Ingredient

Dark Sumatran Patchouli Oil

Pogostemon cablin

The dark side of the patchouli oil is most certainly bewitching, adding deeper and warmer notes to the already earthy aroma of the plant; a relaxing scent that takes you on a meditative journey. Resist it, you can not.

Patchouli is a bushy herb, belonging to the same family as mint. It can grow up to about three feet tall and has long stems with purple or white flowers. After harvest, the plant is dried and then subjected to a steam distillation process to obtain the fragrant oil. While the plant is distilled in stainless steel to obtain common patchouli oil, it is placed in a cast-iron vat to produce the dark type, which gives the oil a darker colour and a deeper aroma.

Not only for fragrance but patchouli oil is also used to keep the skin clean and soothed. In aromatherapy, it is recommended to balance and ground the mind, as well as to harmonise emotions.

Lush purchase dark patchouli oil from Gayo Lues Permaculture Centre in Sumatra, Indonesia, where the plant is grown according to regenerative practices.