Heeley Hippie Rose: Scent of Freedom + Woodstock Draw

 

The summer of 1969 we were on Cape Cod for our big summer family vacation. While the Summer of Love was a turning point for a generation; for me it was also a turning point of another kind. I had just discovered girls earlier in the year and had my first kiss, playing spin the bottle, I was hooked. I was starting to pay more attention to girls, and women, because all of a sudden they were more interesting. While we were on our summer trip we ended up in Provincetown. While Provincetown wasn’t The Haight or Greenwich Village it had a thriving Hippie subculture firmly in place. The whole family was shopping on Commercial Street and I was standing outside watching what I thought was the most interesting girl I had ever seen. She was dancing and swaying to a small group strumming guitars and drumming and seemed to be totally in the moment. I was fascinated and while I’m pretty sure my mouth wasn’t hanging open I was obviously staring. She noticed and twirled over to me and started to dance in front of me and beckoned me to join. It took me a few seconds to screw up my courage but I grabbed her hands and we whirled in a circle together. While we were spinning I was smelling something I never smelled before. It gave a scent to a special moment. It wouldn’t be for many years that I would eventually identify that smell as patchouli. For me the smell of patchouli has always reminded me of that happy Hippie I danced with on Commercial Street.

 

 

Because of that association I like good patchouli fragrances. I also like James Heeley of Heeley Perfumes as he has made a number of singular fragrances which I also think are pretty good. His latest fragrance Hippie Rose has the ability to take me back to that summer in Provincetown. Mr. Heeley has created a patchouli rose fragrance that is surrounded by two different kinds of musk which gives it a sun-warmed skin accord underneath the patchouli and rose.

 

 

Mr. Heeley opens Hippie Rose with a note of green musk. This earthy musk is a perfect opening for patchouli as the earthiness grounds the patchouli and when the rose arrives these three notes create a wonderfully rich accord. It makes me stand still mouth hanging open it is so good. Then Hippie Rose allows a sun-kissed skin accord to rise as a more traditional musk note combines with the remnants of the green musk to achieve this. A hint of incense and vetiver round out this fragrance and add a lovely lagniappe to all the rest that came before.

 

 

Hippie Rose has excellent longevity and above average sillage.

Many people shy away from patchouli fragrances because of their unfortunate association with “head shops”. Mr. Heeley’s Hippie Rose fully embraces that counterculture but manages to create something that has an unexpected sophistication. Hippie Rose can easily be worn for any occasion. I think I might wear it this weekend and take my wife up to Provincetown for a whirl on Commercial Street.

 

Thanks to our friends at Luckyscent we can offer three samples of Hippie Rose to one commenter. To be eligible leave a comment on your favorite performer at Woodstock 1969 or your own personal memory of THE SUMMER of 1969.  If you were too young, comment on the  music or fashion you like from that era of flower children and the age of aquarius.PEACE<3 LOVE <3  HEELEY HIPPIE  ROSE. Draw closes July 10, 2001.

Disclosure: This review was based on a sample purchased from Aus Liebe zum Duft.

–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor

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27 comments

  • Karen A says:

    What a great scent memory, Mark! You painted such a vivid scene, I could almost smell the wafting patchouli.
    I spent the summer of 1969 at sleep away camp in Woodbourne, NY. Some of the counselors took the weekend off and drove over to Woodstock. We campers were treated to a rare night trip to the Tamarack Lodge to see Richie Havens perform, just days before the festival. It was a magical. Please enter me in the draw and have a great weekend twirl!

  • Michelyn Camen says:

    Great memory Karen. You were there … you heard the music,the drugs and all the forbidden stuff from strict Brooklyn parents! (Mark kissed a girl Mark kissed a girl). I remember trying to emulate the older kids and wearing love beads, ‘GRANNY GLASSES’ and wearing my first pair off cut off tie dyed denim shorts my mom helped me do with rubber bands and bleach. That summer of 1969 I was 11 and was at an art day camp for only one month. I met a boy and had my first french kiss in the middle of a field that smelled like wildflowers(braces interlocking).And now I can have French kisses forever 😉 For some reason the music of this time didn’t register with me until I was much older. Janis Joplin had an album the pearl but she sings like I imagine a patchouly rose would smell -sweet and rough-sexy and soft… with gritty soul.

  • TaffyJ says:

    Michelyn, I love your comment about Janis Joplin: “she sings like a patchouly rose.” Nice image and so true.

    1969 was quite a year. It was the beginning of the end for the Beatles. Abbey Road was released; John Lennon wanted out, but was persuaded to stay.

