Teenage kicks redux

Crabtree & Evelyn's Patchouli soap was the first fragranced, and on my allowance expensive, purchase I made for myself. It was a revelation of how classy patchouli can be, rather than honky and mixed up with the pee-like smell of the hippie shop in 1970s Reading. I kept the empty boxes as decoration because of the lush Douanier Rousseau-inspired design work.

Patchouli: my long-time love affair

Patchouli is a plant native to Malaysia and now cultivated in countries with similar climates, such as the West Indies.The essential oil has a hot, pungent and lingering smell - with an animal quality to it. it is used as a fixative in perfumery because of its lasting smell and it has a long history; the paisley shawls of eighteenth and nineteenth-century Britain arrived from India smelling of the patchouli used to deter moths in transit and this added to its popularity in fragrances. It is also a very useful essential oil for skincare. It is both anti-inflammatory and a cell-regenerator which makes it useful in treating various skin conditions. In aromatherapy it is used to treat anxiety and depression, particularly stress-related conditions.