the tropical regions of Asia and also cultivated extensively in Caribbean countries, India, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Philippines and Vietnam. The plant of patchouli has a heavy and strong scent and widely used in perfumes.

There are few essential oils that provoke more extreme reactions -people either love Patchouli, or they hate it, there is no middle ground. Most of the time, Patchouli conjures up images of hippydom and 60s flair. At the time it was THE natural perfume and everything and everybody seemed to be wafting in clouds of it. Perhaps it was the exotic note that tele-transported them straight to India, the hippy paradise and homeland of Patchouli oil, or maybe it was the dark, musky, slightly raucous scent that seemed to capture the fragrant essence of the era's sexual revolution. Or perhaps it was just particularly effective in covering up the scent of pot. Who knows,â'¦not even time will tell. Apart from its hippy connotations Patchouli does have some very useful medicinal and therapeutic properties and has been used in Ayurvedic medicine where it is said to address the imbalances of Kapha.