    But the fondest memory for me was the 1969 Chicago Cubs. That team was made up of the most special guys in baseball, whom I will always remember. We kids would walk the two miles to Wrigley Field and wait outside the ballpark after the game. Sometimes it was Ron Santo, sometimes Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, maybe Fergie Jenkins, would come out for a few minutes, pose for pictures, sign autographs, maybe goof around a little. But always treated us kids well. And with patience.

    I loved those guys as much as I loved the Beatles.

    Thanks for the great article, Mark. Hippie Rose is definitely on my list!

  • Alica says:

    Hm, I was 8 years old at that time and everything I can remember was the vacation with my parents in Italy and very dark atmosphere in my birth country because of political unrests. Thus the era of flower children is rather unknown to me. Thanks for entering me in the drawing.

  • Tama says:

    I used to visit my mom, who lived in the Haight, when I was a teenager. 1969 was the beginning of the end for the hippies – it was getting desperate and dirty by the time the rest of the country was catching on. The Summer of Love was, in a way, the Last Hurrah.

    I wore patchouli oil (and continued to for a long time), wore undershirts in lieu of a bra, or halters, with cutoffs or navy denims from the thrift store. Lots of thrift store finds, back before people knew what they had. We went to the Secret Cinema and various happenings, hung out on Hippie Hill. Definitely eye-opening for a girl my age, and my father and stepmother were always a bit discouraged when I would come home from visiting my Mom all hippied out.

  • Jen says:

    I was too young but I still love bands like The Grateful Dead and romanticize how cool it must have been to be there at Woodstock.

  • your vintage avon lady says:

    I love patchouli! I was only 3 at that time, so I don’t have any memories that far back. When I was a teen and would frequent the nearest city, there were plenty of left-over hippies around. I was always fascinated with the waft of scent that would trail behind these people who’d be clad in ponchos, and bell bottom jeans that dragged on the ground. I finally asked someone at the local soap shop what that scent was that I was smelling on them, and was told ‘patchouli”. I’ve been in love ever since. Now, if I had to choose a favorite performer from Woodstock it would have to be Santana. I think their music is timeless, and always makes me dance.

  • chayaruchama says:

    I was 15 and got my ass whipped at home, but good.
    Hitch-hiked there, naturally.
    Worth it !
    Muddy, muddy.
    I had hair so long , thick,and dark, I didn’t need a T shirt- just my overalls ;-0

    Love your memories Herr Mark !
    And fully agree- this is a delightful scent.

  • Lauren says:

    I was 2, but love all the music from Woodstock. I bucked the family tradition of college in the Midwest and followed my counter culture dream to the University of Oregon. wore lots of patch oil, didn’t wear a bra, and got a degree in Anthropology. Great review and love the Heeley line!

  • Isa says:

    I only know that era thanks to movies, songs and books. Well, sometimes my parents talk me about those days too. They weren’t hippies but I have heard about some of their friends who somehow embraced that lifestyle.

    I like “Hair” and songs like “San Francisco (be sure to wear flowers in your hair)”, The Mamas & the Papas…

    I’d love to try Hippie Rose. I love rose perfumes! Thank you!

  • Cynthia says:

    I became a big Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young fan after Woodstock, when I began to hear their music on the radio. One of my favorite songs they sang (after Woodstock) was Woodstock, written by my very favorite artist at the time, Joni Mitchell. She wanted to play Woodstock, but her agent wouldn’t let her because she was scheduled on Dick Cavett. The harmonizing and cool vibe of the song totally captures the era to me.
    Heely Rose sounds really interesting.

  • kastehelmi says:

    Well I wasn’t alive during 1969, but I would have loved loved loved to see Jimi Hendrix!

    I always have to try rose perfumes, though I am another person who generally stiffens up when I hear “patchouli”–there are certainly some exceptions that I find beautiful–my favorite Songes by Annick Goutal does contain patchouli, Shocking de Schiaparelli…and I think I really adore Coromandel by Chanel. I never say never! And if Hippie Rose really smells surprisingly elegant rather than powerful head shop I am interested. Never have wanted to smell of head shop, as interesting as head shops smell!

  • Felicia G says:

    Well, I have always felt that I would have been right at home on Haight Ashbury! I was born in ’77. I feel like I relly was born too late. I look at the performers of that era and the talents they posessed. Jimi, Janis, Jerry, Bob Dylan/Bob Marley the list goes on. I being a twee/teen of the nineties had a great interst in head shops. HTey were different and definatley not zoned in the suburbs of Long Island.
    I wore bell bottoms purchased down near Canal St in the village. I took the LIRR every chance I could to go to the Village and get oils and vintage jeans. For my age group it was piercing that was rebellious and cool and I did that too. At the height of the trend I was still underage so I pierced my own midrift. I scented myself with various mixes of the oils sold in the NYC streets on black velvet scrap cloths by street vendors who spoke just enough english to haggle with you on the price but not a word more.
    I enjoyed the music that my parents enjoyed all of the originals and I eve remember some of them on vinyl. They sounded different that way. Donna Summer on vinyl was memorable as was meatloaf bat out of hell.
    When I got to College, I learned a bit more especially when Jerry Garcia, passed some kids took it hard. Myself, I just enjoyed the opportunity to attend what they called the 4:20 parties. The music was great at those evnet and girls wore their sixties best and the rooms smelled like nag champa. I still wear that today. In fact, if I could get away with it, I would still wear patchouli today plain not only mixed. I mix it as a base at times so my husband who loathes it wont be the wiser.
    I am dying to sniff this. I am hoping for a return to my youth as well. Love you guys:)

  • bloody frida says:

    I was only 10 when the first Woodstock happened; but even so, I attempted to figure out how I could hitchhike there, to no avail! Please enter me in the draw so I can pretend I was that 10 year old hitchhiker!

  • JoAnne Bassett says:

    I was 15 in the summer of 69..Had 3 older sisters..none were hippies..but I enjoyed the Woodstock music..had long hair..halters, blue jeans, patch, incense, etc…Men and women looked the same- unisex ..grey t shirts, a silver cross, bell bottoms, long hair..chukka boots or sandals.

    Loved the old vinyl records and 8 track tapes..Crosby Stills, Santana..Dylan, Doors,..many good memories..the style of dress carried into early 70’s for me…black lights, posters, candles dripping onto old wine bottles…We had box stereo speakers in the back seat…booming Santana…too funny…camping trips …people lost for days in the woods..too many drugs.. funny times..

  • Warum says:

    I was not born when it happened, but all music I really love is from that era — Bob Dylan, the Band, Joni Mitchell, Janice Joplin, all of them.

  • london says:

    I wasn’t born then but i love some of the forgiving fashions like the maxi dress.

  • ElizabethN says:

    I was really enjoying the warmth of my mother’s womb that summer – great memories! It was getting a little bit cramped in there, though. ;o)

    I do like some of the music of the 60’s, Janis Joplin and the Doors, as well as the dead. The clothing styles, not so much!

  • Michellle Hunt says:

    I guess I would be considered a gen x-er but I think many of my generation reached for patchouli for a sense of earthiness and spirituality we found to be missing from our existence. Patchouli reminds me of my “discovery” of essential oils while I was in college. For me, when patchouli is good, it is warm and wonderful and like fresh, moist, fertile earth. When it it bad it can smell a bit like pee.

    I would love to try Hippie Rose, as the notes sound wonderful.

  • Michellle Hunt says:

    Oops, I see I was to comment on the music or fashion. I love the idea of the “flowers in her hair” free spirit in a maxi dress.

  • datura5750 says:

    I was very young, but all my older siblings loved music so I heard many of these artists at home, still love Ravi Shankar, and Patchouli!

  • Claudia says:

    I was only 5 so i really do not have any memories, but i can say that many of the Boho Chic fashions these days remind me of those times….when i hear henna tattoos and patchouli perfume i think of those days.

  • Anya says:

    I was 18, and drove with my friends to Manhattan, W. 57th St., to pick up my press pass (Rolling Stone) and then we drove to Woodstock, arriving late at night. It was pitch black, and a sea of unseen humanity swirled around Arlene and myself. The guys were back in the car, sleeping. We wandered around for a few hours, and somehow Arlene found the car, and we woke the guys up and insisted they drive us home.

    Two Jewish Princess Hippies! We still laugh at that. I had seen all of the acts the few weeks preceding Woodstock, and attended a number of festivals that summer, and the thought of roughing it was too much for this city girl.

    I didn’t smell any patchouli there, just weed and night air.

    The perfume sounds great, any idea if it’s all-natural? That would fit in with the hippie aesthetic.

  • Holly F. says:

    Though I was not born yet, this era of music was very influential in my life! Particularly Janis Joplin and Joni Mitchell (though, as mentioned, she was not actually there). Patchouli rose sounds gorgeous!

  • Charlotte says:

    The summer of 1969 is memorable as I was pregnant with my youngest daughter Holly. I adored Janice Joplin, but I wasn’t really into Joni Mitchell. I loved the rock music more than the coffee house type theme of Joni. Jim Morrison was one of my favorites as well, but not so much, Jimmy Hendrix.
    I adore the thought of Hippie Rose being patchouli AND rose, AND musk, what more could a person want.